The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-12-11
Board Kills Ordinances Great
ing Three New City
Offices.
PULLER'S VAIN FIGHT
BY Close Vote Places Of Claim,
Purchasing Agents and
Complaint Bureau
Die.

Much of the juice Of the recon-
mendations of the special charter
changes committee was squeezed out
ny the board OF aldermen last night
when II rejected the ordinances
creating the Offices of superintendent
of the bureau Of complaints, the pur-
I chasing agent and the claim agent.
as provided in specific ordinances.
1 and which were adopted after spirited
sparriHg by the common council on
| Monday night
Up TO late hour there were but
! eight memb ers OF the board present,
which. as il was observed later, would
have meant a tieup in the proceed
+. ings. But at the hour of nine some
I thing, Alderman Nielsen entered the
/ chamber. No one. apparently. knew
how he stood. and, as he explained
as the wipingou process proceeded
hc did not know himself, not having
! had time to fully read and digest the
papers as presented by the commit
tees Sut his vote was sufficient to kill
all parliamentary tactics. which might
have resulted in tabling for further
discussions. for he voted always with
/ the opponents of the measures that
had been so hopefully nurtured by
(. the committee.
| Alderman Mitchell did all the
! speaking in opposition to the three
measures which were defeated. AL
1 derman Melton did the Sherlock
Holmes part of IL. and lined UP the
I voters--except that he would not like
10 he known as having fobbied. hor
I would Alderman Gunst. nor Alderman
/ Paul. nor Alderman Nunnally have
agreed that either had any influence
/ upon their votes.
! Would Save Thousands
( Alderman Fuller in forceful manner
spoke for the committees report He
explained in detail the various ordi-
nances. and was most explicit in his
STATEMENTS con corning the three .fatea
{ papers ate. sieessrsi that white the
ordinances created three jobs. they
did not add to the expenses OF the
government, but acted as levers. and
{ in the long run would save many
i thousands OF dollars to the city.
! The department of complaints. he
pointed out. would save the citizen
much time and trouble by placing
before him an instrument by which
| he could find out anything he wished
AT a minimum of time and at a small
cost in the aggregate
{ he showed. as Captain Mills had
! done the previous night, that the
! claim agent would be instrumental in
saving the city many thousands of
dollars in damages, and he declared
that the purchasing agent would save
the city anything between $4,000
and $50. 600 annually In the purchase
/ of material and supplies for the vari-.
sous departments in bulk
Five members of the board could
not see II that way, and they stuck
with Alderman Mitchell in his vari-
Gus contentious that while the sug-
gcsuons made by Mr., Fuller were fine
and proper. the board OF directors
ah a nat IN Ta di,.lv ,a1 BIO
start.
Wants No Strings.
III the gentlemen who are to com
. pose the advisory board are to have
strings tied to them" said Mr.
Mitchell, they will suffer a handicap
TO start with, l agree that what MIR.
! Fuller has said is true. These ue-
partments are most desirable, and
when the proper time comes / shall
take pleasure in voting for them. But
/ do not believe this is the time. Let's
give the directors free hand. Let
them come to us and tell us what they
want, and /. for one, Will vote to sus-
tain them"
Alderman Mitchell had everything
his own way. For all three ordinances,
! were killed,
The other papers recommended by
the committee and adopted by common
/
though, when the ordinance fixing the
So laries for the directors came up, II
looked for moment like MIR. Gunst
might precipitate something.
His rising to a question, however.
turned out to be merely an inquiry.
whichs everyone agreed was pertinent.
as to why the committee had settled
specifically upon the sum OF $4,000 per
annum for each of the new officers,
One OF these places might be worth
more. and another might be worth less"
said Mr.. Gunst What want to know
is. why they have all been given the
same amount"
Mr.. Fuller explained that in fixing
this salary. il was done with the un-
outstanding that II pan in either
department was not worth that sum.
he was worth nothing at all to the CITY,
He said further. that u any man In any
position proved himself worth more to
the city he for one. and ne thought he
expressed the sentiments Of the entire
committee. would vote to increase that
salary.
There were many regrets expressed
by members Of council and by citizens,
when II was learned that the creation
OF the three offices had not taken place
Real STEPS Upward.
These three places had been looked
upon as the first real steps toward mod
ern and efficient government 1t was
" nd al - ia