The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1910-02-10
ONE-MAN RULE.


are against every one who does not pay
him tribute or bow down to his will
How much longer will they be deceived
by his false pretence of desiring peace
and harmony and good will, while every
week he is tanning the'embers of dead
fires and spreading venom broadcast.
1t is not healthful condition, morally
or financially when a community has nc
voice in the conduct of its affairs; when
an honest laboring man cannot get city
employment unless he has voted for the
man in Office; when an honored clergyman
is deposed from position he was emf
nentlv qualified to fill because he had eX-
ereised the inalie;able right of an Ameri-
can citizen and voted according to his
convictions; when a janitor, whose re-
tention was asked by all those he had
served so acceptably and faithfully is
turned out for the same offense; when
an attempt is made to secure partisan
BOARD of trustees that the efficient super
intendent of Grove cemetery, who has
performed the duties of his Office to the
satisfaction of every one, might be re-
moved to make place for another po-
litical henchman These few illustra-
lions serve to show how the one-man
power has been exercised to punish those
who have opposed and reward those who
have upheld a condition of affairs that
all good citizens must deplore and desire
to remedy.
But if such things are considered tri-
vial, there are weightier matters which
cannot be thus set aside There is no
other city in this country in which the
refunding of an indebtedness of S113, 900
without advertising for bids and conduct
ing the business openly would be at
tempted; or permitted if the attempt
was made Even Tammany, with its in
famous record of graft and corruption,
would not attempt such a thing. Yet it
was done in Belfast. June 10, 1909, the
mayor made the following statement:
Some weeks ago the representative of
E. NJ. Farnsworth & Co. made a prop
osition to the mayor that if the city
would issue a 20-year bond at per cent,
thus frightening the life Of the present
bond but four years with no increased
rate of interest, they would give the city
81, 400 as premium and they would de-
fray all the expenses of refunding.
''Some weeks ago" the mayor had en-
tered into a private agreement with a
how'd L,o,co ~ rof,,1d c11o n0O of fbo
city's Indebtedness, and the members of
the city government knew nothing of it
until it was sprung upon them at the jan
uary meeting, when everything was cut
and dried and the transaction was COM
pleted with no opportunity for ascertain
ing whether the terms of this agreement
were Just and equitable. We have good
authority for saying that had bids been
called for considerably larger premium
would have been offered. Whether the
additional premium that the city might,
ana should, have had goes to swell the
profits of the bond house, Or elsewhere,
can only be known to the parties con-
cerned in this private transaction.
Another illustration of the workings
of a one-man power city government is
afforded by the mayors casting the de-
Gliding vote to abate the taxes on a cor
poration created by himself and of which
he is the chief beneficiary. This action
was so promptly and SO vigorously con-
demned by his stockholders and followers
that he was compelled to do what every
honest citizen does-p pay his taxes, and
what every good business man does in
time to get the discount His attempt
to make it appear that he was merely
seeking an depression of public senti-
ment,' and intended to pay the taxes
just the same, deceived no one, and those
whom the mayor has assailed through
the personal organ which gives vent to
his malice and venom would have been
quite content had this abatement of
taxes been allowed to stand. Still, it
would have been too bad to thus cast ga
heavier burden upon the smaller holders
of property" for whom, in years past,
the mayor had manifested such deep
concern.
There are many other reasons why the
citizens of Belfast should desire change
in the management of city affairs, and
that may be readily seen by those who
are not hypnotized or benefciaries under
this one-man rule. What is there to
show for the largely increased expendi-
lures save section Of State road paid
for in part by the State? What of the
money withheld from the water company
and the gas and electric company and
that may involve suits against the city?
There must be a day of reckoning some
time, and the longer it is deferred the
worse it will be for those who pay the
taxes and have at heart the welfare of
our city.
A rich man in Atlanta, who is pleased
with Charles w. Morse because when
the bank of North America, in which he
had a large deposit, failed, Morse sent
him his personal check for the amount
says of the former ice king: '"That man
Is big enough and has brains enough to