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" INDEPENDENT IN ALL THINGS. , NEUTRAL IN NONE."
VOLUME XI.
CHICAGO, SATURDAY, MARCH) 9, 1895-TWELVE PAGES.
NUMBER 283.
iJSSSFf
!
HUE WENTER
His Honest Record in Public and Pri
vate Life Surely Recommends
Him to the Public.
He Can Be Elected Beyond the Possibility
of Doubt by the Biggest
Majority.
Is the Democratic Party Afraid of an Issue ?
-With Wenter It Can Grandly
Win Out.
The Democratic party need nut bo tip
si stump any more.
There I one man who will run for
-Mayor who can bo elected.
That mnn Is Frank Wenter.
Mr. Wonter Is a business man.
Ho Is a. Kent Ionian.
Ho. In n Democrat.
Nominate him and ho will win.
Upon the subject of the race ho wild
hlniHolf:
"I nnt not seeking the nomination, but
It' the nomination Ih tendered mo by
the convention which' meets Saturday
I will nccept It and use every honest
effort to be elected. All I ask Ih for u
strong ticket and a platform pledging
me, If elected, to conduct the nffnlra of
the city on a btiHlncmi basis. If I Hhould
recolvo tho nomination I would take off
my coat und show the extent of Mr.
Swift's real strength. I should make
tho raco upon my business record ns
shown. In tho conduct of my prlvnto
affairs nnil my connection with tho
rirulnago hoard of which I wax elected
n member In 1880 by the largest urn
Jorlty Riven to any other successful can
didato. One thing I want to say, too,
mid that Ih If I Hhould be elected mayor
I Hhould dovoto my time to tho Interests
of the city and let the Democratic party
select ItH own bosses. In other words,
I would be a business mayor and not a
politician, und I think that kind 'of a
platform ought to bo enough. I will
stand on a business platform and run
on my business record."
Mr. Wenter particularly desired It to
bo understood that ho Ih not seeking
the nomination, neither will ho accept
It unless the remainder of the ticket Ih
composed of strong men. He will also
Insist upon having u voice lu the mak
ing of tho platform. Mr. Wenter came
to Chicago In 18UU, and has grown up,
as it were, with the city, having
nmaHsed a comfortable fortuno lu the
manufacturing business. Ho served on
tho Hoard of Education from 188.'! until
IKSti, when ho resigned to become a
member of the Hoard of Drainage Trus
ties, to which position ho was elected
by mi overwhelming majority lu De
cember, 1880, and has bocu throe times
elected president of the board. He was
n candidate for tho mayoralty nomina
tion In December, 181KI, und had a
strong following In tho convention
which nominated John P. Hopkins. Ho
w 111 mtiko no effort whatever to secure
the nomination.
After discussing with the representa
tives of tho political committees the
question of itlillng vacancies lu the lists
of judges and clerk the Klectlon Hoard
decided at Its meeting Wednesday .to
give the Itepubllcau and Democratic
committees until March 12 to submit
names for these places. After that date
If there uro any vacancies tho board
will then determine how they shall bu
tilled. President Hadcnoch seems to
favor allowing tho People'H party to
llll all vacancies after March 12. Com
missioner Meier will certainly vote with
Mr. Hadcnoch on this proposition and
the Intimation that It Is possible such
n course will be pursued litis aroused
Commissioner Keomiu and bocu the oc
casion of several spirited discussions
at tho board meetings. It has also
created considerable excitement among
the managers of the Democratic ma
chine. Tho People's party commlttco claims
tho board acted unfairly to It lu allow
ing It only four days in which to select
DID Judges, whllo tho other committees
were given live weeks ami then hud
that tlmo extended cloven days. It Is
maintained the proper thing for tho
Commissioners to havo done Wednes
day was to havo refused nil further as
slstnnco from tho political committees
mid to havo gono ahead und filled tho
.vacancies, Borne persons oven claim
this was the proper thtug for tho board
to havo douo lu tho first place,
Thoso who tako this position main
tain that tho Judges and clerks are uow
virtually selected by the committee
Ft MAYOR.
men representing the wards, und not by
the executive committees of the parties.
They hold that In many cases these
committeemen are simply ward heel
era and not lit to act us judges or
clerks, let alone their ability to say who
shall act. They also say the first con
sideration a committeeman has lu mind
In selecting a Judge or clerk Is to get a
man who will servo him election day.
Friday there were 150 vacancies in the
list of Judges and clerks allotted to the
Itepubllcans and 030 iu those allotted
to tho Democrats. Wednesday the Ite
publlcans had all their vacancies tilled
except llfty-clght. The Democrats havo
been unfortunate In securing men.
