The Council Discusses Bills

The Council Discusses Bills. 

The question of finances worried the council exceedingly at its session Monday night. The city snow scrapers and Chas. A. Ward's bill for aid furnished the board of public works were the cause of the expending of much aldermanic muscle and a great deal of oratory. Alds. Synder, Butterfield and Cady championed the cutting down of the bills mentioned and it came about in this wise: A long string of bills were presented by Ald. Maynard, in the absence of Ald. Brown, chairman of the finance committee. The bills included one of Ward's for $77, one of Abram Vorheis for teaming, for $76, once of Richards Burns of $21 for snow scraping. Ald. Snyder went after the Burns and Vorheis bills and Ald. Butterfield took a shot at the ward bill. Ald. Snyder said that he would like to know how a man could run up a bill of $76 in one month for hauling with a team, the work that Vorheis was doing for the city. The month of December, he said, had been rainy ad snowy and no man could have worked full time during such weather. He said he had some experience in the teaming business and he knew that teamsters could not work full time during the month. He thought that it was time the council shut down the payment of exhorbitant bills sent to them by the board of public works. Ald. Butterfield discussed Mr. Ward's bill. He opposed it on the ground that the board of works was employing him as "a literary clerk" and that it employed him to do work without sanction of the council. Ald. Cady said "the board of public works is robbing us." He thought it was time that either the board or the council members resigned. However, the work had been done in good faith and he believed that the men should receive their pay on that account. 

When it came to a vote the bills were allowed by a slight majority vote. Ald. Butterfield, however, found a rule under which bills over which there was a division of the council had to be passed by a two-thirds vote. After considerable more discussion the question upon the bills was voted upon again and failed to have the two-thirds vote. Not, however, until Ald. Synder's attention had been called to the fact that he had skipped two other snow scraping bills which amounted to $21 and over, and these two were added to the Burns bill. Upon motion the bills will be brought up again at the next meeting of the council.