Mar 02, 2019 — GREENWOOD, BC (BG)

Just two months into his tenure as Mayor of Greenwood, Thomas Jackson Hardy was already knee-deep in discord. A prominent businessman in the fledgling city, he had the support of many other businessmen and citizens — enough to have secured the office — but he had quite a number of strong critics as well. Among them was the editor of the Boundary Creek Times, Duncan Ross, who kept close tabs on the Mayor's civic activities.

City council was also challenged in being able to keep its members onboard. Serving as alderman to a municipal government was likely a new experience for some of the Greenwood pioneers who stepped up to the duty. There were strict residency requirements to be met, adding a layer of complication, as reported by the Times in February 1899:_[1]

"Municipal complications are arising thick and fast. Alderman Campbell has sold his Copper street property and has not sufficient other property in his own name to qualify as alderman. The penalty for sitting when not qualified is $50 a day. It is reported that Alderman Campbell intends to resign. That will make practically three vacancies."

The following week it was reported that Ald. Nelson had submitted his resignation, having been notified that proceedings were started to unseat him. Ald. Phelan was also preparing to resign. Holding a new election was likely to cost the taxpayers between $15.00 and $75.00._[2]

Fortunately, town founder and past mayor Robert Wood stepped up to help fill the vacancies on council._[3]

"The nominations to fill the existing vacancies in the municipal council were held today, G. B. Taylor being returning officer. Robert Wood, who was nominated by Alderman Galloway and M. J. Phelan, was elected by acclamation in the North ward. The following were placed in nomination in the South ward: G. Arthur Rendell, nominated by Alderman Geo. R. Naden, Ralph Smailes and Robert Wood; Thos. McDonnell, proposed by Alderman Naden, Thos. Gulley and Ralph Smailes; J. A. Cameron, nominated by Mayor Hardy and Alderman Sutherland, and George H. Cropley, nominated by Mayor Hardy and A. M. Wilson."

The new council members had only a week to settle in before chaos returned to the council chamber. The Times on March 25th_[4] reported that the weekly meeting had turned into a dogfight, with the Mayor complaining because the Times editor had, during the meeting, passed a note to Alderman Naden, prompting him to ask a particular question. Ald. Naden challenged the mayor right back, and the city solicitor joined the fray, using "language towards Mr. Ross that is usually designated by a dash" … the city solicitor retired, threatening Mr. Ross with fearful things if he dared mention anything about him in his paper."

The next few meetings saw little improvement in mood. There followed another great dogfight on meeting procedure, and by April 1st, the Times editor was again moved to publish a stinging commentary:_[5]

A POINT OF ORDER

"While his manners leave much to be desired, one cannot help admiring the determined way in which Mayor Hardy seeks to attain his object. This determination would be commendable if it were not in nearly every instance misapplied. His message to the council relative to awarding the contract for advertising came at the wrong time.

"A thing," called Sir John Bourinot, clerk of the House of Commons, and recognized as the ablest authority on parliamentary procedure that the country has produced, has the temerity to differ from Mayor Hardy's decision. Bourinot states distinctly in his work that under no consideration must the minute of a resolution be discussed or amended except for correction. The minute dealing with the awarding of the contract was correct, and the mayor was clearly out of order in forcing the passage of the amendment thereto.

If the mayor considered it necessary in the city's interests to stipulate certain conditions in connection with the contract, he should have waited until the minutes were passed and then amended the resolution in a regular way. There is a distinction between the resolution itself and the minute of that resolution. The minutes are only a record of what did take place. They can be corrected if incorrect, but they cannot be mutilated by amendments dealing with resolutions of which the minutes are records. It is an exceedingly dangerous practice and liable to lead to legal tangles if the faithful records of the transactions of the city council are to be mutilated at a subsequent meeting."

Indeed, the mayors tactics did lead to legal troubles for council, and ultimately for the taxpayers. Also interesting to note, the Greenwood Board of Trade, incorporated in 1899, is still governed by Bourinot's rules.

