The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 25

i- a THE BOSTON GLOBE TOWN MEETING SERIES Mr Moderator Rules With Heavy Gavel 'rj 'A i I II much that was said beyond the first few rowi of the auditorium. "Let the town meeting members talk," advocates Braintree's veteran moderator E. Curtiss Mower, who is stepping down after 14 years service because of ill health. By ROBERT A. McLEAN ('If so be any Contention rise, then such are appointed Moderators either satisfy the Party, or else exhort him to keep silence." Calvin's Common Prayer Book (c.1560).

Gavels will rap smartly all over Massachusetts "Many of the townspeople i -ill tit v. wanted it that way and he was reelected time and i Town meeting oratory is resident of the town recalled. on the decline, and the fire The job of town moderator eaters harangue on street corners, rather than on the is becoming more coveted in floor of town hall, accord' ing to Easton's Leo M. Har some communities today, because of the realization that the moderator is a commanding figure in town affairs, low, dean of New England moderators. particularly in the role of next Monday night as, for the 313th time, moderators call to order their annual town meetings.

Mr. Town Meeting to his fellow townsmen, the moderator is presiding officer, arbiter and spokesman for the meeting, whose job is to complete action on the warrant in an impartial, legal and businesslike manner. His indirect hold on town purse-strings, through appointment in most "You don't get as many of these chronic fault finders any more," said reflecting town meeting president The prestige and responsibility of the office far outweigh any financial gain a town moderator may enjoy. on his 51-year span as town meeting referee. "They sound off everywhere except at town Mclean 1 i S' meeting." But many towns still have i ve Deen eieciea as times," recalled courtly of the town finance committee makes him the most powerful man in local government.

their perennial speechifiers, and usually they are allowed Fletcher Clark Middle-boro moderator since 1923 their say. Brookhne can lay claim to the congregation, the "I've seen my moderator's pay check rise from $18.75 to presbytery, the synod and the general assembly. Dedham's white-haired mod $75 a year." erator James R. Hooper, something of a fire-eater him The mental picture of the Massachusetts town moderator might be, for many, a Norman self according to his intimates, has sat patiently by in recent years while a well-known resident spoke at Meeting tne nrst Bay state moderator in 1649, when the lown was known as Muddy tiver. The farmers of Muddy tiver "ordered that there be i Moderator chosen annually regulate publicke towne meetings," according to the 1 tecords of Muddy River and 1 trookline.

There were earlier town neetings in other communi- Rockwell-esque portrait with wrinkled face, craggy jaw and a general weather-beaten ap Popularly elected, for one or three-year terms today, the moderator is responsible for conduct of the town election, administers the oath of office to town officials, and has the power of appointment of various town meeting bodies, such as the finance committee and other study groups. pearance. length on the block of articles he sponsored in the annual warrant. "Hooper lets him "None of my acquaintances really ring that bell, and I BUS' pect that face exists only on magazine covers," observed a friend of the moderator es, but the Muddy River boys ray have been the first to Running the town meeting, the moderator must decide on said, "because the man has Winthrop S. Dakin, executive secretary of the Massachusetts Moderators Association.

all questions of order, and make the official declaration of all votes taken on warrant "The new type of town matters. moderator is surprisingly of -eate a statuatory position. Towns like Pelham, which itaged its first meeting in :43, in the Presbyterian 1 leeting House, may hold the i lue to the origin of the town moderator concept in America. The Presbyterians had mod- And at the same time he ten a sharp, youngish Ivy must keep a firm gavel poised, that right The town meeting seldom goes along with the petitioner, but I know they agree with Hooper that he must be heard." Hearing and being heard sometimes are different, and one North Shore moderator, who was somewhat deaf, presided for years over his meetings without ever hearing League product," Dakta con' tinued. to maintain order and decorum, while keeping a pace which will conclude the war "This type is better fitted for the faster tempo and greater rant action expeditiously, without denying any voter his cators who were elected to I reside over any one of the ecclesiastical bodies, intricacy of town business.

right to be heard. 5 Women, 15 Phones Means 1500 People I It's a Cinch To Qet Quorum Globe Color Photo by Harry T. Holbrook TVTv nd PYfltnYmen rew Westford town moderator and scion of Yankee farming aristocracy, stands in shadow of Unitarian Church on Westford Common where his ancestors convened town meeting in 1795. At our regular meetings we end up with standing room- sometimes beyond capacity of the hall and I have to feud with the janitor to let them in. Quorums are the life blood the town moderator game.

