The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-12-16
ANNEXATION POSSIBLE RESULT OF AGITATION
 ON CHANGE OF SYSTEM
Residents of Outlying Districts Will Not Be Easily Wheeled Out of
 Newly Acquired Advantage.
STAMFORD
Especial to The Farmer. }

menu or the town has resulted in ad- vocates of several different modes. The latest in the commission form
 which is lauded to the skies by some
 of its advocates This form calls for
 that's the way the local advocates
 hope to inaugurate it. These three
 citizens are to be chosen from ten l candidates who are voted for at the 1 general elections. They are supposed to be responsible for the town gov ernment and for the acts of an expert surveyor and road builder who is SUD- posed to receive an adequate salary to insure good work. The advocates of this form lay much stress upon the allegation that this will insure a non- partisan town government The op- ponentS fail to see any advantage in IT, The town now elects three select men who are empowered to do most every thing necessary in the town They are no more partisan than the proposed commissioners would be for they would be elected from the domi- nant party in the same manner as the selectnen. Non-partisan in such Instances means bipartisan and Bridgeport had strenuous experi- ence when it elected an equal num- Der of Republican and Democratic aldermen. No party or individual in
 particular was responsible and the city IS still paying for some of the eXtraVagances of that era. It is as- serted and with some reason that the
 object Of the commission government here is to continue the town govern
 ment in the hands of the few and at
 the same time relieve their party of
 all responsibility. The borough idea
 commission form has been advanced
 to take its place. F. B. Conine and
 his proposition for a city governme
 at once are still holding their own
 with an occasional convert. A little
 horse sense injected into the problem
 and less conniving to serve hidden in
 of the taxpayers. The main issue is
 to prevent the voters from going into
 town meetings and voting their heads
 on and the taxpayers into the poor house. Why not say so and either
 put the whole business of the town into the hands of the se1ectmen and city of Bridgeport and take pot luck
 with the first district of that city If 1t is possible to find three men in the town of Stratford who are capable of can be trusted to handle the town funds elect them selectmen. No plan has yet been suggested which will
 better matters. The present discus sion is hardly complim entary to the present board of selectmen when the trouble complafnedA of is the result of issue is to get rid of the town meeting then say so and proceed on that plan. It will be hard. however, to convince the taxpayers of the outlying dfstricts that it will be to their. advantage to take away the power to obtain some thing for themselves instead of the custom @ 70 spend most of the towns money. Those taxpayers have recently found a way to force the Centre clique to divide up and there is an imm ediate] howl of protest and a desire for the abolition of the town meeting which was all right as long as it was dorni- mated by the resident of the Centre Good advice to this element is for them to take the same kind of pills which they have forced down the threats of the rest of the town for themselves vii grace as the former have in the past. All these. grimaees over the disagree dents of the outlying districts What has been good enough for the out flanders in the past should be good enough for the celestial select for a Wh1le at least. With the building UT, | or the outlying districts the absolute power of the Centre clique has been destroyed and the proposed eommis- | Slon form Of government is only a l ruse to maintain the status quo If l the town has become so rotten that three seleetmen cannot be found who can De trusted apply for iTnme edfate annexation to Bridgeport. That will l solve the difficulty if the advocates of a change are honest in their argu-
 The bowling tournament begins to 1 night at Porter's Casino when the 1 Bremen will play the Odd Fellows i men and Howard Hoadley will lead | the latter team. Games will follow 1 on the first four evenings of each | week until all have been played A | complete record of the games will be i published in the Farmer with inc standing of the teams. Each team | VIII play IA games and as 16 teams are entered the tournament will nof end until the last week in March.
 The Odd Fellows are busy. enjoying | their. usual winter season. entertain- ments. On Friday night the mem bers enjoyed an old fashioned oysterI supper and the affair recalled the days Stratford as turnips. Tuesday night the lodge will hold a big whist with refreshments and on New Tears d | watch whist will see the old year out. electric bell at the ,1centre school l which will be used to call the stu dents back. to their tasks at recess The tower bell which has always been rest.
 Under the, direction of the fire chief the tall dry weeds on the meadow be- tween the railroad and the Centre 1 school were burned Saturday after noon. These weeds and the dry grass are a constant menace to the town and in former seasons have caused i trouble when ignited by sparks from
 The Ramblers will meet the Nausa- tuck team at the Auditorium next Thursday night and some game is ex- pected as the visitors are considered state. -
 MT. and Mrs. John Assum are plan ming to visit the old home in Ger many as soon as the birds sing next spring.
 The teachers of the Franklin school have invited the parents of their pupils to attend the Christmas exer- cises of the school which will be held | next Friday afternoon. Santa Claus has promised to be present and help the teachers entertain the children and their guests. This is a concession that no other schools will enjoy as the old fellow is very busy these days and cannot afford to waste much time. '--
 Dr. Wm- Sad1er, author of "The Cause and Cure of Colds" says that common colds should be taken seri-