Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1858-12-23
sEcRECY AND ne CTrY FIEAKCEs.

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A FEW WORDS FOR n CITY COUNCIL
The tax-pays rs Of this city are heavily bur
densd. a long and continuous drain is made
upon their resources for corporate purposes,
but what lie the precise condition Of the City
Treasury, what liabilities the city has to meet,
and Whst means she has to meet them is kept
carefully concealed. From time to time solemn
announcements are made BY official persons Of
approaching disgrace and ruin, and individuals
connected with the city government are seen
with CONSERVATION on their faces, seeking, it
lie whispered, peeuHisry assistance for the city
from note shaVsrs and money lenders. All
this creates a fear Of approaching calamity
ia The minds Of citizens, and the systematic
secrecy exercised with respect to the actual
financial condition Of the city greatly ADDS to
the gloomy feeling, So far is this secrecy car
risd, that even members of Council who have
been two years in that body share the gensralig-
noranee, and slthough they have to vote away
the city's money, they are compelled to act in
the dark, having no intimate knowledge Of the
state Of the funds from which is to be provided
the means Of meeting the liabilities their ac-
ton creates
% Tuesday night Alderman KoETREcHT-
one Of he most active and intelligent members
Of the Boiue-introducsd an ordinance, the sf-
feet Of which would be to entirely DO away
with the secret system, By publishing moutbiy,
in tie official paper Of the city, a statement Of
the'receiFts and expenditures Of the month, sna
the present condition Of the city treasury.
This led 70 a long debate as to the compare
tive value of the open and the secret systems,
and the subject vas laid over with an under
standing that the debate would be resumed at
q future meeting.
We may remark in connection with this mat
ter, that in q free land, where newspapers are
universally read and every man lei politician,
secrecy is, in itself, Objectionable. The Gun
ming priest sedslOusly hides from his f~snatical
sock the sources Of truth the arbitrary sove-
reign is confident that be can, in the secrecy Of
bis palace, conduct the affairs Of bis subjects
better than they can manage them for them
selves. 10 this country & the broad stare Of
republican equality" claims the right to peer
into everything, and the right should not be de-
MED except fG7 urgent and Overpowering rea-
sons. So strongly is the Objectionable tendeh-
ey Of secrecy recognized, that we are sure if
the system bad never existed in our muhiei-
pal affairs, and a proposition was made DOwtO
Introduce it, Council would not entertain the
proposal for moment ; and those who now
support tie system would warmly resent any
imputation Of entertaining a desire to substi-
tute suspicious secrecy for republican open
ness. II is true that now the system has OBJ
tanned a fOothold, it cannot be changed with
out some trouble and Inconvenience. When
the frsil girl was charged with premature ma
ternity, she hoped her friends would excuse
her this time, on the ground that the baby was
such a little one. Had she kept her secret IN
til her offspring had become a bouncing young
ster Of eight or ten, the excuse could not have
been made. In sach transactions as the city
financial managers are eDgsgedin, each month
makes open explanation more difficult
The consequences Of one hidden transaction
engenders the necessity for another the more
numerous those transactions become, the more
debts have 10 be contracted to cover previous
debts, and as the evil grows in magnitude, sx-
plsRatiOn assumes the guise of exposure, and
Is dreaded accordingly Under the secret sys-
ten, when a payment has to be met and the
treasury is empty, the half dozen people who
know the secret are overwhelmed with anxiety
and run wild about the city to ind the required
money at any sacrifice, whereas were the
whole matter open, the citizens at large would
share inthe anxiety and unite in meeting The
crisis. We may observe with respect 70 this
fear Of an open statement Ct the condition Of
our finances, that when it was first proposed a
year ago, to abolish secret meetings Of the
Council, the most lively fears were expressed
az TO the cODseqaences-and what have those
consequences been ? a universal desire to make
publicity more public, BY having published at
full length the debates in Council, If it is pos
sible to make arrangements tc have it done.
When couhding OPenness is substituted for du-
biouB secrecy, the same result will follow, and
thsse whose fears BOw prompt them to
favor a continuance Of the present system will
Te5ace to be delivered from the thraIdou It en-
tails.
Our space viii not permit us to pursue The
subject at length, and we must rapidly mass
over much we should like to say, fer we deem
this Odious system Of secrecy 30 perniciour.
that 1t would give us pleasure 70 show en-
thoroughly the f~sllaciss BY which it is at
tempted to be supported.
Secrecy is injurious IN The Council Board,
FOR those who vote IN tie dark are apt to vsts