Without one, he'd be swing-t ig a gavel in an empty hall. Attendance, or the lack of it, annual and special town r. is a matter of con-c for many moderators to-cjy. Do the voters come out to i ecide on town business, or i oe a handful of hard-core Meeting members run the thow? "I'm more concerned about meeting hall space than A Lesson in Democracy Westford Moderator Invites German Pupil to Meeting Most discouraging aspect of his moderator's job, Clark said, is the lack of "carry through action" on special committee reports, which are ordered by various town meetings on specific subjects. "These special committees, who are appointed and who work hard without pay bring in reports, which the town meeting doesn't want, won't listen to or hear.

Sometimes the meeting finds it hard even to be courteous and thank the committee when discharging them," he added. Harlow's concern over com "Operating from two halls is rather awkward, because you must have a second moderator, or auxiliary chairman, in the second hall, to keep order without shutting off anyone," Clark continued. "But we also are blessed with a pretty decent cross-section in interest, in town affairs and town officials." ".3 sing the crops of peaches and pears which have made Drew products internationally known. quorums," said Fletcher Clark Middleboro's long. Town moderator since 1941.

New England tradition. Born in Greenwich, and educated at Dartmouth, he has lived for many years in the 200-year-old Colonial farm on Main Westford. He is married to the former Sarah Westcott The couple has five children, Ben 25, Sarah Jane, 22, Leslie, 20, Eleanor, 18, and George, 15. he is in the midst of a three-year term in office. time moderator.

"We get very active meetings, and have little "trouble with ing American orchardist techniques on Drew's big, prosperous fruit farm. He returns to his native village of Jork, a Hamburg farm suburb, in April Moderator Drew will shortly be returning from a month of skiing in Switzerland, in time to convene the annual meeting in the Westford Academv auditorium. munity disinterest in community arlairs, has prompted him quorums." Leo M. Harlow, from neigh' to neip conduct citizen semi Ben Drew will act out a fragment of American history for a young German farmer when he calls the Westford town meeting to order March 10. Jochen Stechmann, 20, will attend his first town meeting to watch moderator Drew, his American host and mentor, conduct the annual business of the community which a Drew helped establish.

Agricultural student Stechmann is winding up a year's visit with the Drews, learn Drew traces his ancestry to Westford's original settlers, and his own life is steeped in nars on government in recent taring Easton, decried the QUORUM CONSCIOUS Veteran Easton moderator Leo M. Harlow. years, with discouraging jathy toward town meetings, a id the steady decline in at- up at a limited town meeting, ndance which he has noted caring his 51 -year stretch as iOderator. Both moderators run open meetings, and both are opposed to the limited, or representative town meeting. Each his his own reasons.

Winters for" the 51-year old moderator spell town meeting and skiing. The rest of the year he is busy running his farm and proces either, declared Harlow. "They seem to be less democratic, unless the open meeting becomes too unwieldy," Clark said. "The most we've gotten out 1 1 recent years has been 527 at "The people wouldn't show West Newbury Formula: 'A Touch of Humor Gools the Hotheads' Woman Who Does It Concedes le annual meeting about 10 I arcent of the electorate. "How do you get them to ome out?" Harlow asked.

"Put 15 women on 15 telephones and you can get 1500 people to do anything," Clark answered. "That's how we get them out to a special town meeting." Running Meeting Hard Job By BRYANT ROLLINS I "Timing, impartiality and I cooperation are the modeia- ACTIVE MEETINGS no problem for Fletcher Clark Jr. of Middleboro. and when their parents kevs to a successful town They come to you for help meeting. In proper combma-in other problems, too," she tlon they are more effective By ANNE WYMAN The year Mrs.

Marion D. man suning oratory, swuier than the rap of a gavel and Gould became town moderator, in 1954, Billerica had its first and last "double" town moved on to the Board of Appeals presiding as chairman from 1949 to 1954. Her husband, Frederick Gould, a druggist in Bedford, has been a member of the town Board of Health for many years. At the forthcoming town meeting. Mar.

10, Mrs. Gould more just than strict Parliamentary laws." justice Wilkin? Advice Tip for jderators: Know the Members Some 5000 voters over- bothered to run for town meeting member. Elections "get to be a popularity race among the young," says Mrs. Gould who misses "the wit and common sense" of the old timers. She is a member of the Mass.

Bar Federal Bar, Lowell Bar Association and the National Association of Women lawyers. Attending her first town meeting as a bride of 23, Mrs. Gould was appointed a member of Billerica's Finance says. A moderator's job can be a very lonely one, says Mrs. Could, who will preside over 240 voters and some 100 observers.

