The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-16

| WcChS DtIOIG enc OI luS
 fiscal year, and in his opinion the
 bills were proper ones.
 Very true.'' replied Alderman
 Moran, ''the money is available now,
 but when the bill was contracted
 there was no money available" He
 the charter.
 But there was no appropriation for this purpose, hence there was no ex-
 ceed1ng of any appropriation in the
 action of the board. The bills are all right If they're not paid one way
 they must be paid another.''
 Becoming sarcastic, Mayor Wilson told Alderman Moran he appreciated | his diligence in this connection and
 that he sincerely hoped it would con- | tinue. He trusted the same diligence | was exerted, he said, when the Alder
 men passed the recent bills of s4,Ooo
 for deficiencies. "I trust these had
 the same careful scrutiny, said the Mayor.
 l Alderman Paul L. Miller began call
 ing names ".Pettifoggery, he said. He also used the words "childishness"
 and little picayune thing l Alderman :Voos forestalled further discussion. He moved reference of
 the bills to. the committee on Ways | and Means. The motion was car ried son viva voce vote.
 l There came a temporary Hull and 1 routine business then held sway un- ! til Engineer Terry's matter came up. 1 This is a proposed change in the ordinance covering the office, and
 amending the present scale of salar- l es so as to leave the fixing of salar- l ies optional with the engineer. He
 is restricted under the new scheme to | the same aggregate amount, as he is
 now authorized by ordinance to pay,
 but he can allow as high as $2,00O | to any one man. The block map | ICfo hi ic1, i,c cnroo fn hn ,.oc 1 ular staff, may be paid $4,0OO year, ! with a maximum of $1,500 to any one man. r7 Engineer Terry was given the priv ilege of the floor. He argued that it | was for the best interests of the city l to change the present ordinance. He pointed out that New Haven's first assistant receives $2,000, Hartford's s2,2SO. Then he said that his first | assistant, whose salary under the
 present ordinance is fixed at $1, ,45O has received two offers, recently, one of $1,650 and another of $1,S00 since he joined Terry.
 The report came before the Com
 mon Council signed by Alderman Will 1 liam E. Primrose and B. E.. GarIck. l Primrose moved the adoption of the report.
 DeF'orest moved that the report be sent to the committee on Ordinances for further consideration.
 Primrose was on his feet in an in stant. This report has been before 1 the committee since Feb. B." said he. Then he launched into Tong attack | of Alderman DeForest. He charged DeF'orest with being insincere, with
 holding up meetings of the committee,
 refusing to call them, with neglecting | to keep in mind his oath of office, | with becoming wholly forgetful of his constituents
 'I as a member of the committee
 am in no way responsible for it's dil- atory tactics," said he, land I want the responsibility to rest where it be- | longs"
 | Alderman Garlick got out his rule book and read sections calling for re- | weeks of reference.
 Alderman DeForest was staggered by the torrent of abuse, but he man tained his customary suavity. ''I had expected my colleagues to discuss the merits of the question, not this tirade Of personal abuse" said he. 'I have said that I propose to take all the time I want to in this l natter he continued. tI will re- port that resolution, if I am support ed, just when I get ready, one way Or the other, not not moment be- fore. do not have to be told what my duty is to my constituents. I have been endowed with a fair amount of intelligence, I take it, and I have never had any trouble in see- ing my duty. Yet I haven't taken 1t upon myself to tell any man what his duty was, and I expect the same consideration.
 ttI move that this be sent back, un- til it comes through the front door, and in the regular way. My motion is in furtherance of decency and reg ularity of procedure. I am firm in y,oxy ho1iaf that fhjc h-Shn6 and unusual and presumptuous attempt to override the chairman of this com- mittee-and my remarks are not per- sonal-has no reason whatever but desire of these gentlemen to have their own way, come what may"
 He characterized the procedure as indecent and having no place in legislative body at all conservative. He added that up to Saturday noon he had believed he was still chairman of the committee on Ordinances. Then something happened and his of ficial head apparently came off.
 He said the Ordinance committee had been a pretty busy committee, enacting legislation of utmost import ance, enacting it in the face of ad jority being told they were playing into the hand of the minority.
 'We have gone about our work conscientiously,'' he continued, ad- dressing himself to Primrose. "We have not been a dilatory committee. Yet in spite of all the grace that we have extended to you gentlemen, you have the nerve, to use com mon parlance, to come in here and override the committee to the Board of Aldermen"
 Primrose was right there with a comeback. He ventured to wonder if the chairman of the committee was giving all this weighty consideration to important measures "by his lone some" Primrose said that there was important business before the com mittee it was true. but that DeFor- est ought to call more meetings un- less he himself was going to do all the considering.
 'T have asked him innumerable times to call a meeting and he has failed to do it,'' charged Primrose.
 Alderman Moran spoke Of a recent