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ORGANIZED LABOR ASKS
ELECTION BY THE PEOPLE
Memorialize Council
on Important
Measures.
SHOW REASONS * '
for public vote
Ask That Officials of City
Be Named by Taxpay
ers and Voters of
City.
Representatives of the Atlanta Fed
eratlon of Trades presented to council
Monday afternoon a memorial chal
tensing the growing tendency to take
from the public the power to elect of
peers of the city government, and es
peclally asking for the election by the
people of Atlanta of the city comp
troller, clerk of council, city engineer,
commissioner of public works and gen
eral manager of the waterworks.
• The committee, composed of Jerome
Jones, chairman; William Strauss, R.
O. Ross, H. F. Garrett and Charles W.
Bernhardt, waited upon council and
presented the memorial. Besides the
committee, there were present a large
number of other representatives of trade
unions, who concurred In the action of
the committee, and lent their support.
The memorial was received and re
ferred to the committee on ordinances.
Jerome Jones, editor of The Journal
of Labor, and former president of the
Atlanta Federation of Trades, showed
briefly the desires of the working men
of Atlanta, who represent an enormous
proportion of the voters and taxpayers
of the city. The memorial, In full. Is
given below;
The Petition in Full.
Atlanta, Ga„ June 3, 1907.
To the Honorable Mayor and General
Council of the City of Atlanta:
t'nder the terms of the original char
ter of the city of Atlanta the several
administrative offices are elective by
council. This rule obtained for many
years, until It was so shown productive
of combinations by which. Incompetent
and sometimes undesirable men wero
placed In public service.
Prior to the change by which these
offices became subject to the vote of
the people, the citizens became very
much dissatisfied and demanded a
change. The general cause of the dis
satisfaction, as shown by the publica
tions of that time, was the tendency of
public officials to combine In order to
Insure their continuance In office. This
tendency Is not per se reprehensible
because self-preservation 1s the first
law of nature. It would not be more
than human that a man hold an office,
which he desired to continue to hold,
would seek to secure this result by
confederation and combination. The
result was that the council was very
largely elected for the purpose of serv
ing their friends, the officers, who took
an active Interest In their election,
8ystem Is Obnoxious.
These members of general council,
while good men, were nevertheless no
more than men, and being largely In
debted to the office-holders for their
election. In the nature of things would
feel grateful and In turn would under
take to secure the re-election of such
office-holders. While such results were
not criminal, nor any more than could
be expected, under that system, yet It
became very obnoxious to the citizens,
and a storm of protest arose prior to
and during the year 1893. The papers
of that date were full of criticisms
upon this method of the election of
public officers. The evils growing out
of the system were held before the
people In glowing terms and forceful
language. The dissatisfaction became
so general that by an act approved
December 19, 1893, all of these offices
were made elective by a vote of the
people.
New Method Satisfactory.
This rule began with the elections
In December, 1894, and we respectfully
submit there has never been found any
dissatisfaction therewith by the citizens
at large. We Insist that no protests
have arisen against this method, and
that the papers have never voiced any
dissatisfaction on the part of our peo
ple.
More than this, we Insist that the
changes that have arisen In this meth
od have been secured quietly and with
out the knowledge of ouc citizens gen
erally. We Insist that the people of
Atlanta would not have consented to
such changes, had they been forcibly
brought to their attention. We do not
mean to say that the reasons urged
for such changes do not seem satis
factory to the council then In control,
but we do mean to say that If such
changes had been left to the will and
wish of the people, the same would not
have’ been made.
First Change Made,
In 1899, by an act approved Decern-
GREAT CHARTER
THE GREAT
PANETELLA CIGAR
5 1-2 Inches
5 CENTS-ITS WORTH IT.
ber 20, 1899, It appears the first change
was made by which the clerk of council
was made elective by the mayor and
general council. The undersigned re
spectfully submit that there was no
demand on the part of any section of
our people that such change be made.
Of course, council or the particular of
ficer might have preferred it in this
way,. but the feeling and sentiment
back of the change In 1893. and which
caused a great protest of that year.
did not concur nor Indorse this first
change.
