Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1857-12-26

authorship the Mayor to execute and deliver ups u
Necessary to rcscind the contract between y
cutler and others with the city relative to the ].
4 NJ. Railroad Bonds.
On motion Of Mr.. Nislcy, resolution was 80
passed instfucting the Mayor to demand Of the a.
& n. Railroad Company the stock owned by ihe
City of Muscatne, and in case If refusal, to nofy
said company that the city would refuse to paysny
more interest on her bonds, and also give Turner
notice that the refusal the part o. said oompny
to recognise the right Of the city to dispose other
stock to Mr.. Butler and others compelled thcity
to take this stand.
was passed, instructing the Mayor to get p"sseson
of the g ,lesburg R. R. Bonds and retain them util
further orders from the City Council.
On motion of Mr.. Cloud, $4,000 city scrip as
placed in thu hands Of Isctt Brewster. to red,m
the SIS, 900 Of tho Bonds to Galesburg X. R. Con
pany pledged to Clark, Dodge Co. for $4,000 to Al
in the surv y Of said road.
Mr.. Cloud, committee to whom was referred f.
lice ordinance, reported. The report was adupts,
aud the ordinanc, read the third time and passed,
Mr. Abbott's claim for grading Eighth street /
ferred to Thompson. Cloud and Mauck.
On motion of Mr.. Nsley, the ordinance passed
a previous evening was reconsdcred and rejected o
he ground that its provisions were covered by tn
charter. 4
On motion of Mr.. Cloud, the Msyorwas instructet
to forward the maps Of the city in his possession
diff rent cities tedious to name.
On motion of Mr.. Cloud, the Mayor was instruct.t
to appoint special policeman for the Railroad Com
pany, who is to receive no compensation from t.,
city, nevertheless clothed with all tho powers o.
ether policemen Of the city.
On molten Ct MIR. Cloud, the Treasurer of the C,,
requested to pay out all scrip not Of herwise ap
propria,ed in his hands to the holders Of wal rants
pro rata to the amount held by each excepting these
holding fifteen dollars or less, to BE- paid in full
upon presentation.
Ga motion Of Mr.. Hoeh, the Street Commissioned
was ordered to make repairs upon Locus, street
to prevent washing.
On motion Of Mr.. Nisley, the Council declared il
bad policy to pay any more interest upon the $780,
GEO bonds given NJ. 4 NJ. r. r. Co. until placed il
possession Of the stock.
Ga motion Of Mr.. Nisley, the Street Commissions,
was required to report the amount Of lumber pur
chased by him, from whom purchased, and whereor
applied.
Council adjournedt to meet Saturday evening week
REscIssloN or "rHH BUrLIR CoN7RAor."-
At the meeting of citisens which adjourned from
Saturday to Monday evening, to hear the report OF
the COMMITTEE appointed at u previous meeting t,
investigate the contract made between the City on
one part and Jacob Butler and associates On th.
other, S. o. Butler submitted report from the
Committee by reading the following minutes of it.
proceedings while in session:
The Committee appointed at . meeting of The
citiSens Of Muscatine, On the evening of the Is b
inst, to exam and report upon The facts in rea.
ton to what is known AS the "Butl.r Contract, -
and It's proposed rescsson, convened n the Mayor
otieS, on the 18th inst, at 2 O'Clock p. u.
Presents. D. Butler, chairman, and Mess-s
Ansel Humphreys. Judge Meason, J. q. t}orlon, H.
W. Moore, J Is. Dougherty and Z. U. Waters.
G. 0. Waters was up pointed Secretary. Ma, q
S,ine was present, by invitation, and place in
hands of the committee all the documents in the
City archives, and also eomnuni,a th, fact :
vi, hin his knowledge.
fiagg, Treasurer NJ. Il VI. h. r., ex otfico TRUSTEE.
q; and D. c. Cloud Esq., chairman II u commit, o.
of the City Council, also laId before the COM
mittcc.
After 3 lengthy and car full examination Il the
facts and papcrs IN their >ssion, the committt
unanimously adopted the following minutc:
To the Citizens Of Muscatine:
Your committee would unanimously advise that
this meeting instruct the City Council to rescipd
the contract with Jacob Butter and hers provided
they will pay the next January interest on the One
Hundred and Thirty Thousand Dollar Bonds i, sued
to the NJ. i NJ. K K Company, and accept for he
payment Of said interest the bonds of.th" cry for
an equal amount, payable january LIST, 1859. and
bearing interest ut the rate Of ten pr cent per an
mum.
All which is respectfully submitted.
s. o BUTLER, Can of Com.
G o. WArsRs, Sec'y.
Mr.. ~ :k bben N, >" r"nnrt BE- accepted
and the com.nitsv. -. .-cnar gcd, whichs a.
carried. =
Mayor Slime moved that the report be al pte /.
Carried unanimously.
After some remarks in relation to the $2Oo, 600
burgh Ralroad-some of the speakers cont ending
hat tn. Council should adopt measures to secure
Ill the bonds in its ppssossion to b. AZ piled to the
purpose originally designed when it might BE- deemed
'xped,ens-,thers cnntending th1t the Galesburgh
Railroad Company was 'righifuily entitled to th.
bonds and should look after then-h he meeting ad-
"urned sithou. taking any action on the subject.
We presume that the City C'uncii and the COIN
pany Of citizens who were parties to the contract
with the city will ratify the terms proposed in III.
'bovs report Of the committee. They are, in our
opinion, the best and most equitable that could b.
|d.pted under the peculiar crcumst Of the case
AREFoRx N sEDED. Our municipal affairs
Gem to be cut of JOINT. We hear it wh.sp r,d about
hat the present years revenue and sonnet, hing over
will be required to meet liabilities already incurred
This is an unpleasant state Of afairs, and one to
which we would not thus allude were it not for the
purpose Of calling attention to 4 certain reform
which we shall propose. 1t is an amendment Of
ur city charter, requiring street improvements to
Dc paid for by assessment on the property contigu
us, as is the plan adopted in St. Louis Cincinnati,
md most other cities of the West. This will stop
vast drain annually On the City Treasury, and !
peedily relieve our city of debt. We have tried |
he experiment Of paying for such Improvements |
ut Of the general fund long enough to realize its |
Justice aud its evil effects. We will illustrate
he case to make it plain to the comprchens ion If
ny one: A. owns an improved lot on second or |
bird street worth $4,000; 3. owns q lot On the |
ide Of huge bluff on Seventh or Eighth street,
'orth $780, A. is taxed $lso to assist in grading
IS lot, thereby increasing its value threefold,
'hile D. at the same time pays but 81 tax! Who is
'eneftted and who pays for the benefit 1t lie
vidcnt that B. has made money 1t the expense Of A.
With equal propriety A. mght be taxed to build a
louse on BIS lot. The If ct Of the amendment
uggested would no doubt be to curtal the work Of
'ubic improvement by grading he streets. but ,h's
would be preferable to involving the city in deli
or the purpose Of carrying forward such improve-
ment.
There are other reforms needed which might b
As cur State L gislature meets early
lcxt month, we suggest that our citisens discuss
his matter and take into consideration the propr
ty Of drawing up bill amending our city charter,
md having it taken out to the capital by repre-
entatives, to be passed as soon ss practicable.
Thor. i. Arni wh rTpgteu since the recent en-
argement Of the corporate limits. W. think this
should also be attended to.
Tue "OLD CLOTHS PARTY. "-This unique
Mai mr. L. $500