The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-01-05


could hope for only small sales to
the many teachers who came here.
Judge Cray moved that an amend
ment be made to Mr.. Wise's motion,
moving that committee of three be
appointed to solicit part or all of
the $75 to defray this expense. This
amended motion was carried
! Mr.. Soaring read communication
| from the Minnesota Federation of
| Commercial Clubs association, in
which it was stated that the Man
kato Commercial club did not belong
and advising this club to join. The
| fee would be $40. j. r. Brandrup
said that there was no particular
| advantage in belonging to this asso,
! citation as shown when the club be-
! longed to the organization some two
or three years ago. 1t was decided
not to join.
Secretary Soaring then read the
report of the committee which was
appointed to investigate the charges
made by Mr.. Waters.
Mr.. Atchison moved that the re-
port be accepted, and this was car
ried. Mr.. Palmer said that the. com
mittee should be given a vote OF
thanks for the pains the members
had taken in making the report.
Action Anent Charter.
The matter of the suit in the su
preme court to test the validity OF
the present charter was then taken
up for discussion. Attorney II. L.
Schmitt said that it would be advis
able for the club to participate in
the investigation because, he said
the city was as much interested in
the outcome of the suit as the Of
ficials themselves. He said that it
would be well for the Commercial
club to get in touch with the defend,
ants and help the city attorney to
fully bring the matter before the
supreme court.
| Mr.. Willard approved Of this Sug.
gestion, saying that the club should
! follow up this matter and appoint a
committee to see that the city attor-
new has what assistance he needs.
| +. NJ. Currier was i'll hearty ac-
cord with the former speakers and
moved that the chairman Of the
meeting appoint a committee of five
to discuss ways and means with the
! city attorney and with power to
/ take what action they saw fit and
report back to the Commercial club.
This was carried.
Stand BY the Charter.
! w. l.. HiXon wanted to find out
what the club thought of the mat
ter. whether it was in sympathy or
adverse to the suit relative to the
constitutionality OF the charter. eff
anyone wants to buy the city bonds,
they will want to know whether the
city is under legal charter or not. !"
he said "They will want to know
+ what kind of a charter the city is
operating under l think it a good
idea to vote and see whether the
Comm ercial club is going to stand by
the charter" However, no vote was
taken. ......~-.... 49,.
Judge Cray then said that no one
could comprehend the far reaching
facts in this matter. The very life
of the city depended on the atti-
tude sustained. He cited the in
stance of Lake Crystal which was
conducted for some time under q
charter that had never been legally
adopted. a.. -. '. .- .s........
"They had made, assessments, im7
/ prisoned criminals and buried their
dead" he said, with slight smile
at the last reference. land all under
an illegal charter" Judge Cray with
few others then drew up revised
charter and had it legally adopted.
"This is a matter that should inter-
est everyone in the city rather than
the councilmen themselves. in deter
mining quo warranto, by what
right-they are commissioners"
Mr.. Hixon moved that the club
take a vote in order to determine
whether it was in sympathy with
the suit that has been started.
Postmaster Veigel moved that the
Commercial club go on record aid
have a committee of three appointed
to see whether anything could be
done to withdraw the suit He op-
posed the proceedings decidedly.
Stood BY the Action.
August Blissenbach spoke up and
wanted to know some good reason
why the suit should not be contin-
ued. Attorney H. L. Schmitt thought
| that outside parties We're really
back of this suit. While in the twin
cities short time ago some Min
| neapolis parties, who were evidently
on the charter commission there, ap-
preached Mr.. Schmitt and wanted
him to interest some client in Man
! kato to start the suit in order that
they might, for their own benefit,
determine whether it would be legal
| for Minneapolis to adopt a similar
charter. They were willing to pay
! the expenses Mr.. Schmitt turned
| the offer down.
! j. R. Brandrup was given the
| floor and he wanted to know wheth-
er this suit was started with ma
| licious intent Arthur Schaub, who
| is ono of the attorneys in the action,
! jumped to his feet and emphatically
denied any malicious intent. More
over, he said, the suit would not
| be withdrawn. He denied the state
ment that there were any outside
parties back Of the suit. He said
/ the attorney general was the one
/ who has seen to it that the suit
was started in the courts. A famous
! lawyer like T. ID. O'Brien had said
the Mankato charter is unconstitu-
tional
1--WE can't enforce the assessments
| because the improvements were not
done according to law. If this was
attempted a suit would then be en-