, 1861-05-07
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Yesterday afternoon the Mayor and Alder
men Of tbs retiring City Administration met
ut the Venncil Chamber Tor THE purpose of
Inducing Their respective succeesors into
oflfee.: IN accordance With the provision Of
the Charter which requires officers elect to be
sworn In within ten days after the result Of
The eleetion L dcclsFed, the cath Of ot1lce had
already been administered to the Mayor and
Aldermen elect.
The new Aldermen then took their seats,
the Common Council then being made up as
follows. '..''~..>
TIE COMMON COUNCIL.
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& Kars--HD b. 9fts*orsi, r II 9f.sesl' T. ses
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= Mer:M; .: VI Whiss, t. (: 1: Rasdf,a Passi,iIie.
~ .tavd-Rob:t Law, G, Perkins.
1o1a Wasa- John comisKy, r. IcDonald.
The ex-Mayor then delivered abrief addrees
A Committee consisting Of. Aids. Perkins,
Foss, and Cobb wzs then choaeu to wait upon
Mayor .Ramsey and conduct him to the Coun-
Gil Chamber.
1fr. Ramsey was received by the e1-Mavor
and inducted formally into his position, and
received with much applause. Mayor Rum
sey then delivered the following
1NAUGUHAL ADDRESS
GEN IL zMES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL:
I find myself, for: the trst time in my life,
politically, in nn icialposition- Ihayebeen,
as it were, .nhirted from the comparatively qui-
ct pursuits IN which have been engaged from
my boyhood, into the chair Of the Chief Exec.
alive 81 this gtest city of the Noztn- West.
Tho heEors-{and truly gress. honor feel it
to tea-was entirely unsoag ght and undeserved;
but the feeling that the wish of the people
should command the services Of every good
citizen, more pardcularIy iu times Hike these,
is the Gauss ct my presence here to-day, In
this c,ss.amber. have never entertained the
;.sea Of occupying this or any other political
place, and appear before you now, confess
inr with regret, TINT am but poorly uualitl ed
to perform the duties that are before me; but
am ready to do my best, and if you
assist me to that end, - have no doubt
you will, there Is but little doubt
brief period ehaeh has elapsed, sinceI I have
been aware WIS to occupy this place, I have
been Eiost Of the time engaged In performing
duties, which considered paramount to any,
fo1 the good Of our country, aud which duties
may truly say, we're more congenlal to my
feelings than those now assume. have
been assisting to arm, equip and supply our
hold, possess aud occnpy" the most important
military point in our Site. have, however.
endeavored to obtain such information IN re.
1atfon to the atfalrs OF our city, as would be
nseful to me in the performance Of my duties.
and regret to have to state they are not in 60
good condition as could wish.
do not propose to engage your attention
with long address about matters which to
many of yon who have hnd seats in this bodT
before, n1e undoubtedly u1ore familiar thaf
they are to re. Resides, think that the
GAYS ot Egeec5es are, for the present, past, and
tasS the days for action are upon us.
Bat for the sake Of bringing, briefly, some
facts before tie people, and milking our rec
ord for the future right, ! will make some
statements as to whst seems to me- to be the
condition Of our city matters. Some small
part Of the charter originally granted to Chi
cago, Is still In force, but the many alterations
which have been asked for, and granted by the
Legislature, from time to time, have SO
changed the original and subsequent amend :
difficult to know what the lar Is, even by
those who have had experience In its aarninis-
tration. To illustrate some OF the difficulties
even where it does seem comparatiye|v clear
will slate that the amended charter of 1857
sec. II, having referente to the duties Of The
Comptroller. Ees1s as fellows:
The sa5G comptroller .hail, also, in the month
at'5as are made BY the Common Council, snbn;t
to the same report Of the estimates necessary
as nearly as may be- to delEay the expenses Of tie
on the day Ss o se cid 5G
+Aprl he shall In said report class the differnnf
objects and branches Of said city expenditure,
giving, as nearly as may be, the amount required
for eaeh; and for this purpose he Is Authorized to
require Of al city officers and heads Of depart.
ments, their btaeelhents Of the condition ana cx-
peose OF their respective departments and Offices
With any Proposed Improvement and the probable
expense thereof Of oo1trsets already naada and IN
anfsheu. and The amount of any une1pended an
propriattons Of the preceding year, He shall also,
preceding hsca1 year from ali sources the amount
Of abli1tes outstanding upon which Interest Ia 10
be paid, and OF bonds and city debts payable dur
the Common Council may fully understand The
money cdgcnciee and demands Of the city for the
ensuing year; but in no event shall the Common
Council a make the current appropriat1ons Of any
ing the preceding year Us ascertained By the comp
trolleF In his said statement, unless In the pay.
nent Sf Interest on The pablie debts Of TIE
otherwise, some additional fund out OF which euch
e7sess q appropriations may be made to meet such
indebtedness - -
This makes the fiscal Year begin On The first
day Of April, and requires the Comptroller to
furnish an estimate during that month Of the
amount necessary to defraY the expenses of the
c;ty WoFfrnment for that year, while, by the
last amendment to the charter, the Board cf
PUBLIC WorkE-(a very important branch Of
said GoVernment)-is created, and their esti.
mate of what they will require to carry On
that branch of the Government, (which should
be included in the estimate Of the Comptrol1-
er,) is to be made in the month Of Nav. for
tae current year commenting Oh the first day
OF June The same amendments make the
municipal year commence on the first Monday
IN May. This does not allow eaeh Admins:
tratson to manage its a6alrsi during the tine
for which 1t Is held responsible, as sricb Ad-
ministration does not assume power until
more than month after the iitae for which it
has to provide nor can the COMPTROLLER make
such an estimate Tor 1.-THE different objects and
branches OF the said city expenditure as the
Law cont mplates, or as would be desirable to
an intelligent action Of the Common Council
The new Board Of Police Commissioners hav-
ing, by stu another bill passed by the Legis-
/ lature. the full chargeof the Police Depart.
ment of the city, went into operation during
the month Of March last.
There are many other incongruitiea In the
LAWS Of the Legislature pertaining to our city,
been from time to time enacted By the Com
| mon Council.
The Comptroller informs me that there are
now On hand, belonging to special funds OF the
city, and held i. tbs shape etu,7ency ia Bank,
amounts about as fol. ows:
To credit OF School Tax fund, say...4 81 bp0
" Reform School Tax fund, say. 1850
- 81 81 !" Cemetrey Fund. $50
T" Special Assessment and De-
post Fund and Tax-Salc Re
demption Fund. ....... 10tD0
" General Fund OF last year, and
for which warrants were
drawn prior to April LIST, bat
not Jet called for. 15O0Q
Water Commissioners, to be
transferred to new Board Of
Publ1c Works, to be used for
benefit OF Water # orks only 22,O0Q
Sewerage Commissioners, to
be transferred to new Board
Of Public Works. to be ueeI
for the benefit Of Sewerage
only. n1y..-::...-..-.-........ 1so, ,0oo
Il School Agent tSchool Fund proper $4,000
Total. ss1e, ,u0o
None of which can be- used TO Nqutdate aoy
general Indebtedness against the city, but, bY
the charter, must be used only for the purposes
above indicated.
The total amount of Bonds issued by the
Sewerage Commissioners is. ........., $500 Coz
Purchased and eaneaaed On account Of
Sinking FNnd. Is, ,00d