The Washington herald., 1919-04-12
ALEXANDRIA
The HERALD BUREAU,
A. 8. DoniphAn.
"a King Strppl

Alexandria, Va, April 11.-Follow-
ing a mass meeting held tonight In
the Opera House, which was unde,
the auspices of the Chamber of Com
merce in the interest of a change in
the form OF city government. an or.
ganization was effected to arrange
to submit the matter to the cleo.
torate OF the city at an early date
resolution to affect a permanen,
organizatton was offered by Claude
w. Fletcher and the following were
named a nominating committee
claude w. Fletcher, c. e Dare
Gardner 1. Boothe, Richard M. Green
E. E. Downham.
following permanent officers, who
were ratified: James R. Cation, chair.
man; William P. woolls, secretary
Executive W
Smith. c. c. Carlin. r. E. Downham
John T. Harrison. Dr. w. NJ. Smith
carroll Pierce, Capt. w. II. Sweeney
Harry Hammond l.. uben, w. A
Smoot and r. L. Payne.
The meeting was called TO order by
James r. Cation and the opening ad-
dress was delivered by II. III. Rum
Bile, Norfolk, Va. He said the chief
opposition to the city manager plan
comes from lack of information as to
what 1t Is and what 1t can accom-
plish. The old system, he said, sure
ly has defects. The best form OF
government, he declared, is thai
which provides administrative fea.
lures,
The city manager plan, he said
provides the very best system In ex-
istence. The old system, he said, Is
founded on distrust and suspicion
The result is an interlacing and over
tapping of responsibility so that II
Ks we'll nigh impossible to place the
responsibility on any one In particu-
lar
Under the new form Of govern
ment there is no mayor and no veto
power. he said. He declared all
councilmen. numbering five, under
the new plan would be elected at
large, doing away with ward lines.
All of the work comes under the
head of the city manager. who is
personally responsible to the coun-
Gil. he said. He added that there
Is no shifting of responsibility un-
der the new plan. Concluding he
SoAN IL II put llllO lIlN
citizens must stand back of 1t and
see that ii gets a fair trial and
that the best possible citizens are
selected to govern il.
H. G.. Otis. Of New York, told of
the advantages of the new plan of
city government. He read extracts
from a magazine showing the results
Of the city manager plan in opera
ton in various cities.
The last speaker was Leroy Hodges.
secretary to Governor Westmoreland
Davis, Of Virginia. Among other
things he said the present form of
government is machine that can't
function. Plans, he asserted. are nil
without proper machinery. the pres
ent form being antiquated. He warn
ed those present that their obliga-
tions do not cease after they have
elected five councilmen.
The next step will be to secure
signers petitioning the courts to set
apart a day for an election. After
a certain number of signatures are
obtained this will be done.
Among those occupying seats on the
stage were: James r. Cation. chair
man; william p. Woolls, secretary;
Alderman John T. Harrison and
Councilmen H. R. Burke. z. F. Ticer
L. Ruben; R. Stuart Roger. business
manager of the Chamber of Com.
merce: R. L. Payne, Harry Raymond
and Revs. John Lee Allison, d. D.. E.
B. Jackson. d. D.. Rev. z. V. Regis
ter, D. D., and Rev. A. E. Speilman.
William Esser, 80 years old, who
was employed as foreman at the
plant of the Virginia Shipbuilding
Corporation, this city, was struck and
instantly killed yesterday in Balti-
more by the Washington-New York
express. Both legs were severed and
the body badly mutilated. The de-
ceased is survived by his wife and
three children.
Prior to the war he was engaged
in the saloon business in South
Baltimore. When the war broke
out, however, he decided to en-
gage in war work. Esser was well
known in this city, where he had
many friends among the employees
of the plant of the Virginia Ship
building Company.
The Importance of Being Earn
est" tonight was repeated for the
second time, in the auditorium OF
the Alexandria High School. The
play was given for the first time
by the school last night. under the
direction of Miss Eddie Dickert,
of the school faculty, assisted by
Miss Corinne Reardon. also of the
faculty, and Mrs. G. N. Rosser, of
Washington.
Miss Myrtilla NJ Graves has sold
the Edward NJ. Dean house and lot,
633 South Fairfax street. A deed OF
transfer was recorded today.
The National Fruit Products Com
pany, this city. has purchased tlsa