The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1913-02-09
Mr.. WALKER MAKES A
REPLY TO MR.. GONZALEZ

me, / wish to re- stablish my good re-
Ia tons with him by denying that 1
called him old. I would not be guilty
Of such a discourtesy to him. My
copy read: You are not too old to
realize that this is an age Of progress
sive evolution" The printer left out
the word mot" I believe on the con-
trary that he is younger in both mind
and body than the average president
of the United States.
Now to business: He says my article
was windy, and five or six columns
long. 1t was just two and a half
columns long, and it wouldn't have
been so windy If hadn't quoted so
much from his letter in order to make
my points clear. And in making these
liberal quotations submit that / an
gwered such of them as were questions
answered them squarely and with
out side-stepping. In his last letter,
Of the 9Th inst, he asks several ques-
tons: In one place he asks "the peo-
PIE" and in another place he asks me
direct IL / am a democrat. First, let's
see If the people can answer and then
I'll try and answer for myself. If Mr..
Gonzalez were a good and well-in-
formed Catholic he should remember
6ASHOp luCu VI GSOTSld anu
later Of Nebraska. Well, Bishop Gross
was with me when l cast my first
ballot, in st. Marys, Ga, for Samuel j.
Tilden for president of the United
States and for Alfred Fl. Colquitt for
governor Of Georgia. They were both
elected, though both didn't take their
official seat. 1t gives me pleasure to
mention Bishop Gross, for he was one
IF thu hf0OoCf ond h~o S1,ia T
ever knew, and I am quite proud to
have been an acquaintance of his.
And while we Cor he Isl asking the
people, ask the children of the late
Rev. l. S. X. Arson, of Savannah, in
whose family Woodrow Wilson found
his wife. They can tell you what
was, both politically and otherwise
If he would pursue the quest further
ask my old friend, Charles F. Bartlett
Of Macon, now a member Of the
| United States house of representatives.
| And now that I have been in Florida
! these sixteen years I shall assume that
much Of my political history to be so
well known that can look every man
square in the face and say in the Ian
guage Of David B. Hill, governor of
| New York, IT am a democrat" I've
never voted any other than g. demo-
cratic ticket, and, what is more to the
| point, I thoroughly believe IN a rep
resentative, elective government; only
| this is the difference between Mr..
Gonzalez's idea of q representative
| elective government, and the commits
| sion idea: He would elect a mayor
and a lot of aldermen and q lot OF
members Of boards and a lot Of city
employees OF every description, and
| then try and hold some one Cor some
| bunch) responsible for results, while
! denying these heads of departments
the right or privilege Of appointing
| the men to carry out their policies.
believe the commission idea is bet
| ter than this, for the people elect the
! commissioners and let them do their
appointing. and look to these commits
sioners for results-for everything
| This is partly what Andrew Carnegie
referred to when he said Put all your
! eggs into one basket, and watch that
| basket"
Now as to the public utilities clause
being turned down, Mr.. Gonzalez is
mistaken. 1t is true that there was
| no dissenting vote when it was pro-
posed to put that in the Senmes char
! ter, but there was, and is, good deal
| Of difference OF opinion as to shape of
it and the verbiage Of it, and while !
| am not in the confidence Of the char
ter committee, nor very close to them,
1 understand that this clause is to ap-
pear on the ballot in such way that
the people can vote for or against that
clause just as they please.
He asks what has progress and
genius and invention to do with a
form Of government. Answer: every
thing. 1t was nothing but progressive,
inventive genius that evolved the
! commission" idea. And just look and
see what this has done for the city
OF Galveston. He quips me because
mention Glasgow. and he seems to
think the name OF this city, because 1t
happens to be in Scotland. is synony-
nous with monarchy. Why, sir. the
people there have a proprietary right
in everything the sun shines on. ex-
cept the postoff1ce and the railroads.
/ / have answered Mr.. Gonzalez's
questions. Has he answered these
questions Of mine:
Has not experiment (per seq made
the world better?
Does he like the picture I drew for
him Of aldermanic New York and
Philadelphia?
Will public officials do as good work
for the city during two hours out of
every two weeks, without pay, as they
would do If all the time Of every bust
ness day were required Of them and
they were paid for 1t?
Can you cite q single city, out OF
over two hundred, that has tired of
the commission plan7
He has not answered these ques-
tons. He seems to be obsessed with
the idea that commission government
is undemocratic. This is a pure illu-
sion Perhaps the most progressive
of the younger set of northern demo-
| Gratis is Brand whit1ock Of Toledo
See what he says; THE Des Moines
charter has more real democracy-de-
rnccracy with a little din It than
any city charter in America" And
see what ex-Mayor j. NJ. Head, OF
Nashville, says: Il am free to say
that the Iowa charter comes nearer
covering my ideas Of the perfect city
charter than anything have ever
seen" And Louis F. Post, editor OF
The Public, Of Chicago: 1T seems tc