"When you're up there on your feet, you're absolutely on your own. You can't ask anybody for advice, because the voters are entitled to a decision then and there. And Julian D. Steele is the speaker. And the 55-year-old veteran moderator of West Newbury knows whereof he speaks.

Since 1952 he has guided West Newbury's 1000 voters through their open town meetings without benefit of Robert's Rules of Order or Parlia expects zoning to be the key issue. The minimum house lot flowed the Parker School au- ditorium into the gym beneath, and the new moderator had to conduct her first town has gone up to 15,000 square feet, with requirements of in some areas. Despite these restrictions, mentary Procedure. served "a very pleasant four years" as moderator in his former hometown of Winchester. He could have stayed on that job, but he gave it up because, he said, "I felt it was the kind of a job that should be shared." several big housing developments are going up.

Mrs once you've given that deci sion, there is no appeal." meeting over a two-way loud snpfllcpr svstpm. Gould feels more industry should be encouraged to move By JOSEPH M. HARVEY The job of a town meeting rioderator is to enable the wn and its people to accom-t lish their will in the business town meeting. That i3 the view of Massachusetts' highest ranking jurist, hief Justice Raymond S. Wil-Hns of the Massachusetts upreme Judicial Court.

Chief Justice Wilkins Committee. The then moderator Charles Eames said he expected her "to bring some ip to this thing." At the time of his election, Steele was, and still is, the only Negro moderator in the state. He is a cum laude graduate of Harvard and New in to balance the tax rate of But, in her eight years on the job, there have been very few major battles, and Mrs. $97 per $1000. Much of the success of a She served on the Finance "You represent people Gould expects the meeting to town meeting depends on the moderator in the view of the WYMAN A restricted form of government was introduced the following year.

But, despite the hardships of running an open meeting in a growing community, Mrs. Gould "would go back to it any day." Committee for 3 years and go equally smooth this year. when they buy their houses chief justice. He has some suggestions drawn from experience on the COMMON SENSE ADVOCATE Julian D. Steele 4 ing members.

Otherwise thej will not support him when takes a stand on a ruling tt procedure. This is how meet ings sometime get out of con4 trol." Steele commutes from hi New York office to his 150t acre home on week-ends, and makes a special trip for the; town meeting. platform in Winchester town York University's School of Social Work. He is presently second in command in the New York office of the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency. In this capacity he has signed many of the bills which put into effect Boston's current urban renewal project.

Steele credits his background 1 Possibly the only woman moderator in the state today, Mrs. Gould shows feminine compassion towards the town's senior citizens, "who don't run for representative and there fore don't have a vote. They meeting. "It is a good idea for "the moderator, if he can, to get to know as many, if not all of the people at the town meeting. When I was moderator in Winchester, I already knew many of the town meeting members, and I quickly got to learn the names of most all of the members.

It makes it much easier to be able to call a man by his name or recognize him by name." feel lost she says. in social science as "a real asset She points out that many in the moderating of town residents like Mrs. Mary Pot meetings. ter, now over 80, and the late Arthur Cook, stopped coming to town meeting when it took The chief justice emphasized "There are times when a little humor should be introduced into a meeting, for instance, when there is excessive wrangling over an issue. It's also important to know when and how to cut a speaker off if he is talking too long or being repititious.

This must be done with impartiality and without antagonizing the limited form. "They were used to having a vote and didn't like being put in a position where they had to run for office." "In these nine years I've only had to miss one meeting. That was three years ago when my flight home was grounded by the blizzard." He and his wife, the forme Mary Bradley Dawes, have a 17-year-old daughter, Emiliej who will graduate from West town (Quaker) School Westtown, in June. "The town meeting la unique," says Steele with a grin. "People will approve a $2 million school building after five minutes of discus sion, then spend all afternoon debating a $100 lamppost that his service as moderator was in presiding over a limited Only a few long time resi dents, such as Oliver Green or representative town meeting comprising about 250 elected town meeting members.

The problems of a moderator in such a town meeting generally can be expected to follow certain fixed "The moderator also must 4 wood, 74, his brother, Laurence, 67, and Chester Pasho, who has missed only one town meeting in 51 years, have 3FFERS TIP for Men With Javel Chief Justice Ray- nond S. Wilkins, Orator Winchester. will YOU'RE ALL ALONE," says Billerica's Moderator Marion Gould, who have the confidence and com' plete co-operation of the meet- presids over her. ninth town meeting on Mar, 10..