Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-12-21


President of Common Council
And Common Council saw his worth
too. He was elected president of that
body from 1898 to 1894.
Quite naturally at the expiration of
his term in 1895 Harrisburg decided
that Mr.. Seitz was just the man the
city wanted for its legal adviser and
he was elected to that position in
1896.
If Commoner Seitz won n place in
municipal history as a councilman he
carved himself a special niche in the
hail of fame as city solicitor.
Mostly Roses, Then ThOrns
Now and then he met defeat, of
course. But the thorns of unwon bat
ties were hidden too deep among the
roses of many a famous victory to be
pofntedly noticeable. Some of his vic
tories sustained by the lower and
higher courts have become precedents
upon which third class cities of the
State have entrenched themselves.
For instance, there was the gruell-
ing battle between the city and the
Sixth street property owners relative to
the per foot front rule for paving as
sessments. True enough Charles II.
BerGner, assisted in that fight, but that
didn't detraet u bit from the legal ad-
viser's glory. That victory not only
saved thousands of dollars for Har-
risburg, but the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania sustained the position of
Mr.. Seitz in a way that has stood for
all time as a precedent for cities of the
Keystone Commonwealth.
The Per Foot Rule
There were other victories. too His
successful fight against the viewers
award in Market street subway con-
troversy saved thousands of dollars
Mr.. Seitz' contention had been that
abutting property owners were bene-
fitted rather than damaged by the i'm
proVement, at least to the extent rec
commended by the viewers. And his ac-
tfvities resulted in slicing at least 60
per cent. from the amounts allowed by
the viewers
Among his later victories, perhaps,
the Wildwood Park condemnation cases,
can be cited. Had Harrisburg paid the
price demanded by the owners for the
big stretch of land it obtained in Wild
wood, the city's Golfers would have been
depleted to the extent of from 81 900
to $1,000 an acre for the ground Mr.
Seitz advised condemnation proceedings
and conducted so vigorous a campaign
before the courts that juries allowed
but 500 an acre for the parkland.
The Filter Fight
When the city was before the courts
on the question of patent infringe
VI III dtiOi IleluOuS MI. Se1tZ
worked asslduously with ex-Judge NJ
w. Jacobs, the special counsel, and the
city won.
At the time of his death litigation was
pending in two other big condemna-
tion cases-the Front and Second street
subway problems and "Hardscrabble.
AT that Mr. Seitz easily won the first
and second line trenches in the Hard
scrabble" battle and he was preparing
to continue the offensive when he was
hailed before the Last Tribunal
For the State Too
While he was ever active in the city's
interests his fame as a lawyer had be-
come general throughout the State, His
specially, perhaps was municipal law,
and his worth was always recognized
by fellow solicitors of other cities of
the Commonwealth. Always a leading
figure in the law committee of the
Third Glass City League of Pennsylva-
MIA. (the committee which framed the
legation which these municipalities
asked the State Assembly to enact in
to laws) he prepared and helped pre-
pare practically all of the important
bills that still live on the statute books.
When Harrisburg was compelled to
change from the bicameral to the COM
mission form of government few
years ago the trying work of rearrang-
ing the cogs of the city's machinery to
conform with the curious requirements
of the Clark act fell upon Mr.. Seitz'
shoulders. How well he fulfilled that
duty is a matter of record in the in
formation files in the offices of many a
city clerk and city solicitor.
How Does Harrisburg Do 1t.
For while Harrisburg, oddly enough,
was well content with the conduct of
its government under the old system
and was accordingly reluctant to switch
from the old plan, it had solved the
new problems so successfully that the
most eager advocates of the commits
sion plah in other cities have been
forced to ask, "How Harrisburg does it,
when a particularly intricate or trying
question confronts them.
In other ways fellow -barristers ap-
preciated Mr.. Seitz ability. AS a mem
ber of the State Bar Association he was
invariably selected to serve on the COM
mittees to which were given the tough
est knots of municipal law to un-
tangle.
On the Bench
That City Solicitor Seitz was de-
stined to go far was generally pre-
dicted in legal circles. Should Dauphin
ever select a third member to it's judi
cial bench, 1T was freely conceded Mr.
CSllH was W nave b6tI IIle CnOlCe. AND
there are those who believed that his
elevation to the bench only waited the
creation of a vacancy in the additional
law judgeship.
Fellow members of the bar always
recognized the solicitors worth. He
served as president of the Dauphin
County Bar Association and was fire.
quently selected to fill important COM
mittee positions. He enjoyed a promi-
nent place in the fraternal and social
life of the city and even had a voice
in it's business activities, having been
a member of Harrisburg lodge 629, f.
and A. NJ, the Social and HI brrisburg
Clubs, and the Chamber of Commerce.
The Last Flowers
The city solicitors quick wit and
luiet humor endeared him to a host of
friends and he was invariably selected
to preside at councilmanic banquets and
similar gatherings. To-day many a city
official, past and present, recalled City
Solicitor Seitz' genial, if rather sig