Whllo they have, turned In more names
they have hud a greater per cent, re
jected. The attorney of the board will
bring action under the election law
against all persons who have been se
lected to serve as judges aud clerks
and have failed to appear before the
board aud qualify.
Lloyd Hmlth, chairman, and Thomas
W. Hcnnott represented the Republican
committee Wednesday before tho
board, Secretary It. Htirko and ex-A Id.
Loclllcr tho Democratic committee, aud
Chairman Kldd the People's party com
mittee. Afterward President Hadcnoch
explained tho situation, and then each
representative was given a hearing.
Chairman Hmlth said so far as tho Re
publicans were concerned If they did
not llll their vacancies before March l'J
the board could pursue any course It
saw lit Ho thought the committees
should relinquish any right given them
to recommend judges nud clerks If they
were not lu by March 12.
Becretury Hurke suld that all his
committee wanted was fair treatment.
and ho did not think any rule should bo
adopted that would dcstioy the equlll
brlum between tho Republican ami
Democratic party ho far as election
Judges were concerned. Ho thought
there Hhould not be a greater number of
precincts In which the Itepubllcans had
two Judges than precincts In which tho
Democrats had two. Ho was strongly
sustained by Commissioner Keeiiun lu
this position. Hecretary Hurke ox
plained the difficulty his committee hud
experienced In getting men to nerve and
President Hadcnoch replied if tho com
mlttco would send In the names of men
quulltlcd to act the board would force
them to serve.
Chairman Kldd held that Ids commit
tee was only given four days to select Its
Judges. At that time the organization
was Imperfect and he said If allowed to
do so 'the committee could now select a
People's party Judge iu every precinct
lu the city.
It was thou decided to give tho Ite
publlcau aud Democratic committees
until March IS to llll tho vacancies, and
If there are any vacancies ut that tlmo
a now rule will bo adopted.
Thoro will ltd but one day of registra
tion preceding tho spring election. This
day will bo March It), and Is o llxcd by
law.
Tho following message, which ex
plains Itself, was Kent to the Legisla
ture on Wednesday by Governor Alt
gold: T tho gentlemen of the Senate and
House of Representatives: I desire to
direct your attention to the Importance
of more thoroughly protecting the pro
ductive properties belonging to tho
school fund of tho Htato, and also of
striking from the statutes till provis
ions tinder which Vast amounts of
property escapo taxation,
1. In some portions of the Htato, par
ticularly lu Chicago, there nro very
valuable lands which belong to tho
school fund nud tho rent of which was
Intended to maintain the public schools.
Home of tho most valuable land lu the
heart of that city Is of this character,
There Is tho entire block bounded by
Dearborn, Madison, State and Monroo
streets. Years ago all school lands
were leased by 'tho Hoard of Kducntlon
to various parties for a long time, but
with the provision that there should
mar a j -
HON.
be it revaluation every tlve years und
that the rent should lie (J per cent. Pj-r
nullum on this valuation. Under this
arrangement the lessees till erected
buildings. Revaluations have been had
from tlmo to time, each much higher
than tho former, but the lessees, many
of whom nro prominent citizens, have
been able to exert such tin Influence
that the rent produced by this ground
has always been far below that paid
for ground belonging to private Indi
viduals, lu tho same locality, so that
those school leases have become very
valuable over nud above tJio value of
the buildings. Home of them have been
sold for large sums of money nud "til
ers are held ut over half a million dol
lars, whereas, If a fair rental were
paid, this would not bo the case.
It Is found that the owners of four
great dally newspapers hold leases of
school lands. Three of these pu iters
are actually published on school laud,
and when certain men mado a strong
effort to compel the payment of fair
rent they were mado tho (argots of
abuse by nt least one of these news
papers. Tho original lease provided
that the board of education should alone
select the three appraisers. The theory
on which the contract was made was
that the leasee should pay all the gtouud
was worth from time to time, and that
as tho members of tho board were not
personally Interested they would not
ask more. Hut eight years ago, after
mi appraisement had been made and
there was some litigation, this board of
education took the remarkable step of
waiving this right and entered Into a
contract whereby It was In tho future
to select only one appraiser and thu
other two were to he selected by two
different Judges of Chicago. Now,
while these Judges will always be hon
est uiul able, yet experience has shown
that as u rule Judges nro as sensitive
to newspaper lutliieiico us other men.
When, therefore, the hoard gave up
tho tight to mime, (ho appraisers It lost
what was of great value to the public.
