The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-12-12

rev minutes. ne nOWeNcft SPVhS
for over an hour, His close was a re-
ply 10 Messrs Meredith and Kelley.
and much OF his time was taken in de-
fining the word veto"
He maintained that this franchise
was invalid in that II had not been
framed according to the statutory re-
ouirements, and had given a commit
tee council power which should have
been vested In the council itself. He
read references and pointed to Cleve-
land and Taft who had used their veto
power many times on the grounds OF
policy.
"The proposed ordnance" said Mr..
Anderson, will result In much litiga-
ton 1t does not provide for the reg
ulating of rates, and cannot escape,
the courts not only in this direction.
but in many others
Gan you sign such an ordinance"
asked Mr.. Anderson as he leaned i'm
presively toward the mayor. Can
you? With this upset bid of Upper
& Company. can you allow the city to
lose what II should get?" MIR. Ander-
son was quite dramatic In this wind
up. He almost touched the mayor,
and his voice penetrated the room in
a stage whisper, which thrilled the
4 hearers.
! IF you accept the reasons given
by those on the other side, 1t will
mean qualification of your intel
ligence. Their won report to the cor
poration commission should warrant
i you in acting against them"
4 Then Mr.. Anderson unwound his
mental activities, Strengthened up. and
explained that he did not devote so
! much time to the discussion of the
case from pleasure. but from a sense
a..k u. ,.<f . ,a ,aFfx
1t was all over. Mayor Ainslie
gathered up the many books and doc
umenfs handed him by the lawyers.
slowed them away in his office and
went home.
( Before going, however. he notified
/ the newspaper men that he would
| take plenty OF time in going over the
| papers and would not be ready to an
nounce his decision for several days.
The law gives the mayor FIVE days
within which to return the ordinance
to the city clerk, after 1t has been
| turned over to him. He received Ii
| yesterday. He will have until Tues
day. If necessary, in which To con-
| slider and make up his mind.
| Afternoon Session.
| Probabilities are that had 1t not
| been for the venerable age OF each
Of the debaters-~Judge George Chris
tian and Charles V. Meredith. coupled
! with the innate sense OF courtesy
| embedded I'm the constitution Of both
of them, and the GOODNESS, also, OF the
| two gentlemen, a personal conflict
over the proposed light and power
| franchise, might have occurred in
| the precincts OF the reception room
| Of Mayor Ainslie yesterday after
noon.
Mayor Ainstie had invited all
parties interested in the proposed light
| and power franchise, which both
! branches Of council had awarded to
! the Richmond and Henrico company.
to appear before him to discuss the
/ various phases IT the situation.
Gathered in the room were a num-
her CT notables in the legal ranks Of
the city Some of them were well
| known all over Virginia, and even In
the reeesses of other States. Among
3.hena we're Judge George l. Christian.
representing Upper d Co, bankers.
II New York: Henry A. Anderson,
representing the Virginia Railway and
/ Power company; MIR. F.. Randolph
/ Williams. also representing that com
pany: Messrs. Charles V. MereditN
and s. l. Kelley, representing the
Richmond and Henrico company. City
| Attorney Henry r. Pollard. who had
previously stated that the ordinance
under discussion was a valid one.
was on hand TO look out for the In
.erests III the city aud the mayor.
number of other Interested csti-
sens were present.
After MFR. Anderson had spoken for
more than two hours In the interests,
as he said. of the citizens of Rich
nond, and had submitted his case,
Judge Christian took the rostrum.
He stated that he would have lit
tie TO say. as MIR Anderson had so
! fully covered the points at issue,
there was little left for him to point
What He Meant
Il wish TO say however" he said,
| that | would like to make myself
clear concerning a question which
. crosse at a meeting of the street COM
mittee. in which ] am quoted by Mr..
Meredith as saying that the ordinance
under consideration Is valid one.
What ! intended 10 say. and what
II believe ! did say. was that as the
city Of Richmond. through Its attor-
neys. had declared 1t Wild, my clients
would take fer granted that Ii is
| valid. and acting upon that deter
mination. We offered cur bid"
= would like further to say that
/ think MIR. Meredith was unk.nd and
unjust in stating that our bid was a
fake bid
Il sad that from the evidence
produced at the hearing" Interrupted
MI Meredith, II said that 1t APP
peared to he a fake bid, because the
evidence produced before the cont
raittee showed that. IN my mind. the
persons who offered the bid were not
seriously contemplating the establish
ment Of plant here. They arc. rs
veu said. bankers and brokers. and
do not engage in the light and power
| business"
''You had no right TO reach such
a conclusion" retorted Judge Chris
ton across the table. "You were not
justified in reaching such a escoaclu-
I.s ION. and I say that YOU were unklnd
and unjust in making the statement.
The Good and Bad In Us.
This reminds me of one OF Rob-
ert Louis Steyensou's hnes~--'There Is
go much of bad in the best of us. and
n p1tch Of good In tha worst Of Us
u~r