Milford chronicle., 1916-09-22
An OPEN LETTER

Editor. The Milford Chronicle:
Sir: Having been elected Presi-
dent of Town Council on the 11th of
this month and having resigned that
Office a week later, feel that 1 owe
a duty to the citizens of this town in
making public my reasons.
On the 18th instant / mailed to the
Clerk of Council the following letter
of resignation:
Mr.. Wilson NJ. Vinyard,
Secretary of the Town Council, OF
Milford.
Sir:
/ hereby tender my resignation as
President of the Town Council OF Mil
ford and as a member of the Council,
elected from North Milford this resigna-
tion to take effect at once: The imme-
diate cause of my resignation is the re-
fusal Of members Of Council to support
me in appointing a proper police force,
after they had given me their assurance
of support / feel that l can no longer
retain my connection with the present
Council and retain my self respect.
When last January a new Council
was elected after a bitter contest, as
a hOld-Over member felt that natur-
ally l would have very little influence
with the new administration, and
therefore, / have not been active in
the affairs of Town Council during
the current year. When Mr.. H. W.
d. Moore resigned as President of
Council the members urged me to ac-
cept the position and promised to
stand by me in the administration of
the Office.
It was too late in the year to at
tempt much improvement in street
work, but it did seem necessary to re-
organize the police, especially as the
Chief of Police had resigned. The
first thought in the minds of all was
to secure the services of a capable
man to act as Chief of Police. l was
instructed by Council to see the form |
er chief, Mr.. Deputy, and ascertain if |
l could prevail upon him to serve for |
the balance of the year. l did every |
thing possible to persuade him to do |
this and finally left the matter with |
the Clerk of Council, Mr.. Vinyard, |
hoping that he might persuade Mr. |
Deputy to serve. But when Mr.. Dep |
uty absolutely refused, l then waited |
for several days and made inquiries
from citizens throughout the town,
asking them to recommend some good
reliable man for the position of Chief
of Police In almost every instance
these citizens asked whether it was
not possible to secure Mr.. r. D.
Baker, our former Chief of Police, the
general comment being that he had
made the best officer we had ever had.
got in communication with Mr.
Baker and asked him if he would
serve. After giving the matter some
thought, he informed me that he
would come to Milford, look the stu
alton over and give his answer. Af-
ter arriving in Milford, on the morn
ing of the 18th, he finally decided that
he would accept the position l inn
mediately called upon Messrs. Den
ney. HOusman and Pierce, members
of Council, each of whom agreed that
the appointment would be perfectly !
satisfactory to them, each stating
their high regard for Mr.. Baker as {
Chief of Police. Mr. Vinyard, the {
Clerk, informed me that he would not i
vote for Mr.. Baker, but that if a ma c
iority of Council were satisfied, he
would support him. I Immediately
called a meeting of Council for that
evening and when the question of con-
frming my action in-aecuring the ser
vices Of Mr.. Baker came up for con- .
sideration, with the exception of Mr.
Denney, the Council absolutely refus-
ed to endorse the selection. Thus two a
Of the members who had given me f
their assurance of support in the a
morning, reversed themselves in the
evening. and l announced that if the
would change their minds Z
On an important matter of this char +,
acter between morning and afternoon,
had no desire to be associated with
them any longer.
leave it to the people Of Milford n
who are familiar with conditions in
his town at present to decide whether p
/ could have remained otherwise and
self respecting. a
LOUDER N. HEARN. i,
l.