The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-07-31


Topekans will recognize as Jay him
self
Jay tells how he was regarded with
suspicion as he dOnned the robes of
office; how it was Speculated that
Tandy Cor Handy" as in the article),
the street commissioner, would domi- |
nate the commission instead of him /
self; how he and Tandy and Horton
tPorter), light and water commission
er, ran the commission, voting as a
unit on every roll call; how he stirred |
up hornets nest. temporarily, by fir
ing Mrs Harp" (Mrs. Thorpe), po- !
lice matrOn, because-and the mayor /
stated his reason frankly-she was i
''offensiyely active against him" in the |
election and could not be depended /
upon to be loyal to his administra- /
ton: how he took on the civil service |
and recumbent." citing the case of |
Mrs. BALI (A1rs Curtis Myers, then I
, Mrs. HalD, whom he put on as a well /
fare worker. after she had been out |
also how he put a. Mexican plain |
clothes officer on the police force to !
solve the growing Mexican crime ques- |
| ton, despite the protests~of his col |
ored constituents; how he stopped a
firemen's strike by threatening to hire |
a solid negro force of firefighters; how
he and the other two-thirds of the
use-Tandy-Porter machine solved
the jitney question, the biggest ques-
ton during his administration: how
he took every sparkler off of "Kath-
crime Hassell' (TasseI) queen of the
/ Illicit rum dispensers" and put a
/ plaster on her motor car before his
police department quit filming her; how
he sent Mary Leslie" (Chesney) of
the popular bookcase to Lansing
after firing a few cops and how he
bmade the corporations which had been
friendly to his candidacy come to time
. A=,-7
tably the Edison case and the Santa Fe
/ viaduCt case.
Tribute to Tandy.
The former mayor, in his article,
/ pays a fine tribute to Tandy, then
/ dean of the commission, now farming
north of the city. OF him. House
writes: Handy was all they claimed
for him. He was much more. He
was scrupulously honest. entirely fear
/ less, clean in mind and method and
/ possessed of an unusual fund of plain
/ common sense. He had no gift of
words and could not project himself,
/ but he was one of the most capable
public officials I have ever known
/ House sets forth the following state
ment he gave to the city-hall report
ers one afternoon at the beginning of
/ his first term. It is an excellent atti-
tude for a public official to adopt
toward the press and could be digested
to advantage by the present city ad-
ministration. It follows:
This administration will have no
secret processes, no subterranean ram
ifications- Its cards are on the table,
/ face up. That which goes on here is
public business. The public is en-
titled to know about the city's bust
ness, however. am anxious that it
should know. If there is anything
you want to know about the city's
] business, however obscure or remote
1t may be, I'll tell you if I can If
don't know, I'll find out. I'll not tell
you what we have done and what we
are going to do but III tell you why
we did it. III tell you whether the
by zeal for the public welfare or by
personal or political considerations
All you have to do is to ask me-"
State Journal and News.
/ Regarding the Topeka newspapers,
and their attitude toward him, House
has-the following to say:
The afternoon newspaper CThe To-
peka State Journal) treated me fairly
and considerably. 1t did not subject
me to the ordeal of being kissed in
1 public; il did not bedeck me with
rhetorical laurel. But it did what I
wanted it to dot printed the news
or that which went on at the city hall
/ truthfully and accurately. 1t was en-
| abled to do so because gave it the
! low down on everything that hap
4 peheu- IN the end II became one OF
my most ardent and powerful sup
porters.
Il had no such luck with my own
! newspaper, tho I continued in its en-
ploy during the entire period of my
/ public service. Apparently it never
forgave me for whipping it in the
campaign. On two or three occasions
( Il commended me editorially but its
news columns reeked with innuendo |
and insinuation. and with calculated
nisrep representation obviously intended
to discredit me with the public
II never protested or asked the |
reason. After a time retaIiated !
The method of retaliation was to /
scoop my own newspaper on every
piece OF important news that broke |
Of the city hall. I did not abrosate !
my policy of frank and open discus
sion of affairs with its reporters.