The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-11-02
WILLIAM THOMAS

When the electorate of the city
 goes to the polls on November z, they
 should bear in mind the Modest Ro-
 man of Them AL" William Thomas,
 of town clerk after a term of office
 that should be the foundation for
 many years of service in this office
 As town clerk his record is without
 blemlsh and second only to his rec ord as an alderman where in a legis-
 latlve capacity he served the people
 like true patriot, fearless at all
 times of attempts of corporation in- 1uences and with a deaf ear to the public service coyotes who haunt the lobby and committee rooms at the city hail.
 After six years of service in the Common Council, in which he made a record of faithfulness and efficiency seldom equalled and never surpassed, William Thomas was unanIm ously chosen by the Democratic city con vention in 1909 to be the Democratic
 candidate for town clerk. As an al- derman he was perhaps behind as
 many measures for the benefit of the home owners and the workingmen, as any other man who was ever
 member of the Board of Aldermen, both because of his desire to be ac- tive in behalf of the people and be- cause of his long service. He was actively identified with many legisla- tive measures for general public inn provement, and he was particularly | own district, the Eighth. The Eighth l is what is called generally a 'close district" It is as apt to be Republi- can as Democratic and the fact that he was elected an alderman rom 1t for three consecutive terms shows that his activities were gratifying to his own immediate constituency. His election as town clerk two years ago l showed that the majority of all the voters in the city only wanted a l chance to endorse strong fearless | advocate of the people.
 l Alderman Thomas fought to secure ! compensation for the sufferers whose property was destroyed by the Beardsley Park dam. It was upon a l resolution prepared by him that the
 catastrophe was investigated. He was | chairman of the committee that con- ducted the Investigation, and he l framed the fearless report in which | the facts were laid bare. By his ef- l forts partial compensation was paid
 in many cases to the sufferers, al-
 though no person recovered for all
 the damages which he or she had sustained. Other matters with which l Alderman Thomas was identified were
 as follows: He framed and introduced
 the resolution under which the tax assessment of the Bridgeport Hy- draulic Co. was increased $5OO,Oo0
 This worked an immediate financial 1 benefit to the city of about $7,5O0
 annually.
 l He worked and voted against the infamous 20 year water contract and after it was passed he took earnest
 steps to bring about its rescission. | For many years he recognized the necessity of tax reform and worked l towards that end. The. resolution,
 raising a committee to investigate the whole question of taxation was fntro- | duced by him.
 MT. Thomas made a study of the financial affairs of the city and he perceived that the home owner is not | only bearing too large a share of the
 cost of paying the running expenses l of the city, but he foresaw that Bridgeport could not be made bieeer, better and buster until it's revenues were fatrly raised by taxation. Since I becoming town clerk the duties of | the office have been carried out with the despatch and carefulness that have marked MT. Thomas every action in public life. All who have business at | the office have been treated in a most courteous manner. The office is an important one and those citf-
 zens who believe in returning capable and efficient public servants to their posts will make no mistake if they vote for MT. Thomas.
 l A vote for MT. Thomas is also vote Tor the courteous and efficient
 Assistant Town Clerk William T. Mul- | lins
 MT. Thomas has lived in Bridge
 port for many years. He is of Ger
 man percentage and enjoys a large ! acquaintance.
 | He is a property owner, of very
 friend, and his charities are much greater than those of most men of his ] financial ability.