Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1912-11-22
AFRAID, COUNCIL
AGAIN REFUSES TO
PERMIT CITY VOTE
Overrides Petition of 589 Signe, s
and Denies Suffrage on Pro-
posed Light Franchise.
GIVES THE COMMITTEE TIME
Business Men Contend People In.
sufficiently Informed-Will
Continue Investigation.

Business Men Contend People In
sufficiently Informed-Will
! Continue Investigation.
vor the granting Of q competing
franchise, the members Of the city
council have refused you the right
to vote ON 1t. They are protecting
the interests Of q Boston capitalist
In preference to q man who has al
! ready Invested at least $4,000 in
| Olympia In your water works and
| stands ready to invest 100000
more In furnishing you electric
| light and power.
| Al the sole excuse for their ac.
| tlOn they say you do not know
| enough to vote on the matter. They
are coming before you for re-elec-
ti0n next month. In doing that
| they are presuming you have sense
enough to choose your own cOun.
cllmen. Might 1t not be wise for
you to remember that, II you have
not sense enough to vote IN . fran
ehise, It mixht ~ easily be con-
tended yen have not sense enough
to vote for = councilmanf
Are you llving h IN oligarchy
or In . country where the people
are presumed to rulef Are you go
ing to permit your "representa-
tlves" to decide whether you have
any sense or not, or are you going
1 to show those Representatives"
you know what to do and when to
do its Are you going to let them
refuse yOu an expFession on . pub
lie question, when they know your
expression would - oveRwhelming-
ly opposed to the position they have
takens
There IL . way to retaliate. That
way h open to you DecembeF 4 II
those present e0unci1men whe seek
reelection have no eonAdenee In
youF Sense, y0uP good judgment,
yeuP desires, should they be re-
turned to . position where they can
tAwart your Wishes many more
tinaes within the next yeare
Admitting their sole reason for the
refusal was their belief that the people
would vote for the granting OF q COM
peting franchise. the members Of the
city council Wednesday night, with the
exception of Councilman Wertheim.
again refused to submit at the general
election December 3 the question
whether the city should grant Wilbur
B. Foshay an electric light franchise.
Councilman Funk. who again made
the motion to table Mr.. Foshay's reso-
luton calling for the election. was
frank enough to state he had not one
iota Of doubt that the residents Of
Olympia would vote in favor of COM
peting company. on their present in
formation of the circumstances. He
then proceeded to state. In his opinion,
the people were not sufficiently in
formed to act wisely. echoing the state
ments made the week before and by
those business men who addressed the
council Wednesday night against the
wisdom of such an election.
Asserting he was mot afraid to put
It up to the people," Councilman Wer-
theim Of the Third ward offered mo-
tion to adopt the resolution.
People in my ward have asked me
for . chance to VOTE" he said, "and l
have heard no serious opposition in all
this discussion. It would be no more
than Just to let them have vote. Let
the two factions fight It out then-both
Of them would see the people were well
enough informed to vote"
No one seconded the councilman's
motion, however 1t came at the close
of An hour and q half's discussion Of
the subject and in preference to it. the
council adopted the report Of the gen.
eral committee composed Of its repre-
sentatives. members Of the Chamber Of
Commerce and local power users. that
1t be permitted to investigate the sit
uation further. employ . civil engi-
lSser and present certain questions to
the public service commission.
Indicative of the widespread demand
for q chance to vote on the question. q
dozen different petitions bearing the
names of 589 voters Of the city were
presented to the council and disre-
garded entirely in the latters action on
the resolution. Instead. against these
$50 people. the opinions and the re-
quests of the IL members of this COM
mittee were given preference and the
right of suffrage to which the people
are entitled was arbitrarily refused.
TT. Miller aroused the meeting with
the declaration: This city has been
bottled up long enough and the action
on this franchise reveals the hand that
is holding the cork, but the subterfuges
you are using to gain time and delay
this beyond the election.
"The people of Olympia are demand
ing relief. II you are afraid to submit
1t, come out and say 30. You know the
people will vote for 1t overwhelmingly,
you know they want it and it is only
a question Of time when the people
who are throttling this now will fall
harder than ever"
The principal arguments advanced
against the submission of the question
at this election, made by John M. Viii.
son. representing the Chamber of Com
merce, President C. J. Lord Of the