A Wilmette meeting [proposed annexation of Wilmette by Evanston]
- Publication
- Evanston Press, 10 Feb 1894, p. 7
Description
- Media Type
- Newspaper
- Item Type
- Articles
- Notes
- Library hall at Wilmette was full Thursday night--full of tobacco smoke, full of people and full of hard feelings, if one might judge from the ill natured outbursts which from time to time broke forth to interrupt the speakers.
It seemed to make no difference whether or not the speaker was or was not in favor of annexation. He would be greeted throughout his speech by the most impolite interruptions and one speaker, Mr. Frank R. Grover, presumably because he made the best speech of the evening, was so unfortunate as to be hissed at the end of his speech. Or course only two or three people allowed themselves to be so far drawn away from all sense of decency and justice as to hiss an invited guest, but the fact that the large crowd allowed Mr. Grover to leave the hall without expressing their regret over the insult which he received cast a very discreditable aspect upon the whole meeting. During Mr. Gage's speech, which was on the other side of the question from Mr. Grover's, he was also repeatedly interrupted in a most ungentlemanly manner and the air of the whole meeting seemed to be more like a bitterly partisan convention than a company of well-balanced gentlemen assembled to investigate two sides of an important question. Mr. John Ling was elected chairman of the meeting and Paul Panuska was appointed secretary.
The first speaker of the evening was the village clerk, Mr. F. H. Drury. Mr. Drury opened his speech by saying that he was the worst maligned man in the village of Wilmette. He said that he had been called all kinds of names and had been told that he was unfit to live among decent people. He thought the time had now come for him to say something for himself. Mr. Drury then proceeded to give his views upon the question. He said, among other things, that there was no question but that Wilmette taxes would remain the same whether the village was annexed to Evanston of not. About the financial condition of the two cities, however, Mr. Drury throught there was some room for question. "We will admit," said the speaker, "that Evanston's financial condition is good, but we also claim that Wilmette's financial condition is good. It is true that at the end of the present fiscal year we will be confronted with a deficit, of possibly $1,600. But the fact remains that we have spent this year $200 less than the amount appropriated and I think we must admit that the financial condition of Wilmette is good." Passing on to the water question, Mr. Drury said it was used as an argument that if Wilemtte let her water rent go by thirty days, Evanston could shut off the water. Mr. Drury thought that such an argument was very poor, "for," said he, "who supposes that even if there were a deficit, that Wilmette would allow the contract to go by default. The idea is ridiculous on the face of it because if there wasn't enough money in the water fund to pay it the deficit would be borrowed from some other fund or might be borrowed from private parties."
Now a great deal is said about education and the advantages to us of a high school. The fact is we are doing better high school work right here and now than they are doing in Evanston. I make this statement upon the authority of Prof. Boltwood himself. We have better apparatus for first year work than they have at Evanston, and, if we wish can obtain apparatus for second year work without a cent of cost to the tax payers." [Mr. Drury neglected to state who would pay for the apparatus if there was not to be a cent of cost to the tax payers. The item seemed probably so insignificant that he that he [sic] thought it useless to mention it.]
Mr. Drury touched on several other phases of the subject and finally sat down amid the plaudits of the assembled multitude.
Mr. Frank R. Grover was now called for and was about to speak when Mr. Frank Law objected to his being heard, saying that the meeting was for Wilmette citizens and they didn't want any one from Evanston to give them any advice. Nothwithstanding the gross discourtesy of the action, Mr. Law found a few men who so far forgot themselves as to be parties to his ungentlemanly action, and, to the disgrace of the assembly, a rising vote was called for on the question as to whether Mr. Grover should be allowed to speak. Of course there were only a few whose nerve went so far as to stand up and say that they were willing to put themselves on record as intentionally discourteous to an invited guest and Mr. Grover was given the floor. He said that twenty years ago he had bought a lot in Wilmette and had throught at that time that Wilmette property would soon surpass Evanston property in value as the natural advantages of Wilmette much greater than those of Evanston. He has waited for twenty years for that property to develop but it was worth no more now than when he got it. In fact it would be a hard matter to get now what he had paid for it twenty years ago. It had been the history of every town that its affairs were much better and more carefully managed under city government than under village government. In this case there would be no question but that Wilmette would get a good representation if she went into Evanston and would save the $1600 which was now paid out in official salaries. Her departments would be admirably managed, as Evanston's now are, and the very name of Evanston would add to the value of property to no inconsiderable extent. Mr. Grover said that the advantages of annexation in pure dollars and cents were so well understood that the city council of Evanston had passed a resolution that in their judgment annexation to Wilmette would be a bad thing as it would simply mean that Evanston would have to carry Wilmette on her shoulders for a few years. At the close of Mr. Grover's speech, Mr. E. A. Burge asked him to explain some matters and he arose to do it when he was coarsely asked if "he meant to take up the whole evening." He replied that he had not come to the meeting with the intention of insulting any one or of being insulted himself. He had read the accounts of the fight in the last meeting and had thought that such a thing could not occur in Wilmette but had emanated from the diseased brain of a reporter, but that the conduct of the gentlemen present at this meeting made him think there was something in the story after all. This statement was received with applause and hisses and one man, an anti-annexationist by the name of Rogers, made the brilliant remark that "lots like the one Mr. Grover owned could be bought for ten cents a dozen" a "humorous" exaggeration which was greeted with loud guffaws by the rabble which mistook the refined and delicate statement for a piece of rare wit.
The meeting was addressed by several gentlemen on both sides of the question and broke up at about 10:30. The speeches were, for the most part extremely poor, and argument was avoided like a deadly disease. No conclusion was reached by the assembly. It is sincerely hoped that if another meeting is held the disgraceful scenes of Thursday evening will not be repeated. - Date of Publication
- 10 Feb 1894
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Drury, F. H. ; Grover, Frank ; Law, Frank ; Ling, John ; Panushka, Paul
- Local identifier
- Wilmette.News.273292
- Language of Item
- English
- Copyright Statement
- Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Contact
- Wilmette Public LibraryEmail:refdesk@wilmettelibrary.info
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