April 1899 saw little improvement for city council. The mayor fired the city engineer, and the following week only two aldermen showed up for the week's meeting. Being no quorum, the meeting was cancelled.

May and June saw the resignation of two more council members: Alderman Naden and Ald. Cropley. Naden resigned his council seat because his property (or residence) had been sold and his other property had not been registered for a sufficient amount to time to qualify him._[6] We can imagine that by this point in the proceedings, he glad to be quit of the seat. The following month, the newly elected Alderman Cropley also resigned, "for business reasons"._[7]

As the summer of 1899 wore on, the beleaguered Mayor Hardy experienced great family difficulties. On July 1st, the Times announced the death of his wife._[8]

DEATH OF MRS. HARDY
The Wife of Mayor Hardy Passes Away on Sunday Last

"On Sunday, June 25, Margaret Curry Hardy, wife of Mayor Hardy of Greenwood, died after a short, illness at the age of 36 years. Mrs. Hardy was the daughter of A. B. and Mary Curry, of Kintyre, Alborogh township, Elgin county, Ontario, and was married in 1891. In that year Mr. and Mrs. Hardy settled on a ranch at Grand Prairie. In 1893 they moved to Boundary Falls, and afterwards to Anaconda. In 1898, Mr. and Mrs. Hardy took up their residence in Greenwood.

Mrs. Hardy was the first white woman to settle in the district, and was highly respected by all who had the pleasure of her acquaintance. Two children, one 6 years and the other an infant — only a few days old — are left to mourn her decease.

The funeral took place on Tuesday afternoon, and was attended by a large number of people from all parts of the district. Impressive services were conducted at the cemetery by Rev. Mr. Dunn. The deceased was a member of the Rebecca Lodge of New Westminster, who ordered a beautiful wreath to be placed on the coffin along with the many other floral offerings. The pall-bearers were Ald. Sutherland and Cameron, and Messrs. Cropley, Campbell, Phelan, and Russell."

Mayor Hardy returned to his seat on council for the July 23rd meeting. All the members were present, for a change, and it seems there was something of a kinder mood towards the Mayor. He still grieved his wife, and he'd served as pallbearer for another Greenwood pioneer and council member that week, W. B. Paton._[9]

In July, the mayor appointed a new city engineer. August saw the mayor presiding over the laying of a cornerstone for the new Methodist church at Long Lake and Mineral streets, assisted by Robert Wood:_[10]

"Alderman Wood "laid the corner stone accompanied by the reading of the beautiful Masonic lecture. Mr. Wood used the trowel like an adept, and the stone was declared well and truly laid."

Later that month two new council members came on board: Aldermen A. Fisher and David Beath.

The August 26th Times had three interesting announcements._[11] First, that Mayor Hardy was leading the welcome committee, along with Robert Wood and Duncan Ross and others, when smelter engineer Paul Johnson arrived in town. Second, that the Board of Trade had received its official Charter of Incorporation, as the only board in Boundary Creek country. And third, that Mayor Hardy was dealing with another difficult family situation:

"Mayor Hardy returned on Monday from his brother's ranch on the North Fork, to which place he was called by the serious illness of his son, Alex. The little fellow who is suffering from typhoid fever was out of danger when his father left."

September saw Mayor Hardy and members of council enjoying the big banquet held by the Board of Trade, and which smelter wizard Paul Johnson famously "took 50 businessmen into his confidence..." _[12]

As city council rolled into the fall of 1899, the summer's 'kinder & gentler' mood began to dim. What would be the start of a long and contentious battle began at the September 16th council meeting. The Times reported under the headline, "Street grades provoke a hot discussion":_[13]

"The meeting ended in a brilliant display of fire works. The principals being Mayor Hardy and Ald. Galloway. The mayor said: "We are going to call for tenders for sidewalks in a few days and want to lay a sidewalk on the north side of Greenwood street. Them people have a stone wall out on the street and it should be lowered to the street level. I want the council to take action."

Ald. Galloway: "The street committee decided far more important questions without asking the council. They might decide this also."

Mayor Hardy: "What more important questions did the street committee decide?"

