Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-03-25
voters. 1t is the prayer of Christian
The Mayors Rights.

VOTERS. IL is llle prayer VI Shi iot'"ii
women"
The Mayors Rights.
Processing an ignorance of the
power that had given Mayor Phillips
the right to say which laws he would
enforce and which he would disregard,
Judge w. D. Tisdale called attention
to the men that largely constituted
Mayor Phillips constituents.
IAN open town is that city where
the mayor selects what laws he will
enforce" Mr. Tisdale said after defln-
ing the issue. isn't 1t rather strange
and significant that this city has but
one man who can run as mayor on
the other ticket? Who are his follow
ers? What men are gathered about
him? Are not his most enthusiastic
followers men who condone looseness
and immortality? His policemen are
mostly eX-saloon men. l have nothing
against them as men, but 1t merely
shows from what element his support
ers come. They stand up for saloons,
bawdy houses and gambling dens-be-
cause they are for those things.
what right has Mayor Phillips,
when the legislatures says certain
| things, to say that he won't enforce
that? He's only temporary execu-
| tive and these laws are made for all
times. What right has he to say that
he'll collect a fine and let gamblers
and bawdy keepers go? When law
is on the statute books, 1t is the
mayors duty to enforce that law as
he finds It, He has no powers to dis
criminate.
There is only one straightforward
way to settle che liquor question and
that is by ..ae will of the people ex-
pressed trough petition. If the pc.
titioc is sustained, then enforce that
courts decree What right has Mayor
Phillips to enforce just part of the
i liquor laws because he Is panderine
to that element? Never has there
been such an outburst of public senti
ment as there is now-and it begins tc
look as though the people had had
enough of this open town policy"
In closing Mr.. Tisdale briefly review
ed Mr.. Fmery's platform In contrast
(, to Mr.. Phillips "Mr. Emery is nc
rank prohibitionist,' he said. HE
simply says he'll enforce the laws as
he finds them. 1t is local issue sole
ly this election not political one. AL
| ask Is that you compare these two
men, One says, I'll pick my laws
and the other says, Tll enforce then
as find Them"
Is This Open Town?
Using a biting sarcasm that wa:
not lost on his audience, F. G.. Orelup
cited a few incidents he had witnessed
In Ottumwa and then left the listen
ers to Judge whether or not Phillips
and his crowd are right in declarin.
that Ottumwa has not been wide open
"a year or so ago, during Phillips
!; reign, there was carniva! in .thi
city said Mr.. Orelup. "One after
noon I followed crowd of men an,
boys and they led me into room III
here on West Main street where BIZ
wheel of fortune was doing business
There was a doubel door to that build
ing and both Of these doors were wid
open. A man sat in there at greer
, covered table, raking In the money
, and when he had the dollars and quar-
tiers stacked so high he could not SCI
over them, he showed the pile off int
| bushel basket and started anothe
stack. The policeman passed Their
every fifteen minutes. That looked
little bit open TO me.
"At one time there were abou
, twenty dray loads Of gambling para
phernalia piled up here in the cour
house. Before that a man could stan
!, on almost any corner in the bushes
district Of Ottumwa and hear tn
: ivory ball on the wheel The doors al
, stood upen. A man didn't even hav
to give three raps and scratch t
J get in. But is that an open town
The Other Side.
Now there's another thing that
dangerous" Mr.. Orelup proceeded
| THE papers all over the country ar
blatant with civic conditions here
There are three classes Of people VIII
read those papers. First; the undesir
> ables are always looking for som
place to go. Open towns are gettin
scarcer every year and they flock I
: the few left. in numbers
: "Second-the manufacturers, look
/ ing for new factory sites, read thos
, papers. Are they going to move thei
! plant where lawlessness reigns su
,, preme? Third, thousands of countr
people. who have farmed lon~ enoug
to retire, read those papers in an eff
fort to select some city to move to an
spend their declining years and edu
cate their children. Are they going t
come here, when Ottumwa has tina
kind Of a reputation?
Now about the liquor question
is said that" Mayor Phillips will ope
the saloons right away If he is elect
ed. Why doesn't he do it now? Ism
, he the mayor? Simply because Mayo
Phillips, nor no other mayor can ope
: these saloons until that petition
turned down by the courts. If thu
petition is sustained we won't hay
saloons, Phillips or no Phillips. 1t