Tho tlmo has now arrived for making
a uow appraisement, and It Is pro
posed by some of tho parties lu Interest,
who pose us patriotic clli.ens, that the
board shall waive tho right to havo re-
nluatlons from time to time alto
gether. This would ho robbing the
school fund In advance. Further, as we
uro Just emerging from a panic, this Is
not a good tlmo to tlx values for tho fu
ture. Not only should tills bo prohibit
ed by emergency legislation, but, If
possible, measures Hhould be adopted
that will compel the payment of such
rentals in tho future as tho ground Is
worth. At present the entire block
nbo e described pays only $100,521 per
year, while the corresponding piece of
ground ou the opposite side of the
street Is worth more than twice this
sum In addition to the taxes. These
school grounds are exempt from taxes.
The law contemplated that tho rent
should be that much higher, lustead
of this it has bocu kept lower, For ex
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"WILLIAM J. CAMPBELL.
ample: the southwest corner of Htato
and Madison streets Is the most valua
ble corner In the city. The lot Is 48x80
und leased to Mr. Otis, who pays $15.
120 a year rental on the ground, aud no
tuxes. I to sub-lets It at a rental which,
nfter paying the ground rent and nil
expenses, nets him over $10,000 per
year. As this Is due to the value of the
ground, most of this sum should go to
the school fund.
Tho southeast corner of Dearborn
and Madison streets Is leased to the
Chicago Tribune Company. The ground
Is 72x120 feet und nt present pays a
rental of only $18,000 a year, while ou
the opiKjslte corner, diagonally ncmss
Dearborn street, a piece of ground 20x
10 feet, having only 800 feet, Is rented
at an annual sum of $10,000 In addition
to the taxes, which at present amount
to $2,240, brluglg the annual cost of the
ground to over $12,000. Again, ou tho
southwest corner DourlMtro und Madi
son streets a piece of grouud r002 'j,
being but little more than half us large
as the Tribune lot, and Just across the
street from It, is rented ut an nunual
rental of $20,001) In addition to the tax
es, which uow amount to over $:i,ooo,
making the annual cost of the ground
aloiie $.'10,000. In comparison with
what other property In the same locali
ty Is paying it Is clear that the Tribune
lot Is worth nearly three times the rent
It now pays and that the owners of the
Till iu ue have for a number of years
been Hieketliig In tho neighborhood of
$15,000 a year that should have gono to
the school fund.
''. For the purposes of general taxa
tion other property Is assessed ut from
one-fourth tooue-llflh of lis market v.il
ue. This newspaper, aside fiom the
real estate, has u cash market value of
over three millions of dollars, nud for
many years has been paying dividends
ou this sum. If It were assessed ou thu
same basis as other property, Its as
sessment would be at least 5(100,000,
and It would have to pay upwards of
810,000 a year taxes, yet It manages to
escape with an assessment of only SIS,-
XHi,audpa.Kouly about. $1,500 tuxes, t-o
(hat the owners ot this paper have for
many onrs been able to pocket lu the
neighborhood of $10,000 a year. This
added to what should have gone to ;he
school fund makes over $00,000 u year
that has been diverted from the public
into tho hands of private individuals in
this one Instance.
As these newspapers havo muehtosuy
about patriotism and a higher citizen
ship, they should sot a hotter example.
Waving the ting with one hand aud
plundering the public with the other Is
a form of patriotism that Is getting en
tirely too common and Is dolug lullulle
harm to our country.
I respectfully urge Immediate emer
gency legislation which will wlpo out
till laws under which this glaring Injus
tice and wiling can be perpetrated.
JOHN P. ALTOKLD, Uovernor.
There uro somo 800 vacancies to bo
idled lu tho lists of Judges and clerks
'yTTfirfilr ibHH
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" ; rrr w
TJ . t i 'iMtTlPMlMi I WW
of election. The Klectlon Board dis
covered the Democratic party was
short 0.V) Judges and clerks und the
Itepubllcans l.V). As to the manner of
lllllng these vuciiucls President Had
cnoch and Commissioner lCeeuaii dif
fered, aud the question was not de
cided. Iu all precincts In which the
People's party did not select a Judge
the selection of the third Judge alter
nated between tho Itepubllcau and
Democratic committees, ho the
parties would be represented by
judges lu tin equal number of
two
two
pro
ducts.
It was proposed that If the Demo
crats did not llll their 000 vacancies
by March 12 nud the Republicans their
l.0 vacancies the People's party would
bo given the oportunlty again to till
the 800 places. Commissioner Keenaii
maintained that this was unfair, as
It would give the Republicans a creat
or number of precincts. After a spir
ited discussion it was decided to hold
n conference with the Chairmen of tho
three party committees und talk the
matter over. It is belle veil by many
that the Klectlon Commissioners havo
already given tho committees too much
rope, and that they should take tho
hull by the horns aud name the Judges
a ml clerks themselves.
