The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-10-30
The Recommendations OF tho Retrench-
ment Committee.

ment Committee.
The Retrenchment Committee, as sagacious
business men, have struck the key note of finan-
cial reform in Charleston, in asserting the
broad principle that expenditures must be cut
down to the leve, of receipts, and that, where
outlay exceeds income the outlay must be
diminished if the income cannot be increased
Unless this principle is adhered to, it is useless
to attempt to place the city finances upon
sound basis. Inconvertiblc paper currency
cannot be made, by edict or ordinance, equal
to coin but, when the public know that income
is meeting expenses, and that each year will
show clear balance sheet, there should be no
difficulty in keeping such small currency of the
city as may be required, at or about par.
In its details, the report of the Committee
may meet with criticism; but the gentlemen
who prepared it, in their earnest desire to adj
vance the interests of the city, will not depre-
| cate or condemn rational discussion.
The recommendations of the Committee may
be classed under three general heads: l. Abo-
lition of existing Offices. ,. Provisions to
secure due supervision ond control of certain
expenditures. g. Reduction of salaries, in
cluding reduction in the strength of the police
force.
l. The Offices proposed to be abolished
altogether are: Clerk in Assessors Office, AS
sistant Harbor Master, and Assistant Inspector
of Streets There is no apparent reason why
the abolition of these Offices should interfere
with the efficient working of the departments
to which they were attached. 1t may, and will,
throw additional work upon the officers who
remain, but this is necessity that will be
cheerfully accepted That it should be essen
tial to the interests of the city to discharge gen.
tlemen who have been faithful and industrious
in the performance of their duties, is subject
of deep regret but, as Charleston now stands,
no other plan can we'll be adopted. The city,
however, will not forget her faithful servants;
and, in brighter days, they will have claim
that must not be forgotten.
q To secure proper supervision of expendi-
lures, it is proposed, generally, that no work
shall be done on the streets without the author
ity of the Committee ON Streets, and that no
bills shall be paid by the City Treasurer with
out the approval of that Committee and of the
Mayor; also, that no bills be paid by the City
Treasurer, except for salaries and contract
work, without the approval of Council. These
are excellent provisions. They should be
effectual in preventing waste and extravaganza,
which is all that need be said in their favor.
g. The reduction in salaries is large, but
there does not appear to have been any dis
elimination Total income has been the gauge,
and it shows unerringly what can be DONE
Economy has always been necessary; and
when our financial reforms are completed, it is
hoped and expected that there will be seen no
more of those violent fluctuations in city bills,
which, heretofore, have caused so much dissat-
isfaction. Salaries will be reduced; but it is
believed that the city officers will find their
first loss lowered in Importance, by the fact
that they will not have to submit to discount
of twenty or thirty per cent. on the notes in
which they are paid.
The subject of the Police force is one that
we approach with considerable hesitation. Our
Police is composed of highly intelligent and re-
spectacle men, who can be implicitly relied
on to do their whole duty, and who enjoy the
entire confidence of this community. Their
number is now one hundred and fifty, and it is
proposed to reduce this to one hundred, while
the pay of private is brought down to $50 per
month The reduction is considerable one,
and could be justified by no cause other than
The supreme necessities of the case. 1t was
open to the Committee of course, to recon-
mend reduction, in numbers, to eighty, and
to allow the pay to stand at its present rate.
This, however, would throw twenty additional
policemen out of employment, and it would
bring the police force below an effective point
The plan of the Committee is the best that sug-
gests itself, but it may be practicable to find
some modification that will tighten its severity.
For the Charleston College, also, there
should be word of appeal. 1t is not likely
that it can, at present, be made self-sustaining,
and to forbid aid by the city will be to imperil
the very existence of the College and, at the
very least, to destroy its usefulness Even
now the Professors find it difficult to be paid,
and, if every door of relief is closed, the
Charleston College will soon be thing of the
past Earnestly is it hoped that this may be
avoided, either by the action of the city, the
State, or private individuals.
The Committee speak in terms of high
praise of the management of the Board of
Health, High School and Orphan House; and,
it is firmly believed that these systems are,
upon the whole, as practical and judicious as
any that could have been made. Charleston
must keep the blot from her shield. This
city must not be placed in the position of
bankrupt debtor; and, if reduction and re-
trenchment do, unhappily, cause indivinual
trouble they will still enable the City Govern
ment, under its present administration, to
maintain its ground, and meet in good faith |
all demands upon it. This is the great end |
to which we must all labor; this, alone, is |
the end that Messrs. MARSHALL, RAvENEL, |
OLNEY, ENsroN, and BUTLER, have striveu to |
accomplish.
A Nest OF Troubles