Is The Council Economical?

Alderruan Butterfield made a set speech to the conuoil Monday night in ■which he lauded that body for its econoruj and spurned with conteinpt the charges of extravagance which had been made against it. If Alderman Butterfield is correct, and every good citizen should certainly hope that he is, the public should be fully enlightened upen the subject and thecurrent belief to the contrary should be removed. But udfortunately the alderinan's figures, on which he bases his whole claim, are vcorthless. The question is not how nrach money the council is putting in the__various funds, but how niuch they are paying out of them. It is a question not of receipts, but of expenditures. This being the case the question has not resolved itself into how nauch taxes the council raised in July so muoh as it is how badly %vill the treasury be depleted when the council is through. Upon this depends the araount of taxes to be raised next year. The present council has audited bilis during the five months of May, June, July, August and September. A fair comparison then would be the expenditures for the five months vrith the con-esponding five months of 1893 and 1894, those being the years Alderruan Butterfield has chosen for comparison. i Forthese five months in' 1 893 the total expenditures -were $19,371. 38. In 1894 for the same period the expenses were $22,296.73 and for 1895 the expenditures for the five months were $37,533.89. These figures standing by themselves, ■while striotly correct, work an injustice to the council, for in them are included the sewer expenses. Deducting the sewer expenses paid during these five'months of each year, the otber expenses of the city are left as f ollows : 1893, $19,371.38; 1894, $21,666.09; 1895, $25,333.31. These figures for five months of each year show an increase in expenditures in 1895 of $3,667.22 over 1894 and $5,961.93 over 1893. From these figures the friends of the present council claim that there should be deducted the money paid for the road roller, stone crusher and grader, or 3,746.66, as the city has that niuch more stock to show. On the same gronnds the council of 1894 may deduct the 125 paid for a wagonette. These deductions being made, the ordinary expenses for the five months this year would exceed those of a year ago by $45.56. The Argus would like to hear from Alderman Butterñeld on this view of the case, believing that a discussion of the expendí tures of the city is the best means of keeping them down. The Argus is pleased to annouuce that it has added to its editorial forcé Mr. E. J. Ottaway, for several summers rnanaging editor of the Petoskey Kesorter, and last winter the University correspondent of the Daily Courier. Jlr. Ottaway will have charge of the local and advertising departments, and as he is a keen newspaper man our readers will, we are snre, find cause to congratúlate the Argus on this accession to its staff. His work will speak for itself and we promise to keep the Argus in the lead.