Money Was Paid Out Without Warrant Of Law

MONEY WAS PAID OUT WITHOUT WARRANT OF LAW

The Power of the City Council Were Usurped in the Past Week

Bold Attempt to Deceive the People Into Believing That the Administration Was Not Mistaken In Its Figures

By what legal right did City Treasurer Newkirk draw out of the city treasury $12,000 and pay sewer and paving bonds, including $4,500 bonds that are not yet due?

Who signed the warrant for such payment?

The mayor and treasurer, under the guidance of the most learned, most skillful, most truthful and most judicious city attorney, have suddenly grown exceedingly technical. Let us see what the charter says.

In section 186 is found these words: "The treasurer shall pay out no money except upon the written warrant of the mayor and city clerk, which warrant shall specify the fund from which the money is to be paid: Provided, that school moneys shall be paid to the treasurer of school district number one of the city of Ann Arbor upon the warrant of the president and secretary of said board."

Section 64 in defining the duties of the city treasurer says: "He shall pay no money out of the treasury except in pursuance and by authority of law, and upon warrants signed by the city clerk and countersigned by the mayor, or for school purposes by the proper officers, which shall specify the purposes for which the amounts thereof are to be paid."

Section 78 says that the council shall have control of the finances, and section 86 says the council shall audit all accounts or claims against the city.

When the writer of this article was city treasurer, it was customary for the council at the meeting previous to bonds falling due to order a warrant drawn to pay them. This warrant was signed by the mayor and clerk, delivered to the party holding the bonds in return for the bonds and paid. That was the system contemplated by the charter.

No money was paid out of the city treasury without the council's saying so, except school moneys.

The value of this system is shown by just what has happened within the last week. The council might not have seen fit to see labor go unpaid and pay $4,500 of bonds not due for one or two years yet.

The city treasurer had no right to pay bonds without the council saying so. His actions were without the warrant of any law except what Mr. Sawyer may make.

The city's financial system is a simple one. The council controls it. The council orders all payments out of the treasury. The clerk and mayor's signatures attest the action of the council and the treasurer simply follows out the council's orders.

The council has a right, and we question if it is not their duty, to order the treasurer to put back into the city treasury the money taken from it without due warrant of law. Let this not be misunderstood. The Argus charges the treasurer with no dishonesty. It does not believe he intentionally did wrong and he has not profited a penny by it himself. But nevertheless he has plainly violated the city charter, usurped the functions of the council, and if others have done the same, in the words of the mayor in his latest message, he, at least, "has sworn not to do it, and it is no excuse for him to violate the charter.

The desperation of the administration in endeavouring to force the people to bond is driving it deeper and deeper into the mire, and an indignant people, whom they have endeavoured first to deceive and then to force into mortgaging their homes for ten years,will compel them by sheer force of public opinion to obey the charter law under which they hold office.