The Kxecutlvo Commlttco of each
party refuses to accept ivoinnieuda
tlons except from committeemen, and
many of tho committeemen select
Judges and clerks simply .because
they can control them nt a primary
and perpetuate their ward machine.
When Judge Tuley walked out of
the County Htiildlug on Wednesday to
go home he looked worried.
"They have annoyed mo greatly to
day," said he, meaning tho politicians,
"but 1 have not changed my mind. I
said to them as I havo said nil along
to others that under no consideration
would I consent to become a candi
date for Mayor."
Tho venerable Jurist was llrst i.ttnck-
ed by n committee of citizens from the
Town of Lake headed by Jesse Sher
wood and composed of su-.ii men us
Charles II, Mitchell, Lucas Lump,
Charles 8. Thornton, J. J. O'Connoll,
K. J, Condon und William Coburn.
Thou a delegation of twenty-live tiled
Into tho court-room, asked for an audi
ence with him, mid got It. Their
spokesman Informed him they wore la
boring men, representatives of nil tho
labor organizations In Chicago, aent
to give htm assurance that he would
havo their united suport If ho would
accept the Democratic nomination for
Mayor. John Mayo Palmer undertook
lo pave tho way for theso callers by
urging the Judge to como out uud say
he would not decline tho Momluntloii.
They took lunch nt tho Iroquois Club.
To Mr, Palmer, to tho committees, and
to everybody elso, howover, ho simply
repeated tho answer given Hurry Itu
bens und Frank X. Brandeckor last
Wednesday, which was "No."
WENTER, WEHTER, M VICTORY
Democracy Can Certainly Win with
the Great West-Sider as a
Standard-Bearer.
Thafjthe People Always Believed in Him,
They Will Prove True at
the Polls.
The Chance of Democracy This Spring Lies
in the Nomination of Frank Wen
ter for. Mayor.
Kx-AUI. Frank Hrookman, of the
Twenty-llflh Ward, Is being urged by
every one he meets, regardless of party,
to make the race for Assessor of Lake
View on the Democratic ticket. There
have been delegations of 'ill factions
wnltlugupouhliu, nud the outlook Is to
date that ho will bo the unanimous
choice of the convention. Mr. Hrook
man Is well liked In his town, und Is
also n thorough business man and his
record In the Council Is beyond re
proach. And tia running mate he will
have such good material us Mr. P.
Haynes for Collector. Mr. Huynos Is a
resident of the Twenty-sixth Ward and
an ox-Alderman, and Is well liked In
Luke View.
With! substantial unanimity the Com
mittee ou School Fund Procrty of the
Hoard of Kducutlon decided to recom
mend separate appraisers for the dif
ferent classes of sclnsd fund property.
The proposition to make such u divis
ion of appraisers originated with the
Committee of Six, representing the
thirty-six lessees of school fund prop
erty, und the acceptance of the proposi
tion by the committee Wednesday as
being nn equitable proposition vus re
garded as a happy move lu tho direc
tion of fairness and the expeditious llx
lug of rentals without resort to litiga
tion. The meeting Wednesday was u
conference between tho Committee of
Hlx of the lessees uud the decision
reached ou School Fund property, nud
tho committee will result lu dividing
the property for appraisement Into the
following four classes:
Flrst-Tho east half of Hlock 14'J.
Second The west half of Hlock 142,
west of the east alley.
Third-West Hide properly.
Fourth The remaining property not
Included In either of the above classes.
To carry out the wishes of the School
Fund Committee and the lessees Judge
Kohlsaat and Judge Grosscup will lie
requested to appoint four appraisers
each, Instead of one each, as originally
contemplated. Tho Judges will desig
nate on which board ouch appraiser Is
to servo, making lu all four boards of
two members each, appointed by tho
Judges. To each one of theso boards it
was agreed that John McLaren, tho
appraiser appointed by the School
Hoard, should bo added. In this way
Mr. McLuron will bo In u position to
act us mi adjuster of comparative vul
lies and see that relatively each parcel
of property Is equitably appraised.
Tho members of the School Fund
Committee at tho conference were
Messrs. Keaue, Trade, Hloiiut, Krraut,
Lludbloui, nud Cusack. Messrs. Hreii
nil untl Cameron, the other two mem
bers, were unable to be present. The
committee representing tho lessees was
composed of .John M. Symtli, J. J.
Knickerbocker, It. W. Patterson. L. D.
