Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-04-28
Chamber of Commerce interested in
the selection of an architect.
The Board Meeting

/ I.
The Board Meeting
AT the meeting of the board Fri
day afternoon, a motion to elect Mc,
1ttner was defeated by vote of five
TO four. This was followed by a
motion, duly seconded, that G. How
ard Lloyd, of Harrisburg, he select
| ed with G. Harry Kain as his assist
ant in the remodeling of the Camp
Curtin building for junior high
school purposes.
Before this motion was put, the
board. at my suggestion, went into
executive session at which executive
session l read Mr.. timers statement.
| 1t was unanimously agreed that the
| persons whose names were mention
ed in the statement should be asked
| to appear before the board at once
| to be questioned with respect to the
! statement, and, against my Judg-
ment and suggestion, the board, by
n majority vote, decided to hear the
matter in public rather than in
executive session.
MY judgment that the board hear
the statement and the witnesses be-
| hind closed doors may, or may not
have been sound, but l am not yet
convinced that it was not.
when l accepted election to the
school board a year and a half ago,
| made up my mind that If the board
was to get the best results for the
boys and girls in the public schools,
indeed, if it was to accomplish any
thing of a truly progressive and
worthwhile nature, If it was to do
anything more than simply keep so
many schools open and operated In
just any sort of a way, the School
Board must have the full confidence
of the people of Harrisburg-in any
event, a very much fuller confidence
than it had had for a number of
years. SO important has this seemed
to me that have never lost sight Of
it for a moment in the part l have
played in the activities of the board.
Indeed, there has seemed to be an
agreement amongst the members on
this point. There have been many
evidences, at least to my mind, that
the board was reinstating itself in
public confidence, not the least of
which being the approval by the
electors for school building purposes
of the largest single loan ever au-
thorized in Harrisburg after two
smaller loan propositions had been
defeated
Ittncr's Standing
Now, here was a statement which,
if published, promised to destroy
perhaps the most important work
accomplished during a year and a
half and to put us back where we
started, or even further back, to the
great injury of our. schools. l
hoped when the whole board knew
the facts, as Mr.. Ittner stated them,
they would be willing to elect him
on his proved merit and integrity,
and that we could then go on with
out prejudice with the important
work we are charged with. free of
scandal. However, now that Mr..
McIlhenny has seen fit to publicly
attempt to discredit not only Mr..
Ittner but as well the judgment of
every individual and organization
that has favored his candidacy, there
clearly is nothing to do but to pre-
sent the facts, and they are pre-
sented herewith in the form of state
ments, all of. which have been sworn
to, by Mr.. Ittner himself, l.. ID. Petre
and T. NJ. Boyd, both of Chicago,
and William T. Stewart, OF Philadel-
phia, all of which, except his own,
Mr.. 1ttner brought here with him
yesterday.
"The public will reach it's own
conclusions. To my mind it is clear
that Mr.. Ittner was not in the
slightest degree concerned with any
improper proposition, and that he is
as clean as those who supported him
were assured he was and believed
him to be; and that even though it
may have been n mistake of judg-
ment on his part to get in touch with
the man who now states that in the
past he has been the boss of the
school board, it was a mistake that
can >and ought to be excused be-
cause of Mr.. timers lack of knowl-
edge of conditions here. There
could be no more objection in itself
to Mr.. timers asking a supposed
friend of Mr.. McIlhenny to try to
show Mr.. McIlhenny that he should
favor Mr.. timers candidacy than
there was objection to members of
the Chamber of Commerce and other
citizens of Harrisburg trying to con-
vince members of the board that Mr..
1ttner should be selected or that Mr..
Lloyd should be selected. 1t is also
clear, that, no matter how it came
about, an improper proposal was
conveyed to Mr.. Ittner and he re-
jected it. And also, at least an i'm
portant step has been taken In clear
ing up some other matters"
Mr.. Stamm's statement is accom-
panied by sworn statements by Mr..
1ttner himself, L. ID. Petrie and II.
M. Boyd, of Chicago, and William
T. Stewart, of Philadelphia, all of
the American Seating Company, and