The Ministers and the Mayor-Elect

There was a sort of a love feast in the law office of Ellis Fletcher yesterday afternoon. The occasion was the meeting of Mayor-elect Wright and Rev. D. L. Rader, Rev. J. Lewis Smith, and Rev. John Reid, a committee appointed by the Ministerial Alliance to wait upon Mr. Wright and ascertain his position on the question of an 'open' or 'closed' town. Judging from reports that have leaked out, the preachers know but little more now than they did before the conference. When Dr. Rader was asked about the meeting he said: 'Yes, we saw Mr. Wright, but decided not to make the result of the conference public until after we report to the Ministerial Alliance, the body that appointed the committee. We decided that we would say nothing further than that we had a very pleasant visit.' Rev. J. Lewis Smith and Rev. John Reid reiterated the statement of Dr. Rader that the meeting 'was very pleasant.' Mr. Wright says: 'The committee from the Ministerial Alliance called on me and in an informal way presented their views on certain matters. I made no promises to them whatever.' Politicians are inclined to view the matter in the light of a joke and where two or three of them meet the matter is pretty sure to come up. One of them said this morning: 'If the preachers are really in earnest about this matter, why didn't they find out where Wright stood before the election? To go after him now is a good deal like locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen.'