The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1913-02-27

FRANCHISE, they, TOO, wanted commits
sion form of government, and the
banks, and the fellows who financed
them wanted it. One fine citizen there
says to me, John, will have to vote
for that bill. My banker, he wants me
| &c do it and owe him $500, and If I
don't do it he will call my loan in and
| it will break me up" That is not a
direct bride. How is 1t done? 1 point
these things out to show you. Gentle
| men, it is a heap easier for those in
terests to control two out of three men
than great majoriy. I say to you,
my fellow countrymen, don't you put
yourself in that kind of a situation
Now, Mr.. Hartwell, I have no doubt,
| told you "a commission government"
was a government of economy Well,
the other day 1 went and saw the city
| tax collector and I said, walter, what
are expenditures Of the offices under
the commission form of government
for 1922" He says, 1888, 500" Then
I said, what was ii under the alder
; manic government" He says, 1928
000." (Applause). But, gentlemen,
they got after a very efficient gentle
! man, health man there, and got him
! out, said he was too extravagant, there
was a great cry and hue. Then the
health department Of Mobile was run
under $2,S00, and under the commits
sion form of government 1t is more
than $1,000. and now they have appro-
! priated nine thousand dollars, and still
they tell you about economy My
friends, I do hate a man that is sup
posed to be a leader in society. leader
/ In commercial affairs, or of the church,
| to get up and mislead and lie to the
people that way. (Applause).
/ know you can't get something for
nothing appreciate that. We are
i doing a great deal of paving in Mobile,
and I want to say, by the way, how /
went to the legislature. 1 was a great
adn1irer of Senator Morgan. I was
then in the wholesale grocery bust
| ness, and the then governor of
our state, and who is now sena-
| tor of the state. He wanted to
secure the office and / espoused his
cause and while / was down in South
Florida looking after some business
| affairs, there was held a public meet
ing and was the first man elected to
go to the legislature as Morgan man.
I was also chairman of the city coun-
ell, and while was in the legislature
ulb SONC Ldl anu DclHB d SOOu
roads man I helped put through a bill
| providing for the paving of our city
| and draining Of our streets. The OPP
position to this bill was not by the
small property owner, or the large
| owner, or the medium owner Of prop
erty, but street railroad didn't want
to pay its share of the paving, hence
the opposition. My friends, when the
| fnT1a mission fnF|7a Of :
agitated in Mobile, went to a con-
ference Of some gentlemen and was
not invited but I went there. A gen.
tleman says to me, Graft, are you
going down TO the meeting today?" /
says, What meeting?" He says,
Down to the chamber of commerce
they are inaugurating a commission
form Of government" There were
| every one of the principal men, their
attorneys, or those directly interested
! in service corporations, and they said
| the purpose of the movement was to
have a more efficient government, to
have 1t cheaper and where you could
get direct results. My friends, every
| Improvement that has been made in
| Mobile has been made by the alder
manic board, and when the change of
government took place there we left in
| the treasury nearly a hundred thou
sand dollars. There hasn't been a
single initiative or constructive thing
| done by the present commission form
! of government in Mobile. Not a con-
structive thing II you will refer to
| the docks and city wharves, that also
is the work and genius Of the board
| of aldermen and they provided money
for it
Mr.. Semmes: How about Ryan's
Park?
John Craft, your present visitor, in
troduced a resolution in the city coun-
Gil and provided the money for that
| and fought for 1t for a year, and I will
tell you why I did it. (Applause).
Mr.. Semmes: When was 1t paid
for?
My friends, was a personal friend
| OF Father Ryan's and an aduirer of
his, and I will give you the whole mo-
tive. There was a little triangular
| piece, where Ryan's Park is now, in
tested with a lot of unsightIy shacks;
| the Sisters of the Visitation there built
magnificent convent on this unsightlv
location. admired the noble work Of
| those noble women, and I thought as 4
| taxpayer and citizen of Mobile, and a
man who wanted the Improvement. II
should be done and did it. And be-
cause Of the civic conditions in Mobile
thought it would be proper to intro
| duce a resolution in the city council
| dedicating this park or property, then
not condemned, that we might erect a
monument to Father Ryan. There
were other motives. Right on the west
| of It was the good priest at st. Josepfl's
church, who was way back off of the
main street, and the parishioners there
az a great sacrifice put up a nagnifi-
cent church and this unsightIy TRAN
guIar piece was there. No, my friends.
1 say to you, and to Mr.. Semmes, that
john Craft, Alderman Craft of Mobile
| city council, put that thing through
and provided the money for it. GAP
plause). 1t took great effort in ac-
quiring the property because the prop
erty owners put a fictitious value on
it. They wanted to hold the city up,
and then some of the aldermen on the
bear dthough because there was a man
on there named Harry Inge, an alder
man, who had a private infirmary
right on the north Of it, called the
Inge- Bondurant Inhrmary, and the