The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-04-05
his remarks principally to the fire

his remarks principally to the fire mems wage increase. He pointed out that the men who organized the Tax payers league remained suspiciously quiet when the pay of the policemen of Bridgeport had been increased in precisely the same manner as the f1remen obtained their increase. Yet he said no one would contend that the life of the f1remen was not much more hazardous than the life of the policeman. He said he found in the course of his investigation that
 there was widespread opposition to the idea of further tinkering with the charter and that the impression pre- vailed that in the matter of salaries Bridgeport ought to be permitted to attend to it's own afafirs. Senator Paddock with his watch in his hand arose just as Representative Meltzer
 got to his feet and gained the ear of the committee.
 Senator Paddock asked Representa- tive Meltzer if he would give way for just two minutes. Meltzer replied that Paddock could have ass many "tWo minutes as he wanted when he, Meltzer, had finished. s'I have found,'' said Mir Meltzer, .esince I have been in. the House, that it is a wise man
 how to keep it. After me, my dear
 Senator Paddock, you may speak" | MT. Meltzer said he had his doubts about the statement that 1000 of the most intelligent minds of Bridgeport had passed favorably upon these
 amendments He wanted to know where men like himself and others that he might mention, who were pre-
 stunned to have some intelligence, came in. He said that practically all the statements made in behalf of the amendments were on a par with this, and he said it is too bad to think that these gentlemen should have arrogated to themselves all the intelligence in Bridgeport. He said the Taxpayers League is a case of the tail wanting
 to wag the dog. They say, we don't
 want the referendum. We don't want
 you to ask the people to approve of our acts because we, the best intelli-
 gence in Bridgeport, have already ap- proved" "Yet they ask you to adopt the recall, which is nothing less than a referendum of the most radical kind. Gentlemen, as a representative of the people of Bridgeport in this Legisla- ture. I am opposed to these amend mentS.''
 Senator Paddock said he believed there was a golden opportunity to amend the charter of Bridgeport, but this is not the time nor the way. He said he had supported Alderman Jack
 sons resolution in the Common Coun- cil, raising a committee for the pur- pose of investigation and reporting a draft of charter for the next session of the General Assembly. He said he introduced the resolution which prevailed in the Common Council to oppose the adoption of these amend ments at this time He said he, as increase. and only one person in his district approached him in opposition. This man, he said, told him he had an equity of $750 in a piece of real estate and the additional tax which he would
 be called upon to pay would deprive him of a suit of clothes and an over coat for the winter!
 Former Senator Thomas Arnold. Jr, | representing the Board of Trade Of Bridgeport, told of the action of that body in refusing to approve the | amendment that asked for the decrease l of firenen's pay.
 He said the matter of fixing the sal aries of employees of the city should l be left to the Common Council, as that body is representative of the peo- pie He said the statement was made | that seventeen or eighteen millions in Bridgeport taxable property is repre- | sented, in the hearing. Then he want ed to know if the impression was to prevail that the other STA. .000,000 in | | thought there was no sincere desire | in Bridgeport for these amendments, | or the capitol would not be large enough to hold the outpOuring of in dignant citizens who would come if the amendments were what the people wanted.
 Senator Archibald McNeil. Jr., said he was opposed to the amendments be- cause they did not emanate from the | one body in Bridgeport representative of the people, the Common Council. | Diligent inquiry on his part failed, he said, to locate any real sentiment for them.
 My judgment is,'' he said, "that 1 the first consideration your committee. or any other committee of the General Assembly should give to request for | a change in the laws affecting the government of the people of Bridge | port. should be whether it had the | approval of the Common Council. Ii 1 it did not have the approval of that 1 body you should ask yourselves wheth- CT you should change the charter or a city at the behest of private citizens. 1 I too attended the sessions of the Business Mems Association, but they were so slimly attended-and even then the sentiment was evenly divided that the association refused to go
 on record. With respect to MT. Phe- S to me to be rather inconsistent, to say the least, that he should be willing to have the impression prevail here that these amendments were worthy of passage because they had the en-
 dorsement, as he says, of the Busi- hess Mems Association and the Board I'of Trade. mere handfuls of whose
 membership were present. Yet he would not trust the people on a straight majority vote to say whether
 or not they should approve the amend ments.'
 Charles L. Gaylord for the Business Mems association also spoke
 MT. Phelan, in rebuttal, succeeded in preventing MT. Meltzer from fur
 ther enlightening the committee des- bite the strenuous efforts of the
 Bridgeport Representative to do so.
 No end of amusement was caused by
 the unsuccessful attempts of MT. Melt
 ger to reply to the question which MT.
 Phelan addressed to him, but the
 astute Representative of the Taxpay-
 CTS league proved the master of the