The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-10-04
The Special Session

The demand of the City Manager commit
tee for special session Of the Legislature is
merely demand for honesty. But it is not
likely to succeed.
Were it merely a matter of righting the
wrong done to Indianapolis and Evansville IN
robbing them Of the right to rule themselves
and changing their contracts with their mayors
the Governor would probably call the session
at once and throw Duvall overheard.
But the Governor and everyone else under
stands that there are even more imperative rea-
sons for a special session than the changing OF
the City Manager laws. That is important to
this city. Other matters are important to the
entire State. &
The State needs thorough and open pub
lie inquiry into it's political past which will
satisfy the people and will drive from public
life those who have disgraced it and brought
it into disrepute at home and elsewhere.
The criminal courts are taking care of such
crimes as have not been outlawed But that is
not enough.
The people are more interested in the acts
which were reprehensible if not criminal. They
want to know what bargains were made with
D. G. Stephenson and the Ku-Klux Khan. They
want to know what bargains were made. with
the Anti-Saloon League. They want to know
lust who owns their government and their pub
lie officials.
The special session of the Legislature would
be or should be interested in the black boxes
of Stephenson and in the price Of horses in this
State It might be interested in following
the letters which Senator James Eli Watson
saws he wrote throughout Indiana in the hope
of keeping the head of the Anti-Saloon League
from being sent to Jail by it's Supreme Court.
It might or should be interested in know
ing what bargains were made by other officials
than the Governor with the same secret gov
eminent
The redemption of Indiana is not a partisan
matter. It is an emergency.
The people Of this city were robbed Of self
government by the last session when the polit-
'ical bosses who are now unnasked gave orders
and were obeyed.
Mayor Duvall went into office under an
implied contract to give way at any time the
people desired to change to City Manager form
Of control. That was the law under which he
was elected. The Legislature shackled the
city for two years. It changed his contract
with the people.
It is small comfort to repeat that when this
was happening The Times alone called atten-
ton to this fraud upon the people and that the
protest from the friends Of the City Manager
system was not unanimous or emphatic,
The people Of this city have right to de-
mand that the State which robbed them of their
rights restore those rights speedily and at once.
The people of the State have right to
quick clean up Of all the scandals in order that
the next election will be waged upon principles
and not upon personalities They have right
to know the extent of super government. They
have right to that summary action which can
be taken only by the State Legislature.
If the Governor hesitates to call that
session as he has been requested to do, march
Of the $4,000 men and women who voted for
the City Manager to the State House in order
to emphasize it's earnestness would not be the
least effective method of getting what belongs
to the people.