The break having been made, It fur
ther appears that by an act approved
August 3, 1904, the office of comptrol
ler was taken from the control of the
people and placed In charge of the gen
eral council.
Citizens Protested.
We respectfully Insist that these
changes were not demanded by any
change In the offices or In the work of
method now being pursued with
reference to the three offices last
named.
We respectfully Insist that the offices
named should be placed where the act
of 1893 placed them, namely, with the
25.00, 30.00 ahd
Tailor Suits,
35.00
Wednesday,
Consider former price and sale price a moment—the lowest priced Suits in
the lot, the 25.00, at 12.50, are half price—the 35.00 lack but little of being reduced ito
one-third of their former price.
Consider the price with what they are and your needs.
Voiles first of all—Voiles strictly tailored and trimmed with braids or piping,
-some in all black, some trimmed in white. ,
Voiles in solid tan, gray and champagne. •
Voiles in fancy black checks.
Panamas in russet; that most popular of all the browns.
And a good number of fancy checked Worsteds and Panamas.
Black-
Eton and Coat
highest class of
There are 44 Suits in the lot;
Suits, of the best styles and the
ioorkmanship.
Good, clean merchandise without the slightest
suggestion of odds and ends or doubtful styles
mixed in.
If you are going to travel this summer or during the next six months, these
Suits, both in style and material, are certainly ideal.
12.50
fit-
taken frnnr, them.
Commizzioner of Public Workz.
; Again, the commisetoner of publlo ,
workr. of all the office™ ;of the city of 1
Atlanta, comce In more direct and lm- 1
mediate contact with the citizens. The
etreet work, repair work, sidewalks and
street pavementa, etc., njpke his office
a source of complaints, and demands j
on the part of the citizens. He Is doubt. ]
less willing to continue In this-public
service and doubtless the people will;
so continue him, but they should'have
the right to express their satisfaction
at his services and to approve or con
demn same. If this office were re
moved from the people, to whom woujjl :
they go with the voice of authority?
To their councilman? He Is busy, he
has many things to do, he has many /
complaints, he has not the time. The
them pleasantly, but
under the
,ndl and tho
voice of council would be to him the
voice of authority.
People 8hould Have Voice,
Bo far from rcinoylng apy more of
fices from the approval gh disapproval
of the ballot box, we urge the election
of an additional city official by the
vote of tho peopje, to-wlt: the general
manager of the departmeht of water
works. Like the commlslsoner of pub
lic works, he comes In dally contact
with the citizens. Possibly more than
any other officer, his department Is
thrown In closer and more lntlmate re
lationship with the people. They should
have a voice In his election not by the
Indirect method of the water board, but
by the direct method of the ballot box.
If the present official Is satisfactory and
gives good service, he wqpld doubtless
general elections, and be submitted to
a vote of the people.
The general argument for this Is
that these officers come In contact with
the people, ahd, while In some measure
they serve the mayor and general coun.
ell, yet this latter servlco Is Incidental
and collateral, for the main purpose of
their election and their service Is for
the city and for the people. If theso
offices are taken from the people and
placed with the mayor and general
council, just to that extent will they
be removed from the control of the
people and from the correction of the
ballot box. The citizen has no remedy
except by ballot. Inferior service, Im
polite service, negligent service, unsat
isfactory treatment, etc., may be made
the subject of complaint, but unless he
has the Immediate and easy remedy of
the ballot, he is without his main pro
tection.
People Should Elect,
Again, these offices belong to the
people Just us the county offices belong
to the people; there Is no more reason
why the clerk of the superior court and
the sheriff of the county should not be
1 elected by the people than there Is that
similar offices In the city government
should bo elected by the people. The
argument urged against the election of
these officers by the citizens of Atlanta
would defeat the election of similar
county officers by a vote of the. citizens
of the county. As special argument we
submit that the clerk of.counel! serves
the people each hour of the day and
serves the council only a few houra
each month.. If the ones most served
are the ones most concerned and should
have the controlling voice In the elec
tion, certainly the people should elect
this office.
