The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1950-05-04
Around Town Wit. !!
The Editor

the world forging ahead, the Post
master General has seen fit to re-
turn his department to the Horse and
Buggy days. And from everything
have heard, the postal employees don't
like it any more than you and do.
My sincere congratulations to Mrs.
Rebeckah Stonebraker, visiting
, teacher for the Washington County
Board of Education; on being named
Maryland Mother of 1850, and hope
that she goes on to take the national
honor.
Recommended for the honor by
Superintendent William British and
all her co-workers at the Office of
the Board of Education, her name
was submitted by the Hagerstown
Chapter of the Business and Profess
sional Women's Club. The mother
of two fine sons and daughter,
Mrs. Stonebraker exemplifies moth
erhood in the finest sense of the
word.
It certainly was good to see Harry
Newcomer back at his Office in the
Court House for few hours, and
here's hoping he will soon be fully
recovered.
Unofficial returns from the election
of officers for the Alsatia Club on
Monday night show that Franklin R.
Miller was elected president. His
election, and that of other officers,
will become official as soon as they
have been certified by the board of
governors.
Guy Hebb, perennial Burgess of
Funkstown, was unanimously re-
elected on Monday for the 22nd
straight year He was elected with
out opposition, as were Guy Hoff-
master, assistant Burgess; and Lester
Smith and Edward Powell, council
men.
l have been thinking quite lot
about these rumors flying around
that Mayor H. L. Mills is considering
filing for United States Senator, and
it brings up in my mind point that
may have been overlooked by some
people.
The Mayor was elected, as 1 see it,
on his pledge to give the city an
economical and business-like admin
istration for the next four years,
and, of course, it is obvious that
should he run for United States Sen
ator, or any other Office for that
matter, and be elected he would
not, in my opinion, be carrying out
his campaign pledge.
But there is something even more
important than that.
Under our new city charter the
members of the city council, in the
event that the office of Mayor should
become vacant through resignation
or for any other cause, has the sole
right to elect a successor for the en-
tire unexpired term, which in the
event that the Mayor would run for
some office and be elected, would be
for over two years.
l have always felt that this sec
ton of the charter was wrong and
no small group of people, five men
to be exact, should have the right
to elect Mayor of the city of the
size of Hagerstown without the peo-
pie having any say in it whatsoever,
and l hope the day is not far distant
when the charter will be amended
to provide for a special election
under such circumstances.
In our state laws, in the event of a
vacancy arising in the State Legis-
lature the responsibility for naming
successor rests on the shoulders of
the Governor of the State, but even
he is not given absolute power, for
the vacancy must be filed by some
one of the same political faith. How
ever, when a vacancy occurs in our
Board of County Commissioners, the
responsibility again rests with the
Governor, but in this instance, he is
not bound by law to elect success
sor from the same political party,
and as a result of this, during the
past two county administrations,
when vacancies of republican. mem-
bers occurred through deaths, in each
instance the Governor appointed a
Democrat despite the fact that the
Democrats were in a minority on the
board. State Senator Mclaughlin
tried to get the same law for vacan-
cies on the Board of County Commits
sioners as exists for the State Legis-
lature. He got the bill passed through
both houses alright, but the Cover
nor vetoed it, and you can readily
COO univ