Evening star., 1946-10-10
Charter Group
p
Charges Foes
Twisting Facts
Asserts Democrats
Using Smoke Screen
To Obscure Wuste

The Montgomery County Charter
COMMITTEES today charged the county
Democratic organization with will
full Misrepresentation of the facts"
and asserted that the latter's attacks
on the charter movement are a
smoke screen thrown up to obscure
the waste, mismanagement and low
political morality existing in the
county government today"
At the same time, the committee
issued list of 16 charges of bad
county government" practices. It
added that although the county does
not have the worst government In
the country, lit is very far from the
best and Montgomery citizens want
the best"
One of the alleged misrepresenta-
tions, according to the committee, Is
the description of a proposed char
ter form of government as new and
untried"
Point to The Facts.
''The fact is," the committee de-
clared, that large number of cities
and communities in the United
States now operate under similar
governments.
Montgomery County voters are
merely asking for the same rights as
those which the city of Baltimore al
ready enjoys under the Maryland
Constitution"
Denying another Democratic
charge that the election of charter
board would alter the form of gov
ernment without the consent of the
people, the committee pointed out
that if elected, the f1ve-man board
would hold public hearings and then
draft proposed charter for consid-
Grafton by the voters in 1948.
A third "falsifcation," the COM
mittee said, is the charge that the
charter movement is a political
weapon of the Republican Party.
Nonpartisan, 1t Insists.
The committee emphasized that 1t
Is nonpartisan with both Democrats
and Republicans on the board of di-
rectors.
More of the board members are
Democrats than Republicans" the
committees said, t'in recognition of
the fact that there are more regis
tered Democrats than Republicans
in the county. OF the candidates for
election to a chatter board, three are
Democrats and two Republicans"
The committee also contradictedI
an "undercover claim" which it said
has been made by political machine
workers" to the effect that vcharterl
means Communism"
This is on a par with the DELHI
crate falsehood circulated in 1914 by
the same politicians who told the
colored voters that Charter was al
white mans scheme to take away
their vote" the committee declared.
In these willful misrepresenta-
tions of fact" the comnaittee con-
tinued. "the objective voter can come
to only one conclusion: Members of
the political machine in control of
the county government are at loss
to find any sound objections to the
election of charter board and must
descend to sly untruths and blatant
demagoguery."
Types of bad Government"
Among the types of bad govern
ment" which the committee charged
are being practiced by the present
county administration are:
Use of "payrollers" to do election
work during Office hours, use Of pub
lie property and county employees for
the benefit of favored" persons in
construction and other work, con-
struction of public roads on poll
tical" basis, political appointments
of incompetent" persons in certain
key positions, creation of unneces-
sary offices.
Also. use of borrowed money to
pay current expenses, Extracting"
political campaign contributions
from county employees and then rails
ing their salaries to compensate
them for the contributions, award
ing contracts in return for political
service" secrecy at Annapolis In
passing "unwise and unwanted" To-
cal legislation and transfer of "im-
portant" county functions from the
county government to bi-county
commissions Ito avoid control by the
people"
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