Editors, Street Loafers

And Curb-stone Orators Differ With Mayor

SO THE MAYOR SAYS

He Was Quite Worked Up Over Finances at the Meeting of the Council Last Evening

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It is a mortal offense to differ with Mayor Copeland on questions of city finance. lf his impassioned utterances at Monday night's council meeting are to be taken as [representing] his views only "editors, street loafers or curbstone orators" will differ from him. 

Ald. Fischer inquired as to the state of the city's finances during the debate on the street lighting bill. 

Mayor Copeland answered the question addressed to the clerk. He said that we have money on hand but it doesn't belong to us. If we collect all the money due us we will have [in] March — only five or six thousand dollars to pay $13,000 bonds due. "It is up to the editors of papers," continued the mayor, "to find ways to pay them. It is easy to sit in your office and say how to run a city when you haven't any money. We have now in the bank $16,000 and $11,000 of that belongs to the state, county and school district. The banks have said they won't pay our warrants. I don't think they mean it all as a bluff. On the first of March when we have paid out the district school, county and state funds there will be five or six thousand dollars in the treasury and $13,000 of bonds due. Not a penny more can be found. I will defy any editor, street loafer or curbstone orator to find a penny." 

The mayor's face was pretty white as he uttered these words in his most impassioned manner, but he failed to explain how he met this same difficulty last year, before the heavily increased tax levy of last summer had put the funds in better shape now than they were last year. 

City Attorney Sawyer read section 186 of the charter and said it provided that the council should make up its budget in June and then after that was done it could draw warrants on the taxes levied in the budget although not collected. It is the duty of the council if it wants to pass a bill of this kind to provide funds to pay it. After the budget is made up in June you can draw on it, but until that is done you can't draw against it. [The Argus defies the city attorney to find anything in the charter which says the council can allow any warrants after the budget is made up that it can't allow before. Nowhere in the charter is any such distinction made. The source of all the city's financial difficulties is the apparent determination of the administration to read things into the charter that are not to be found there.] 

Mr. Sawyer continued: The charter limits the taxes to one-half of one per cent on the assessed valuation. The city has always drawn up to the limit and today it is taxed up to the limit. There is no way under this charter how you can increase the taxes unless you submit the question to the people. [Why not submit any such question to the people? Who are more vitally interested than they? — Ed.] If you put these bills in the June budget you will have to reduce the expenses in some other way. 

Ald. Coon said there [were] serious objections to allowing these orders as the bank would cash orders as long as there were any funds in the treasury. Then how would we pay our county and school taxes? 

Mayor Copeland again addressed the council, merely reiterating his former position. 

Ald. Grose said every man who had a bill against the city was entitled to have something to show for it. If he couldn't do anything else he ought to be permitted to discount his order if he wants to. 

Ald. Fischer thought the lighting bill might be laid over to the next meeting. 

Ald. Grose said he didn't see anything to be gained by that. These people were trying to run their plant here out of money due them from the city. He didn't think the council ought to hold them up.

Ald. Hamilton said that possibly some editor could find another $25,000. 

The electric light bill was allowed at $702.80, the $37.37 allowed for extra lighting during four months having been deducted by the company. The company also, according to the lighting committee's report, agreed to hire a competent man at their own expense to trim the trees. 

When the question came up of adopting the report, Ald. Douglas objected to permitting the company to trim trees without restrictions. Ald. Hamilton moved to strike that part of the report out but the report was adopted, 6 yeas, 4 nays. 

The January bills were allowed after a motion to [accept] the election expenses had been lost by a vote of 10 yeas.

Ald. Fischer wanted to know what had become of the charter amendments. 

Mr. Sawyer stated that the committee had instructed him to draw some amendments and he had done so. He didn't know who had the report, the mayor or some other member of the committee. 

Ald. Fischer said it looked to him as if the chairman or some other member of the committee had that report and didn't intend to make it. 

Ald. Grose said he was chairman and he had been laboring under the impression that the mayor and city attorney would call a meeting of the committee at their convenience. 

The committee was given further time. 

On motion of Ald. Coon the council by a vote of 10 yeas decided to buy 30 City directories for $45. 

On motion of Ald. Douglas the sidewalk tax of W. W. Wheelock was remitted.