The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-01-29
BROAD PRINCIPLE
BEHIND MEASURE
Montague Bill Gives City Right
to Pick Best Men to Man
age Departments.
ALREADY PASSED HOUSE
Held Up i'll Senate Until Scnti
nent of Council Can BE
Secured.
ALREADY PASSED HOUSE


que bill. now pending before the Gen
! eral Assembly. designed 10 shorten 10
thirty days the required time Of resi- :
uehcc before c;tndidatc for office be-
comes eligible for IL city position. II
has been charged By tx se lighting tho
/ bill that il was introduced by Mr.
Montague in behalf or his brothcr-in-
| law, Charles II. Winston, who thong Ii
law, Charles r. Winston WHO for some
time a citizen of Henrico county. liz now
candidate for the position OF Super
: intendent of tho Municipal Electric
Plant and can only be made eligible
by such reduction in the time as
will permit him TO be regularly
qualified voter III Richmond before tho
election takes place.
lntcrwovcn with the politics which
surrounds the rnco of a number OF
candidates for this position, is II
broader principle for which many
Councilmcn cuntend--thc right of tho
city TIC secure expert advice whereYcr
1t is TO be had
Who Arc Eligible.
City Attorney Pollard In opinions to
members Of the Council has made Al
clear distinction between officials and
employees of the city government An
official Is q person elected or appoint
cd to fill an office which has been duly
created By ordinance defining his
powers and duties and fixing his com
pensation Employees include per diem
laborcrs and men employed by the
Council or any committee for specific
services. Officials the city Attorney has
held. must be qualified voters OF the
city, to conform to section 90 OF tho
State Constitution.
Cannot Go Out Of State.
In the debates before the Committee
on Changes Ia the Form OF City Gov
eminent last fall, wnon revised sec
tons OF the City Charter were under
debate. the point was raised that the
time might come when the city would
desire To employ high priced expert
engineer TO supervise all OF It's pub
lie works--a $4,000 or $4,000 man,
such as would be considered az chief
engineer of Il great railway system,
or on similar public undertakings. Mr.
Pollard ruled that 1t was impractica bic
to go ont of tho state. AS suCn an Of
fetal must be a citizen and voter. To
acquire citizenship a citizen OF some
other section of the country must bc
Il resident of the State two years and
Of the county, city or town one year
and OF the precinct in which he Of
fcrs 70 vote thirty days preceding the
election in which he offers To Vote,
according 10 section is OF the Con
stitution.
81 the Electric Plant.
The city has so far lodged the issue
In the case of its electric ,lant. Con-
sulting Engineer T. ". TraTord, a
native and citizen of Great Britain,
who was for time connected with
the old Virginia Passenger and Power
Company hore. was later employed by
the city to make certain surveys and
plans and then TO supervise conetruc-
tIon of It's new electric plant on a
commission basis. TO get the plant in
full working order he WAS employed
b. the Committee on Electricity at
5000 per month to supervise the run
ming of the plant pending the creation
of the Office OF superintendent, when
an election will be held by the City
Council In joint session Mr.. iralford
arrived in America November 10. 1881,
mnIic tho electric plant was under
construction, he fled notice OF his
intention to become citizen Of the
United states on July %. 1909, and
was admitted to iull citizenship by an
order of the United States Court on
December A. 1911. He has never voted
in this country, but Is now eligible to
vote in any election held in this cay,
according to Federal court records,
provided his poll taxes were paid SIX
months prior, and other requirements
Of the election law fully met
The Montague BILL.
Mr.. winston Is the head of an cleo
trio construction company in Rich
mond, and was for many years a citi-
zen of Richmond. Tie moved to Barton
Heights several years ago. The Mon
tague bill has passed the House ana
is pending in the Senate. 1t amends
the state law relative to the qualiti-
cation of candidates for Office. The
general statute provides that candi-
date must have the same qualifications
in regard to residence as votcr--he
must have been resident OF Inc
state two years and of the city or
county one year. The Montague Dill,
while n general statute, will apply
only to Richmond, since IL applies
! only to cities of more than 10000
population, the bill providing that
candidates for office, If they are quail
fled citizens of the state. will be eiig-
lille as candidates after having lived
in the city thirty days.
Wants Council to sncnk.
Senator Folkes held the bill up in
| senate to know whether 1t had the
sanction Of tho Richmond City Council.
| 1t is not among the list of bills and
| charter changes which the Council has
by resolution requested of the Genera
! Assembly, and the city government
| has not formally expressed itself on
| the subject. test vote on indorse-
| mcnt of the Montague bill In the
| Council, il is believed, would be large
| iy a showdown of the strength oil
| the winston and Trafford supporters
in the race for the electric plant
| supcrintcndency. Meanwhile several
| other candidates for that position are
! keeping steadily and quietly at work
Az tho bill is now drafted it would
1 apply 10 any position, and would not
as enormously printed yesterday
exempt the office of City Attorney. II
has E,ecn suggested that the Din De
amended 80 as to apply only to po'
| sitions recurring technical Knowledge
Of engineering. gas making, hydraulic.
| or electricity.