Mountain Democrat., 1857-05-30
For the Democrat.
CAAXA&1Eas

Council arc shout TO retire and new
administration to FIJI their place, few
general remarks on our city affairs may
not be out Of place at this time. of the
acts Of the present Council We can say
bot little, % they have neglected or re-
fused to publish their proceedings, (if
such they ever had.) In this the present
Board of Alderman are unlike their pre-
decessora, and the Boards of ell other
cities. Everywhere we find that the hon
orables Of city inform their constituents
through the press, Of their acts, for the
purpose Of approvingOr disapprOving the
same. The press is the only medium
through which the taxpayers ought to
be informed, "by the powers that be-" Of
how the city affairs have been managed,
and how our financial matters stand from
the timesOf our commencement as . city,
up to the present day. Why the pres
ent Board allow themselves to be guilty
Of 70 great neglect to the people we are
not able to eey. The expense Of pub.
fishing the proceedings Of the Common
Council can not be brought IL as aR 6x-
cuse, % We EROsc that at least the A0WR-
tain Democrat would publish such pro-
cecdings gratis, as they have done during
. former administration: We would fur
-thcr ask, are there no delinquent tax pay
erst If there be, why was there no list
furnished 10 our citizens! - why no pro-
vision made to enforce such payment
These are some things the present COun-
Gil did not do. There is one act, howcv-
er, they did do, Of which We will make
mention for the benefit Of our next COun.
ell. We have direct information, that
this honorable Council die, for n0mi-
nal consideration, sell the property which
was principally purchased by special
tax for the benefit Of the fire-depArtmcnt.
We question the right Of the Council to
interfere with such property, without at
least che consent or understanding Of the
fire department. II ig true that on said
property was situated the. city Jail, and
the Council have as part pay received an
other but inferior lot whereon Q jail has
been erected. This may all do well en-
ough, but have they provided the fire
department with another convenient and
suitable house for their apparatus I or
have the Council rendered inefficient the
strong and willing arm Of our noble fire.
men, and thereby exposing our city to
that fatal destroyer that visited US last
July.
Now, wc wish it distinctly understood
that 1t is not our purpose to reflect on the
gentlemen who compose the City COun-
Gil. They are honest and upright men,
who stand lar above suspicion ofknow-
ingly counciling any wrong towards their
fellOw-citizens; but that they have erred
like many other good men have done and
will do hereafter, we are satisfied. We
pen this for the sole purpose that our
next Council may bO benefited by it,
While We ere writing We would also res
pectfnlly suggest to the new Board to be
elected next week, that the salary OF the
Assessor and Collector 10 too high for the
times. As the law now stands either Of
them receives compensation Of Eve per
cent. for all m0ncis collected for taxes,
and the Collector gets besides this, the
same per centage for all monies by him
collected for licences and fineA This is
GpFinccly compensation for small ser
vice.. When tkiscOmpensation was pro
vided for, labor and subsistence were
higher than they are now. We must a.
20 consider that the revenue Is how much
larger, from the fact that our city d now
composed Of much moro valuable build.
tngA more personal property and with .
vastly increased businese. Il isOur cor
xicti0n that two and half per cent.yould
well pay these officers EoF ell the labor
required Of them. In conclusion, We
would call the attention Of the new
Board that an OTdipance Is required to
point out more definitely the duties Of
The di6esept officers Of The c;ty, and 6.
pecially those Of the Treasurer.
A TAX PAYER.