Again, the city comptroller la called
In a few hours each month with, the
mayor and with the finance committee
and aside from this his service is alto
gether with, the people. We do not
mean that the people have as r
do with this officer ns with others, but
that he has a corps of clerks and a
suite of rooms where the people come
to be served and where they are served.
We do mean to say that for every hour
he gives to the council he gives two to
some department of the city or some
citizen of the city. There Is no more
reason why this officer should not be
elected by the citizens of Atlanta than
there is why the treasurer of the coun
ty should not be elected by the citizens
of the county, or that the board of
county commissioners should not be
elected by tho voters they serve.
Many other reasons might be jirged,
but those suggested should lead to all
the reasons that should move this body
to place all the administrative offices
In the hands of the people. The prog
ress of nil government Is to reduce, as
far as possible, the control of small
bodies and to extend, as far as possible,
the control of the people. They muy
do wrong sometimes, but as a rule they
will do right more times than a limited
body or select board of people.
System is Challenged.
Again, this Is a democracy, the pee
jle own and control the county. Sure
y there Is no reason why these local
officers should not be controlled by the
citizens which they serve. We chal
lenge any good reason, we challenge
any champion of the system of select
ing these officers by the vote of the
mayor and general council, to show any
reason why this should be done that
would not place the election of all of
ficials In the hands of the general coun
ell and state officials In the hands i
county boards or state legislation. If
theso people are to control, let them
control, not only In name, but In fact.
If they make a mistake. It Is a mistake
with their own property. Certainly
they desire this right, and It Is one of
the privileges of their franchise and
should not be restricted or taken away.
Another Protest,
Again, there are two offices now pro
posed to be taken from the people,
namely, city engineer and commissioner
of public works. No reason has been
urged why they should now be taken
from the people that did not exist In
1893 when tbe people demanded the
selection of these officers. What change
has occurred that calls for the with
drawal of these offices from the general
election? Is there any friction? Then
let the matter be submitted to the peo
ple. They surely know a competent
official as well ns a small body would
know and undentand them. They see
what Is done and they know what re
sults have been accomplished and they
are perfectly competent to pass upon
same, and we respectfully submit that
the people desire to retain the control
of these offices. The engineer gets out
grades and controls permanent pave
menta and comes In personal contact
with the citizens and they should have,
what they hpve had for many years, a
voice In his election. 'They have been
satisfied with the present official and
may continue to express their satlsfac- D _ ..
tlon, and surely this right should not be Brooch Cor. Mitchell and Forsyth.
be continued. But If the service Is not
satisfactory, If the department Is not
carried on without friction, If the em
ployees are not courteous, he would un
doubtedly be held responsible therefor
and be removed. It Is no objection to
say that It would be difficult to hold
the office. We have already Indicated
that other offices having like sources -if
irritation, are held by officers from yenr
t-. year and It Is not deemed necessary
to take same from the people because
the exercise of official duties may Irri
tate the holder thereof. Hence, let this
official whose peculiar province It Is to
deal with nearly every home of Atlanta
be subject to the approval of a majorl.
ty of such homes.
Return Offices to People.
We do not desire to weary' your lion- :
orable body by unnecessary remarks or
to extend this communication beyond
proper length, and we therefore submit
the above reasons for your considera
tion and respectfully urgg that no mote
offices be taken from the control and
s< lection of the votem, but that thoso
tlmt have been so withdrawn be re
turned to the control and selection of
the voters and that the additional of- .
flee of general manager of the depart
ment of walerworks be likewise placed
hi the hands of the people and the offlea
be held by their suffrage.
JEROME JONES,
WILLIAM STRAUSS,
R. O. ROSS.
H. F. GARRETT.
W. iJKRN’I
CHAS.
HXHARDT.
A Book of Interest j
to Old and Young
We don’t know of any book
that possesses so nuiph interest for
everybody, old and young, as one
of our savings pass books.
There is interest in opening a«
account to get one; there is in*
terest in watching the deposits
{ >ile up, nud last, though far from
east, there is interest at the raie
of
4%
Compounded Twiee a Year.
Drop us a postal for informa
tion about
BANKING BY MAIL,
Central Bank &
Trust Corporation,
Candler Building,
BmU