Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-12-31
AEBa'glIS APPEAL
THURSDAY MORNING. DEC. a.
THE CITY FINs,,

NAENlEE0 OF nd Eml
Govetnment the jP discharge, bees
phis' and its Pr discussion, nessafyin
~a4esdlhg toAIdermen, but~dmong the
the Bo@rHer credit Lad reached poiEt
eidz4t was DO longer reliable. Sued in
" Courts, and burdened with judg-
meBts, Memphis was all but bankrupt.
The poorest Of her employees suffered,
and were the dancers who, in great part,
were made to psy the financial fddIers,
whose lnsin dependence for profits and
the sustens1ce of . financial market lay
in the depreciation OF the "pFomissory
notes - with which these were paid, just
thirty five cents for 8 dollars worth of
labor. Such was the monetary condition
OF Memphis in January of 1865, when
the LEFTwICH administration took the
seals Of office from that OF
LoFLAND, and assumed the control
of her affairs; giving the conduct Of
financial masters in chargers a commit
tee whose chairman was hersided as the
"eoming man IA gentleman vino in
all the relations Of life had illustrated the
highest prObity, snd who had the singu.
lar good fortune always to be successful
in his race Of life.
Scarcely warm il their official seats
were the gentlemen of this Board ere the
most stringent economy was instituted
in sl departments. The street force be-
came q special object of attack, and
speedily suceumbed. O-her branches
were taken In rapid succession until all
were thoroughly prunsd, and not al in
different stem remsined. Every man
that could be dispensed with was dis
charged, the streets, although psved,
being left to the attention Of the
citizens, or else TO time, whose
aeeumulstions to-day render them al
most Impossible. This much accom-
plishsd, the Office OF the Comptroller
was denied all assistance, End the salary
Of that Indispensable officer cut down to
an amount that would not admit of his
employing help. Economy was the or
der of the day. The poor, as we are in.
formed, were neglected, and the medical
officer curtsiled ia the exercise Of his
charitable functions by sueh regulations
as were scarcely in conformity with
the generous disposition OF our citi-
zsns in establishing So necessary an
institution as the City Hospital.
This accomplished, the oiti-aus --a
asked, and gave their assent to the issu-
anee OF one million dollars Of bonds for
the purpose Of absorbing the city scrip
then on the market. It was promised
that this amount, il it did not wholly
take up what city paper of that kind
was out, would come 30 near it az to APP
preciste what remained to an almost par
value. The million dollars in. bonds
were Issued, bu; instead Of being used
to take up, IS promised, the outstanding
scrip, but $500, 600 worth was used for
that purpose-t25O,0 600 OF it being used
and eventually swallowed up as ~collate-
raj for Moneys borrowed to pay the cur
rent expenses, and $4,000 to piy the
July interest and thst which falls due
tomorrow. Instesd o. going upon the
market OF New York IS the State has
done, sndthere negotiating where money
is most abundant, jobbery here was re-
sorted to, and the consequence is that to-
day We are hardly better off than we
were on the first day of the dying year.
Tse failure to absorb the city scrip as
promised, and &c the people had Alright to
expect, necessitsted the assistance Of the
First National Bank ia many operations
of the city government, and eventually
placed Memphis helplesslyi in the clntch-
es Of an institution established and con-
Quoted with a. eye single to the turning
OF that honest penny for which National
Banks elsewhere are fam0us. One hun
dred Thousand dollars Of serip, and what
Is denomiuated "ledger balances " by
those skilled in the intricacies Of city T.
names, remained after all The bonds
were exhausted, and remains still il the
Golfers Of this Bank, the officers Of which,
mindful Of number one, s~r9~uv%Hained
TO be secured IN its p9ynant WITH inter-
EST, hy the deposit Is AAs been deter
mined on by 3 majority OF the Board) of
the Bonds Of the city in thu Little Rock,
tho Memphis and Ohio and the Mlssis-
sippi aud Tennessee Railroads, anaouut-
lng~in 81 to the snug SUN OF SsS0,O coo.
To this, or any n sJu1nzr III
rangemeut, we object, for tbs sxint-
pie reason that wsdo net see why
the city should nOt<seufe By collateral
the dollar il prefnises to pay the
mar ss well g lhe one bund-~a
d1ILars II