The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-04-05
THE FARMER: APRIL ,, 1911


 Ian is asking you gentlemen to con- sider? It provides that their amend ments shall become a law just as they want it. Mind you, I say just as they want it. Is this a referendum? Is it? Well, it is a good one!
 But how about their amendment concerning the office of Mayor? They want to make the term four years and then they say that the Mayor, no mat ter how conscientious an officer he may have been, no matter how great or overwhelming may be the demand to renOminate and re-elect him. the city must be deprived of his services just because they think the city ought to be deprived of his services. Why, gentlemen, were it not that I consider these gentlemen to be friends of mine, l would probably say some things that l refrain from saying just now. Think It over, gentlemen; bring it home to your own towns. What would you think about being compelled by your laws to drop an official who maybe the whole town desired to continue in office?'
 Alderman DeForest amused the spec tators by his witticisms in reference to the recall feature of the amendment relative to the office of Mayor. He said he didn't believe in it, because if poor man was in office and would not be amenable to suggestions or cer- tain powerful influential cliques; it was an easy matter to get a recall going and force the poor man to come into a. special election to sustain him. self, thereby entailing upon him a monetary hardship that he should not be asked to bear. "We don't want to be at the beck of every Tom, Dick and Harry he said. eff an official does anything criminal you can get him WI Nlor ic plenty of law to reach dishonest of ficiais
 Now, take the office of Director Of Public Works. It takes the incum- bent six months to become familiar with the streets of Bridgeport. At the end of that time you will have provided a means for disappointed partisans to seek recall. If it should be successful and he is removed at the end of six months more his successor can be pilloried in the same manner.
 In presenting Alderman H. H. Jack son to the committee, Senator Garry Paddock, who acted as master of cere- monies for the opposition, referred to him as the gentleman who had re- gently been elected Mayor of the city of Bridgeport on the srffragette ticket Alderman Jackson opened his remarks by telling the story of the little boy who happened to overhear that his sister had been engaged to marry. The latter adjured her little brother not to mention anything about the en- gagement He promptly replied, You can trust me, sister I will never say a word. I am just as much ashamed to his appearance against tn eamend- ments which the Common Council saw fit to refuse to approve
 "At the outset" said Alderman Jackson, 'I want to say to you gen tlemen that to me it seems wrong that you should be asked to give up your time to enter into a discussion of af- fairs which belong to the city of Bridgeport and which properly should be determined by her citizens alone"
 He then referred to the manner of his selection as the Alderman from the Fifth district in Bridgeport. How he had been waited upon at his home by the committee of citizens of that district and had finally agreed to be- come a candidate and that he, like many others at that time, was im- pressed with the notion that the Board of Aldermen needed rejuvenation. He recalled that MT. Phelan, on the occa- sion of his appearance before the Com mon Council when he advocated most ably the various amendments now be- fore the committee, had admitted when QueSIioHeO tnal nad there been no 1n- crease granted the f1remen by the Common Council, there would have been no Taxpayers League.
 "Now, gentlemen" continued Alder man Jackson, ''the intimation made here that the ordinance increasing the wages of the firemen was rushed through the Board of Aldermen is not in accord with the facts. This mat ter was before the Board of Aldermen for three or four months. It was given grave consideration I have here, gentlemen, a document, perhaps it may be called a prospectus, of the Taxpayers League. It was sent me when my term as Alderman began, and I noticed the words rushed through as applied to the wage in- crease of the firemen. I believe that everyone in Bridgeport whether they agree in this question of f1remen's in crease or not desires to be fair in what statements he makes about it. The f1remen made no bones about their position. They went ahead in an open and honorable way to seek a raise in pay. Every newspaper in Bridgeport was aware of what was going on, and the question was discussed almost daily. In fact no municipal question of recent times in Bridgeport was more thoroughly discussed, and I may add, with so much bitterness in some quarters. My vote as Alderman was against allowing the increase of $200 per man. I realized that the increaS- ed cost of living warranted the fire mems seeking an increase in their wages and I believed that the mat ter should be approached in an ami cable spirit:
 "I had many talks with the tax payers and officials in Bridgeport, and as a result I drafted a compromise measure which would have given the firemen half of the increase sought and which in my judgment would have been acceptable to the men and would have prevailed had it not been for the hostile criticism levelled at the entire proposition That was the time, gen. tlemen. to have adjusted this matter amicably. It could have been done had calm and dispassionate methods been pursued and then we would not have had an organization is opposi- tion that you find here today, the Taxpayers League, whose promoters practically admit that it had it's incep- tion in an outburst of anger
 "Now these gentlemen who are con- nected with the Taxpayers League are my friends While we may diff fer on some matters, I believe we are as one in any matter which has in view the betterment of our city. These gentlemen who ask you today to adopt their amendments are men of large affairs and responsibility and of the highest character and standing. But I submit, gentlemen, that there have been occasions in the past when they might with more propriety have come to you in behalf of legislation Where have they been all these years? oir11x