The Washington times., 1915-10-01
Chancery and Circuit Court Re.
quired to Uproot Evils and
Protect Municipality's Credit
OFFICIALS ARE TURNED OUT
City's Money and Property Con.
verted Into Private Uses BY
Office Holders. ."

NASHVILLE. Tenn, Oct Tins
city Ia now underG ding a revolution
that promises In the end complete re-
habilitotion. Pecuiation. fraud, ana
craft under the commission form Of
government have been ended by an up
r,s,nr Of the people against mfsrule.
opd what the people began. the courts
ore completing.
The process OF renovation II sui IN
progress. and every legal device ana
tcchnicality available have been EN-
ployed to thwart Justice. but while sucn
tactics have impeded. they have not
prevented an amazing expose.
A municipal receivership ~ousn'
matters to a focus. 1t started an IN
yestis alton the revelations from which
have startled Tennessee. From the ex-
posures has sprung the question. How
can such a condition be possible unoer
a commission form Of government!
.v.t,rn under which Nashville's aHalrs
have been administered since the onf-
c,a,s whose acts are now being inVesu-
gated. have held Office.
Two Prominent In Contest.
Two ,gures have shown conspicuonsiy
in legal contests and in political gain
er,nrs-Chancellor John NJ. Allison. who
for nearly fifty years has presided over
tho chancery court, and Harry ..
etokes. a young lawyer practically uh-
known before he became the leader OF
the forces that sought to turn Ut the
city hall gang out; cnance,.or sas Ans'a' ~ n
.ece,ver. % mpon petition of young Stokes
q fter the system had been laid bare.
Cshancellor Allison did not act upon
the receivers bill until after speclai
master had conducted an inveansauon
for nearly q month and gone into every
depa artrrient OF tn. city's affairs and lad
held up every official act Of the city Of
ficials for the past five years Tor pupnc
scrutiny. In delivering his opinion or or
dering the receivership. Chancellor An
eeiyership ceR % that the taxpayers can be
at once relieved temporarily from the
nut ra neous. unjust. and almost unpear-
able burdens placed upon them ny tne
faithless. incompetent OFFICIALS dH,,ts .,ora n
ia no room for but one sound opinion.
and that is q receivership may carry
on ali of the business and material al
fairs of a municipality"
Presidents Cousin Is Mayor.
The order Of receivership was en-
tered. Robert Vaughn. clerk and mas
ter, Of the chancery court. was named
receiver. and was in office forty-eigh'
hours when the official affected secured
a writ of supersedcas setting it aside
But the equities involved In the re-
ceiyership were not brought into ques-
ton. Judge S. Fl Wilson. chief justice
OF the appellate court. held that the
AtxI~
for the removal of city officials fol
misfeasance. malfeasance or failure In
any way to enforce the laws. by resort
10 the circuit or nisi prusi courts. ar.
forded the proper means for securing
relief to Nashville. s.
thereafter sustained the decision OF
the appellate court terminating the
receivership. But this did not take
the administrative affairs OF Nash
Only the receivership question was
before the supreme court. ana 1t dio
not hold that a receivership was i'm.
proper, but by implication held such
was entirely proper by leaving the
entire affairs OF the municipality In
making it impossible for the city to
contract a debt. pay out funds. &c.
without the order OF chancery. ;,
Events thereafter came In rapid
sequence. All lne Va"
cials were ousted by Judge Matthews
and the net result is that Nashville
now has as mayor Judge Robert
Ewing. cousin OF President Wilson
and q frequent White House caller
election will be held September IS &c
select two commissioners to serve
| with Judge Ewing. and the other two
selected by former officials.
Called Mayor "Crook or Fool"
| Until a year ago. Nashville will
her 11O.s64 Inhabitants, apparently
was contented with machine rule. A
tackled the machine. but were de
feated
A little over , year ago an inciden
| occurred that assumed ominous pro
portions. Chief Of Police Curran. ,
respected official. resigned office afte
a long tenure Alex Barthell. con
neeted with the police aspartmen
Of Mayor Hillary f. Howse. wa!
chosen as Curran's successor. Barthel
had been associated with Hows'
when the city books would balance
affairs at the city hall. and invite'
Mayor Howse to accompany hin
down the Cumberland river on
fishing trip. Howse accepted. Th'
| second day out, Rarthell, so the stor!
goes. turned on Howse. and levelin,
his eyes upon him asked:
Are YOU the Hillary howse that
Sure. what's up now?." responde,
| Howse.
Just this" retorted BarthelI. "yo,
| are crook or a fool: that lyanl
you've got under you at the city hal
Is bunch Of crooke or blooming
lot of idiots"
Hcwse returned to Nashville and
| hurry call was issued for the head
OF departments. BarthelTs accuse
tions Were repeated, and for severa
DAYS the Bartheu crowd" 10 said I,
nave gone armed in fear of an over
act on the part Of friends Of tn,
neads OF departments.
City Finds Itself Bankrupt.
The bad feeling melted by the Pal
thell accusation became noticeable an
was the talk of the town. Citizens be
gan quietly to make inquiries. Ir
creased taxes, which 1t was propose
to make further burdensome, accer,tu
ated the situation and increased III
| tension. Suddenly the citizens awoke
the realization that the city was hanE
rupt. There was no money to be hat
| The question arose as to whether nj
city should Increase the rate Of taxa
| NJ 9loA ,lssllBuIs pus ls9SJBI 0uL
tion or raise the assessment on DroI
| erty. In order to AVOID the ISSUE
] was decided bY the 1.-Two :, -