The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1911-09-15
A STORMY SESSION
COUNCILMAN CALLS MAYOR
A CORPORATION MAN.

Inc passage OF time SpOlled lurld
newspaper sensation last Monday night.
Men have fought duels with less provo
cation than the words that were hurled
back and forth between the mayor and
the president of the city council at its
last session. 1t all occurred upon the
solemn occasion of the burial of the
underground wire ordinance.
The pole ordinance as it has come to
be called for short, was up for reconsid-
Grafton, upon the motion of Councilman
Hedges made two weeks ago and upon
which action was deferred at last weeks
session. At the beginning of the coun-
ell session, Councilman Hedges, who was
responsible for the introduction of the
ordinance, asked for further postpone
ment. The mayor refused to accede to
this request, stating that inasmuch as
it had been decided to vote on the re-
consideration of the bill that night, it
was the ruling of the chair that the re-
consideration must be voted upon at
this session.
With this the clouds quickly began
to gather, and the atmosphere became
electric. DIR. Hedges was determined to
kill the ordinance, and he wanted to in
troduce a repeating ordinance, deeming
this the only way in which its death
would be certain. The mayor stated
that Oh h., L.. L
lost and the bill actually come before
him for action, he would certainly veto
it. Il want to tell you,' said the mayor,
that | shall do with this bill as | in
tend to do with all bills that are err
ratio, unreasonable and without pur-
pose. shall veto it."
DIR. Hedges in his reply was no less
blunt in his Characterization of the
mayor, calling him a corporation man,
and declaring that this was not the first
time during his four years service as
councilman from the First ward that
the mayor had tried to thwart him in
his work
%'i'Ni thNHt BdoSCS DttNttn lIlt tNO VI
ficials, the vote to reconsider was taken,
and the bill was killed, all voting to
that end except Councilman Hedges, who
refused to vote at all on the plea that
the action was irregular. Those present
and voting We're Councilmen Phillips,
Smout and Winans. Following the vote
which killed the ordinance, Councilman
Hedges introduced an ordinance repeal
ing the reconsidered and dead ordinance.
The ordinance in question has had an
interesting and stormy career. The
movement of placing electric wires under
ground, originated with the union cleo
trical workers. They had an ordinance
prepared and introduced in the council
1t was laid ON the table Following this
action of the council, another ordinance
was drawn by Attorney Aston and in
troduced before the city council by
Councilman Hedges. The first ordinance
was very broad in its scope, not only
ordering the placing of wires under
ground, but regulating wiring on and
in buildings. The second ordinance dealt
principally with the removal of the wires
and poles from streets about to be
paved at the discretion of the city. With
the action just taken by the city coun-
ell the situation remains as it was or
iginally, and the only reason for the re-
moval of any poles along the streets of
the city Is that the companies find it
to their advantage to Use the poles n
common.
The history of the bill shows the lu-
dicrous method by which our city coun-
ell sometimes proceeds. According to
the charter no ordinance becomes eff
fectiye until it has been signed by the
mayor, or passed over his veto, or ten
days elapse without any action on his
part, and the final step in each case OF
legal publication of the ordinance BY
none of these methods had the ordi-
nance in question become effective, and
yet an ordinance is introduced to repeal
IN ordinance which surely could never
have been spread on the books, and never
had legal existence.