Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1867-10-04
THE EVENING STAR
Geersesswn C.u,ca.,

sAiieu % eioer oy hecosoer Mathews, at TX
oetoS1. PEessnt-M essTs Mathews, (Rscord.
heiston. There being no quorum OF the Com.
mon Council st the time Of opening the nsst
,ns; , me - members .s OF that body present were
hyde, from the Standing Committee, 10 whou,
hsd been referred the resolution giving mar
mlseien 10 james Goddard to construct a
back the same, with an amendment perm itt,n =
toe stairway 10 remain during the pieasure OF
me corporation. Mr.. Simms doubted the right
~ =. me boara 70 enforce any such restriction
II the alley was public property, and upon the
same footing as streets. each resident was per-
united 10 use four feet beyond his building.
rue W'oth OF tne alley upon which It is conten-
pia1eo 20 construct the stairway, Ia his opinion.
ora not AFFECT the case in the least. The opinion
OF me Recorder being called for, that officer
statea that II was his Impression such contin-
fenciss snould be governed according TO the
circumstances attendant thereon. Condemned
alleys and lanes were public thoroughfares,
IT 10 true; but If they were too narrow to ad
mIf OF four foot obstruction 1t was, in his
cpInisn. perfectly legitimate 10 restrict the
limit. After some further discussion the raso-
luton as amended was adopted and Mr. God
dard was thereupon granted permission to
construct his stairway, asked for. MIR. Hyde,
from the ST lnoing ommittee, to whom had
been referred the report OF the Clerk concern
,pg the deficit in the Tax Collectors (Mr
Welch's) returns. submitted the folio wing:
The standing committee Of the Board of Alder
81 the CT Tporation, dated August p 1851 giving
the amount of taxes due and n paid prior to Jan
meat, and given the subject that importance de:
nanded greatly augmented by painful rumors of
following report: In the early stage of the exam
instion the committee addressed to Mr.. WEIGH, the
the ea of WHICH
herewith Enclosed Pending the reply to this letter
with the double PURPOSE Of ascertaining the cor,
rectness Of the clerks statement and the modes of
Keeping the books which are depended upon for
information in case like the present. Upon thu.
POINT your committee is constrained to say that
was such that # is impossible to asceTtain, even
approximately, what amount of taxes were due
inclusive, there Was book kept by the Soect tor
or some one for him, IL is presumed little of il
separate account kept with each tax
payer, which your, committee deems proper,
and thus embarrassed the in,estigation'
Had this system, however effectively it was exc
satisfactory result would nave be an arrived at bnt
that was not the case; on the contrary, the books
occur have been so kept and the entire mode
of keeping accounts ard collecting and paying me
tee simply Impossible for any one to ascer
tain With ANYTHING like a reasonable certainty,
tax law, the clerk delivered to the collector state tue
ment showing the AMOUNT ftaxes due for the year,
Hnd upon this the collector proceeds to make his
collection and make returns against the said taxes
which are charged to his account. Instead of the
collector keeping an account against each indi-
Nldual tax payer and paying over the amount. he
appears 70 nave charged and received his commits
slobs on the whole amount charged out of the ear
nest COLLECTIONS. and this seems have been the
ilohs-lsf, because he collector should be allowed
commits Ions on more than the nett amount paid in
receiving commissions on the aHorat Of tarSs d..
lie receives on the deductions allowed for prompt
present cgse, lie receives commissions on moneys
"hich never get into the town treasury.
immediate legislation looking to the correction of
These lmproprletIes and to the establishment of
he compelled to follow. Assuming the taxes of
gwen ear to be 5000, the collector pays against
:.ertain sums Of money, and simply entecs the same
in book, without showing an account of what
sract of e q Wss5 n HATE
I" unqualified condemnation, and which our com
CATION Your committee state, for example that the
collector took from the tax Of 1855, Sls6i624, and
rg IN prior yea rs, r. as Tar back as ls9 and in
iii 49, he took of the taxes Of 1866 SIS l9l 76, and
refunded that of 1915 pro tdHfo. In this mInetiate
connection Your committee regrets to have to state
that IT appears from a letter from tue recorder
written at the instance of a member of the commit
ws;cb me year l the only year Except ls On
lsStor gave the bond required by law, and which
.d rato only cr tbe ehat Under
W. the election of 1886 as will appear by The re
~oldsr's NoMnlun,v"uen on another matter, being
Your rommitte does not undertake to determine
whose duty tits to see that the COLES tor bonds
stnce has been allowed to the great ipiurs 81 De
corporation, i manifest; and il appears from the
rot given in strict accordance with law 1t ap-
pears, from the statement of the clerk, herewith
count Of the late eoiiecfor, Mr. WEIGH. is sis7sz6
In response TO the letter referred to in the early
Gastial QctQleE-2 sends sundry memoranda, by
admitting the .dsticiency 70 be marked sffasef
Cafter reconciling sundry small errors which The
result TO be Gained did not seem to demand the re
s" which ha RHs dSSR as sRs
To credit for snd the collector in his letter of DC
time tor Investigation. This the committee prompt
~ awarded, not with the expectation on either
pert, hut chiefly to ascertain if there is any Dos
sIbie way of doing so. what amount of liability
.ag bond@an says he viii III q2 a Mite WitR s
out putting the corporatien TO trouble or
The in default for 1875. after allowing full
commissions; as appears by the clerks statement.
books and of taking the taxes of one year to make
good the deficiency of another, efectualy def,
fual amount of deficiency for the year 1876 for
which the corporation could look 10 the bondsmen
deems further Investigation desirable. and in
NolSips. as it certainly will, more time than the
10 it, and in view Of the necessity. as Your commit
tee conceives, Of thOrou n investigation of the
some competent person is res pectfully Recommend
I'd TO pu.sue the subject through ali the books of
1t is manifest from the above statement that a
complete and rigid system of accountability should
be applied 20 the affairs of the corporation. and
The adoption OF Uniform system of accounts for
tie tax collector should be Immediately provided
for.
RESPECTFULLY submitted. lSignedI A. HYDE Jen-
Kan Thomas, Joseph l.. Simms, committee.
Accompanying the above report were num-
Der Of statistical documents, among which was
a letter from Mr.. WEIGH. the iate tax Collector,
concerning the alleged deficit in his ofIicia
transactions. In this letter he refers 10 the
clerks estimate Of a deficiency Of Sl3,7s. and
produces items OF expenditures which reduces
thai amount 10 Sl1,66S. The latter sum he is
unable TO account tor. and asks tor q rigid in
vesugation IN order 10 relieve him from the
embarrassment which at present surrounds
him. He feels that, when the matter Is fully
sifed,he will be eNoneratsd from the Sc we're re-
hecuons which have been made against his
integrity and honesty. The Recorder, 10
whom had been referred the resolution pro.
yidng for the appointment of tax collector
for the unexpired term Of 1866 and whose
judgment as to the validity OF such proceed
ing had been called for, submitted written
opinion, in which he took the ground that as
Mayor WEIGH, the late Collector, had failed TO
furnish security with ten days afre- the time
designated for his qualification, in accordance
with the law OF this Corporation the office was
therefore vacant and IL was legitimate
Tor the Boards of Aldermen and Common
council 70 appoint Collector The report OF
the BE corder was submitted % the Common
Council, and the resolution wes adopted On
motion OF Mr.. Thomas. II Was a1reed fba.