When
annoyed about matters in Hamilton in the spring of 1913, two Hamiltonians
vented their frustrations in a way that would be received widely.
Namely, two letters to the editor of
the Hamilton Spectator appeared on Saturday, May 31, 1913.
One
was send by Thomas J. Dusablon of Wellington street, and the other writer
wished to remain anonymous and so appeared in the paper as coming from
RATEPAYER.
Disablon’s concern was the state of the
Hamilton police service and his letter, in full follows:
“To the Editor:
I am very much amused by the frequent letters
to The Spectator re the blunders of the police force of Hamilton. They remind
me of an incident which occurred to my friend and myself a week or so ago. We
were looking in a store window with the intention of purchasing a few post
cards, when a constable approached, and rapping us on the shoulder, told us to
‘move on.’ We hesitated for a few moments as we knew we were not in the wrong,
but the P.c. informed us that people were not allowed to ‘hang about’ on the
sidewalks, and if we did not go we should be taken into custody. As a large
number of people had collected, we thought it advisable to walk away.
“After the noble one had departed, we
returned to the store and made the purchase. We informed the storekeeper of
what happened and asked his opinion, as we were thinking of taking the matter
up. He told us that the police had no right whatever to interfere with anyone
who was looking at the window display of the store, but he advised us to let
the matter drop, as the police force here are a lot of greenhorns who do not
know their duties and we should get no satisfaction from headquarters. Until
recent years, I travelled a great deal to other countries, but I can say that I
have never seen a force so ridiculous as the police force of Hamilton, which
seems to be filled up of green horns from other countries who have lived on
farms all their lives previous to their coming to a city.”
RATEPAYER’S issue, which led him to write to
the Spectator, concerned the effects of sporting events held at Hamilton’s
Cricket grounds on the surrounding neighbourhood :
Here is RATEPAYER’S letter in full:
“To the Editor :
Every
time a ball game is held at the cricket grounds, the lawns and shrubs in that
vicinity suffer, the crowds rush from and to the grounds and never look or
think where they are walking or what destruction they cause. The principal
corner that suffers is Herkimer and Kent streets. I think in justice to the
residents in that section a police officer should be stationed around there
from 4 to 6:20 p.m. If the above suggestion is acted upon by the authorities,
it may be the means of making a brighter and better Hamilton.
“Another matter which I think the authorities’
attention should be brought to is the presence of a number of automobiles which
are left standing outside of the ball grounds and the children in coming from
school (there are three or four schools in that vicinity) seem to take a
delight in tooting the horns of the autos; they even go so far as to climb in
the machines and turn the wheels, and this carrying on may result in a serious
accident some day. If the officer was there, it would tend to prevent this
mischief.
“Hoping these suggestions will meet with the
approval of the proper authorities, and thanking you for this space in your
paper.
Yours very truly,
RATEPAYER
