Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1867-09-14
BALTIMORE CITY FINANCES TO So low a
condition has the credit Of the city fallen that,


BALTIMORE CITY FINANCES. TO So low a
condition has the credit Of the city fallen that,
.ron now. when there'is an abundance of money
sasIipg investment, the Banks refuse to cash
the drafts of the Register, unless he deposits
smrIe SECURITY for the repayment of the money.
Evru the Farmers and Planters Bank, where
tha funds of the city-when there are any in
rhe Treasury--are kept on deposit, is deaf to
sl appeals for more money, the account OF the
,;t7 being already oyerdrawn to the extent OF
an. hundred thousand dollars. Mark this
also. as showing the frighttul condition to which
rhe finances have been brought by Mayor Chap
man and the herd of harpies who have been
l,rrying upon the Municipal Treasury for the
last six years The tax-rate OF the present
,ear is one dollar and forty cents on the hun
sufficient to meet all expenses. How does it
the levy was made, and not only has all the
money thus far collected been spent or squan-
dered away, but eight hundred thousand dol
lars more are required 'to meet current liablli-
ties" To obtain this sum it has been found
necessary to sell in part, and to hypothecate in
part, an equivalent amount of stock held by
the CITY in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
The tax levy was somewhere in the neighbor-
hood of one million nine hundred thousand
dollars, and yet, in addition to this, the enor-
nous sum of eight hundred thousand dollars
is required 10 meet the pressing demands OF
rapacous contractors and OF creditors, whose
lust claims have been STAYED off. Even the po
lice were forced to 60 without their customary
pay last month to such an extent has the
City Treasury been depleted. Nor is this all.
Jobs have been carried through the City Coun-
Gill; and appropriations made to meet them,
to be paid out of the tax levy of 1868. Who can
doubt, then, how heavily the rate OF taxes will
have to be increased hereafter? Nevertheless,
and in spite of the difficulty Of obtaining money
to liquidate the claims already pressing upon
the Treasury, attempts are now making to in
crease the indebtedness Of the city to an almost
incredible extent. Besides the loan of eight
hundred thousand dollars asked Of the banks,
the bonds Of the Union Railroad, 10 the extent
of half a. million Of dollars have been illegally
endorsed by the city, and the taxpayers will
certainly be saddled with the payment OF the
annual interest upon them Persistent efforts
are also making to obtain the passage Of an
ordinance appropriating three hundred and
twenty thousand dollars to the building Of
bridge at North avenue, where no bridge will
be required for years to come; and of another
ordinance apppropriating ninety-two thousand
dollars to build High School upon the same
sire where twenty seven thousand dollars have
already been literally thrown away. Day by
day the assets which the city once held are
melting away More than four millions OF the
best securities held by her have disappeared
already. At every step she is being plugged
deeper and deeper into debt, and nothing but
prompt and radical change which shall thrust
these people from office and put honest men
in their places can save her from utter and ir-
redeemabe bankruptey.-Bah. Gazette :
VIRGINIA LANDs.--The New York Tribune
says; vs. ,.. -, ,,.on,o no Nor,hsrn st,tos
think of migrating Southwark in quest OF a
mlder climate, cheaper lands, and region
more congenial TO the grape, peach, &c, that
We are induced to compile, from a pamphlet
catalogue of properties offered for sale by
Cabell Il Watkins, Richmond, Va, the follow
ing table"
The Tribune here extracts from the catalogue
of Richmond firm forty lists Of farms, large
and small, offered for sale by them, and lying in
different counties OF Misunderstanding the
location, total acres, acres improved and the
price per acre, ranging from Sc to $50.
The catalogue includes many other proper
ties, containing mines Of coal, iron, plumbago,
&c. The Tribune says
"We have abundant evidence that the cry
raised against the bigoted tenacity wberewlth
Virginians cling to their ancestral acres, is un-
founded We judge that $50 per acre In
greenbacks would buy half the State to-day,
and that the timber and the Improvements are
altogether worth more than this"
lo orb
Times refers to the quiescent spirit manifested
lu the Southern States in regard to the changes
OF military governors, and the disposition gen
orally exhibited there not to enlist in the polltl-
cal controversies respecting themselves which
are going on in other sections. This being so,
Shy not mantully denounce as unjust and I'M
generous the threat OF the ultraists to hold the
ocuth responsible for what is beyond her prov
tnce to control2 The lately seeded States
asVe no voice nor influence in the direction OF
public affairs. According to Mr.. Stevens they
sre y outside the Union, and if they are they
are sre no more answerable .or what occurs IN it
lnan the people of Canada or Mexico. 1t the
oouth IS passive and out OF the political ring,
S the Times comedies, is it not wanton cruelty
9of only to refuse to tighten the penalties and
disabilities under which it suffers, but 10 visit
sVery appeal made in it's favor outside its limits
W new pains and punishments Of its people?
Bali. Sun.
oAFErY LAMPS Nothing has yet been IN
vented to secure safety from fre-damp in coal
unes. The lives of the miners are nearly as
mueh dependent upon accident as in the early
period OF coal mining. During some expert
m1n's ush lately in England to test the respective
aalue OF yariOns kinds nf safetv lamns IL was
So fIuao that when a stream of gas was allowed to
uo@ u'@ into boz .in which the lamps were placed
s,l1t stmcie1t to rCund them with an explosive
atmosphere, the Davy lamp exploded the gas
n Nm nine seconds, the Belgian lamp in ten, the
sas aaSzard u, IN ten, the Clanny in seven and ten
nv TSu tne Stephenson in seventy-fve seconds
e.ns .Ie experiments proved that none of the So
oa oa,lea safety lamps can be depended upon when
damp. 'No oA'-''' - 1''