The Ploy to Oust the Poundmaster
A political machine allegedly attempts to abolish the office of poundmaster to fire an unwanted Union veteran.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
It is proposed in some quarters that in order to get rid of E. R. Harding, the Grand Army veteran, as poundmaster the office shall be abolished and then after a brief interim, be created again under a different title. It is as plain as any legal proposition can be that Mr. Harding is entitled to the office and can collect his salary from the city. Certainly a man who entered the Union army at the age of nineteen and served his country faithfully on southern battlefields, and who in later years suffered the loss of a gallant son, who died while fighting for his country at the battle of Santa Ana in the Philippines, is entitled to fair treatment at the hands of the city council.
“Every patriotic citizen and every Grand Army man who ever took part in a battle will resent the affront offered to Mr. Harding.”
Attempts to circumvent civil service protections by 'abolishing' and 're-creating' positions remain a classic tactic in political corruption. The story illustrates the high stakes of local patronage in the early 20th century.
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