Condoe, Victor P. Lawson, uud Walter
II. Wilson.
Mr. Morrill, tho nttornoy for the
School Hoaul, had the meeting called
as a result of a conference of the lessees
with Judge Kohlsaat last Friday.' At
this conference the division of the
school fund property for appraisal was
suggested, and Mr. Morrill, who was
present, thought so well of it that ho
brought u bout Wednesday's confer
ence, to which ho sent a report of the
conference with Judge Kohlsuut.
M. J. Keaue presided at the confer
ence ami there was considerable dis
cussion before the School Fund Com
mittee understood why the division of
property was asked. The fairness of
tho proposition was concurred In llnnlly
by all Imt Mr. Krraut, who thought It
would create delay, and Mr. Cusack
thought It advisable to llrst confer wRTi
the absent members. Mr. Hloiiut und
Mr. Trade championed tho proposition
from the outset, Speaking of Hlock
No. 142, the property bounded by Mndl
sou, Shite, Monroe, nud Dearborn
streets, Mr. Hloiiut said: .
"I dou't blamo the lessees on the
west side of the block for desiring to
be considered separately from the State
street lessees.' The property Is entirely
different. The Htato street side Is what
might be called fancy property and is
adapted to entirely different uses."
Mr. Lludbloui at the opening of tho
meeting thought one set of appraisers
would be sullkient. He followed Mr.
Hlount with a statement of his views
to that effect. Mr. Trade thought the
request of the lessees u fair olio und
should be granted. Ho fur ns unking
for more than one board of appraisers
was concerned, he said, each tenant
could ask for an Individual appraiser
for Ids property, and Mr. Trudo believ
ed the request would have to be
granted.
Mr. Patterson trusted the members of
the School Fund Committee would not
regard the lessees us having uuy sin
ister motive lu making the proposition
for a division of the property for up
prnlsoinout or In appearing before tho
commlttco to discuss the matter. He
said the lessees desired to coopcrnto
with the School Hoard lu securing an
appraisement on u fair and equitable
basis. Sicuklug for the lessee's ou Hlock
No. 1 12, west of the east alley, he re
garded their property us being more
especially olllco property uud conse
quently different from the cast or Htato
street side of the block. Tho lessees
he was speaking for desired to be ui
praised separately from the east side
tenuuts. Kuch lease represented n sep
arate contract. There was no desire to
obstruct the work of tho board lu hav
ing the appraisements speedily made
und there was no objection to Mr. Mc
Laren, who would be Just iu the per
forimiuce of his duties. Hut Mr. Pat
terson uud the other lessees ou tho west
side of the block did not wish to bo
placed lu the ungracious position of
passing upon tho value of State street
property, und for that reason did not:
desire to uppear before a Hoard of An-
iMumi-i nuii-ii Hiiuimi nave minor con
sideration the two classes of property.
Sir. Trude was prompted to deelwv
that lessees, of the school fund proiH'rty
were not treated with sufficient con
sideration by the School Board. He
said they had generally been regard
ed as aliens. This stirred Mr. Llnd
blom, who took exception to Mr. TruileV
remnrks. Ho was of the opinion, too.
thnt separate appraisers would not.
work Justice. One set might overvalue
Shite street property uud another mi
dervaliie Dearborn street property.
One Isinrd would tnko both under con
slderatlon. Then Mr. Lawson proposed
a compromise by placing Mr. McLaren
ou all four of the boards. This projio
sltlon won over Mr. Llndbloni, who
then advocated separate nnnnilserM
III accordance with the wishes or the
lessees. Mr. Smyth gave n statement
of his reasons for desiring sopurnto
boards. lv showed that olllco build
lug property to bring iibout tho best
values had to havo sky-scrapers, while
retail store property did not require
such lofty structures. Manufacturing
property had to he considered from an
other standpoint. Mr. Wilson, Mr.
Van Vllsslngen aud Mr. Knickerbocker-
each referred to tho right of the ten
ants for separate appraisers, uud after
some further talk n vote was called for
on tho motion to divide tho property.
Mr. Cusack and Mr. Krraut voted in
the negative. Mr. Cusack said, how
over, ho wanted to vote for the mo
tlon uud only voted ngalnst It beciuse
he thought the matter should bo post
poned till Monday. Mr. Krrant's oh
Jectlon was that the plan would con
siinio too much time. Ho hosllabxl,
though, before voting no when his
nnino was called.
Representatives of the School Hoard
and tho lessees will meet .Tudgo Kohl
saat Thursday nud .Tudgo (Irosscup
Tuesday, when It Is probable tho ap
praisers will bo appointed.
Tho New York dog show Is said to t
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