Ald. Galloway: "Well, they decided to cut down the street to the present level without reference to the council."

Mayor Hardy: "I want to tell you and some of those calamity howlers that we are following a grade and are going to follow it." If last year's committee had done its duty there wouldn't be so much kicking now. The grade is, I say, a shame and disgrace to any street committee or engineer on the continent."

As if local street issues weren't trouble enough, at the October 28th meeting, the Mayor tangled it up with H. T. Wilgress, the land agent for the C.P.R., who was presenting plans to lay the C. & R. railway through the city:_[14]

"Mr. Wilgress resented the Mayor's accusations, which provoked [his] elegant and eloquent reply. The resolution was turned over to the tender mercies of the city solicitor..."

November brought more drama to council chambers, this time on the subject of granting licenses for entertainment venues:_[15]

Council Grants a Monolopy — City Solicitor Resigns

"There is a three-cornered fight in the city over music halls or theatres. W. S. Fletcher is erecting a large building on Deadwood street which will be used, for this purpose; and A. Fisher and associates are building another, at the corner of Silver and Greenwood streets. Mr. Fletcher will ask for a license to sell liquor on the premises, and a movement is on foot that only one music hall be licensed until the city has a population of 6,000. Mr. Fisher very naturally objects to this."

For council, the hot debate was on how and why some businesses were being protected, while others were not. The mayor claimed to be in favour of unrestricted commerce [although his later actions belied that], while some aldermen were keen on curtailing certain competition. The mayor lost his argument, and once again, the city solicitor offered his resignation.

But there was an even bigger fire ablaze for council that week, regarding the contract to be given for bringing electric lighting to the city. Local businessman Mr. McIntosh had put a proposal in for the job, and his bid was challenged by another from a Winnipeg firm represented by Mr. Hugh Sutherland.

The Mayor was in favour of doing biz with Mr. McIntosh, and he was concerned that if negotiations with Sutherland failed, then McIntosh might not cone back to the table, and the city would be left in the lurch. Alderman Galloway urged caution, not wanting to rush into a deal with McIntosh while another better deal was left laying on the table. This, of course, would not go down well with the taxpayers.

Mr. McIntosh stood before council to push his proposal and demand fast acceptance, or rejection. Mr. Sutherland then stood to say he didn't realize there was another proposal on the table, and he complained that now his bid was simply being used as a tool to batter down McIntosh to lower pricing. Sutherland thus withdrew his proposal, and a hot and furious council discussion followed.

The year ended more quietly for Mayor Hardy, who was appointed as President of the Greenwood Liberal Association in late November._[16] But this was just the calm before the storm. In 1900, all hell would break loose for the Mayor and Greenwood city council…

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Boundary Creek Times — Feb 25, 1899, p. 2
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170312

[2] Boundary Creek Times — Mar 01, 1899, p. 1
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170415

[3] Boundary Creek Times — Mar 08, 1899, p. 4
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170444

[4] Boundary Creek Times — Mar 25, 1899, p. 1
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170448

[5] Boundary Creek Times — Apr 01, 1899, p. 2
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170196

[6] Boundary Creek Times — May 31, 1899, p. 1
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170565

[7] Boundary Creek Times — Jun 24, 1899, p.4
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170425

[8] Boundary Creek Times — Jul 01, 1899, p. 1
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170384

[9] Boundary Creek Times — Jul 22, 1899, p. 1 & 5
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170389

[10] Boundary Creek Times — Aug 12, 1899, p. 1 & 8
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170218

[11] Boundary Creek Times — Aug 26, 1899, p. 2 & 8
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170220

[12] Boundary Creek Times — Sep 02, 1899, p. 7
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170718

[13] Boundary Creek Times — Sep 16, 1899, p. 6
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170678

[14] Boundary Creek Times — Oct 28, 1899, p. 1
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170655

[15] Boundary Creek Times — Nov 11, 1899, pp. 1, 4 & 5
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170567

[16] Boundary Creek Times — Nov 25, 1899, p. 8
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170612