Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-03-19
''CITY COUNCIL IS
STEAM ROLLERED. P"
So Claim Five Members Who
Walked Out During Last
Nights Session.
BROKE THE QUORUM.
Mayor Warned Members They
Would Dig Political Graves
If They Did Not Vote
For Mr.. Melvin.

For Mr. Melvin.
Declining to be "nattened out" un-
der the heavy weight of what several
of them afterwards described as a
steam roller" five Annapolis Alder
men last night walked out of the
special meeting of the City Council,
thereby breaking the quorum and
preventing the election of a member
of the Board of Directors of the An
napolis Water Company
The meeting though brief was
stormy and saw Politics with a big
"P" thrown into the administration
of the affairs of the Water Company.
1t was only after Mayor Strange
had, from the presiding officers chair,
sounded a warning that men who fail
ed to vote for their party caucus nom
inee were digging their political
graves" that Aldermen John ]. Levy,
Edward T. Beavin, Elmer f. Parkin-
son. John II. Russell and ]. Albert
Adams got up and walked out of the
meeting.
The session got scrappy and there
were indications that fur was going
to fly" when Mayor Strange announc-
ed that the purpose of the session was
to elect a director of the Water Com
pany, in view of the fact that the
term of Mr.. George T. Melvin, who is
seeking reelection, would expire on
March 29th.
Alderman Beavin, who with Alder
men Levy and Parkinson, has been a
consistant opponent of the plan of
Mr. Melvin TO install an expensive fill
tration system at the Water Company
plant, moved that the election be
postponed until after the period in
which bills can be introduced in the
Legislature. This was because there
had been hints of a plan to secure
legislation which would take from
the power of the Council the right to
vote a plan for filtration plant The
motion was lost for want of major
ity after Mayor Strange had an
nounced that any such talk was mere
"poppy-cock." The vote was: Nays
Mayor Strange, Counsellor Rullman,
Aldermen Smith, Wells and Stevens,
5. Yeas-Aldermen Parkinson, Levy,
Beavin, Russell and Adams, 5.
When the motion TO postpone had
been lost the real scrap began and its
climax came when Mayor Strange
made the identical ruling on which
Speaker Wooden in the House of Dele
gates had been forced to reverse him
self during the election of a State
Treasurer in January last. Carville
Benson, of Baltimore County, was the
parliamentarian who entangled Mr..
Wooden, but il was Alderman Levy
who raised the question with Mayor
Strange.
City Counsellor Rullman's nomina-
tion of Mr. Melvin to succeed himself
was seconded by Alderman Smith,
and Alderman Levy asked as a point
of information if the members were
going to be limited to voting only for
men whose names had been present
ed in open Council. During a warm
alteration between the Mayor and
Mr.. Levy, the former twice ruled that
no one could be voted for who was
not first placed in nomination He
then announced that no one could vote
f, for any one else than the man select
ed by his party caucus without dig
ging his political grave"
Alderman Levy in some heat de-
| clared: 81 have no political aspira-
tions, and that so-called caucus is
over with, and this is a meeting of the
City Council of Annapolis, not a ses-
sion of a caucus"
Alderman Beavin then took the
floor to back up Mr.. Levy and an
nounced that so far as political
graves" were concerned he preferred
to dig his with the public sentiment
of the town back of him. He then
stated that the so-called caucus had
not been called as such, and no an
, nouncement was made when it was
called as to what it would consider
He stated positively that he had been
called and told there was to be a
special meeting" and that he had
! considered this to mean a special
meeting of the Council. In this recOl-
lection of the calling of the Demo.
| CRATES members of the Council to-
gether about a week ago, Aldermen
Levy and Parkinson concurred.
While Alderman Levy was still or
the floor protesting against such {
ruling as the Mayor had made. Alder
man Smith moved that the nomina
tions be closed. The two Republican
members had taken no part in thc
discussion and no nomination of {
/ candidate to represent their partJ
had been made, when the motion wal
put, while Levy still stood addressing
the Council. 1t was declared carried
by a viva yoce vote
Alderman Levy promptly reached
over. picked up his hat, and left hil
seat He was followed by his Demo
cratic colleagues Parkinson anC
Beavin. and the two Republican mem
bers. Aldermen Russell and Adams
Counsellor Rullman, when it wal
seen that there was one short of Z
luuoruu1 nroconf pallpd attention n