Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1864-12-12
THE QUARTERLY REPORT.

that report shall contain. Without fol.
lowing the words of the Statute, we will
state that such report is required to give
an account of the receipts and expendi-
lures of the corporation funds; from
what sources received, and to whom dis
bursed, and for what purposes. Reports,
intended probably to comply with the
provisions of the law, have been made
from time to time, and published in this
paper. One was published on Saturday,
and stands in our columns to-day.
Whether or not it complies with the letter
of the Statute in such case made provided,
is "mixed question of law and fact"
which we shall not assume at the present
instant to decide. We will state one
thing, however, without fear Of contra
diction, and that is that as far as impart-
ing any amount of information to the pub
lie is concerned, the President might as
well have saved his ink, time and mathe-
MATES, and the town the price of our
printing bill. If there is any object at all
in publishing a report concerning the
finances of the town, that object must be
the information of the Taxpayers upon
the somewhat important subject Of where
the money goes which they pay into the
hands of the tax-collectors. The Presi-
dent informs us, through the medium Of
the Treasurer's account current, which is
made part of his report, that the sum of
Sl9.244 AZ has been received into the
treasury during the past six months, and
that the precise sum of 1924 A has
been paid out of the treasury-making
yery square operation. The Treasurer
states the exact numbers of the warrants,
bonds, coupons, etc., etc., upon which
this sum has been paid, which will, un-
doubtedly, be found, upon examination,
to be strictly correct. He also gives US
the names of the gentlemen to whom the
several amounts have been paid, which,
in the aggregate, make up the sum OF
Sl9,244 II. 1t was not, perhaps, neces-
sary for the Treasurer to know for what
purpose this money was paid out. ltwas
sufficient for him to know that the war
rants, bonds, etc., were issued by the
proper authority. The people, however,
have desire, which is perhaps natural, to
be informed as to the exact purposes to
which their money has been applied. The
fact that it has been paid to Messrs. A B
and c, is satisfactorily only upon the point
that it has gone out of the treasury. 1t
1t does not satisfy the people that it has
been judicio4sly expended that is ex-
actly the point upon which the people
want to be satisfied. We have heard no
expression of belief that the town funds
have been wasted or improperly converted;
yet, as in private matters, people are prone
to examine the items" of the bills
which they are called upon to pay, so, to
the fullest extent, do they demand very
explicit account from their public iduci-
aries. If the books of the town have been
properly kept, there can be no difficulty
in preparing complete and satisfactory
statement of the different sources from
which the revenue has been derived, and
the different accounts upon which it has
been expended. This mere wholesaling
of the matter is unsatisfactory, and causes
growing among the Taxpayers. They
know, for instance, that some twenty or
thirty thousand (they don't know which,
of the town bonds have been issuedS but
whether those bonds were sold at pre-
MUM or for twenty-five cents on dollar,
the public have not been told. .r
Just at this time there is deep and
general anxiety on the subject Of our mu-
nicipal affairs. Two meetings have already
been held for the purpose of devising
means for the extrication of our county
and city corporations from their present
fearful embarrassment. The second of
those meetings was held on Saturday
evening last. Committees appointed for
the purpose reported upon the condition
of the affairs of Virginia city and Storey
county. The Gold Hill Committee, know
ing that the quarterly report was to be
published depended upon that document
for the required information. We quote
the following paragraph from the Enter
prise's report of the proceedings of the
meeting:
Owing to Misunderstanding, no report on
the municipal affairs Of Gold Hill was pre-
sented. However, Mr.. A. B. Paul, being
present, stated that the debt Of that town
amounted to about $4,000. On motion OF
Mr.. Paul, the report Of the Trustees of Gold
Hill, as published in the Netcs, was received
by the meeting in lieu of the report Of the
Committee which had been appointed for the
purpose. This report, on being read by the
Secretary did not appear to come up to the
expectations of the meeting, not being as full
on some points as was desired.
We should mt think it was. That meet
ing land it represented the tax-paying por-
ton of the community wanted to know
something about the financial condition
of the town of Gold Hill. If they could
find it out from that report they were
shrewd ones at guessing. Fault-fnding
is not pleasant business for an editor
whose business prosperity depends upon
the goodwill of his fellow-citizens; but
we have been constrained to these remarks,
by the dissatisfaction expressed in the
community, at the meagerness of the re-
ports heretofore made. The present one
is better than any of its predecessors, but
it is not what it should be, BY long odds.