Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-01-05
CITY coUNcIL.l
Regular Monthly Meeting of the Board of
Aldermen.
Farewell Messages Frem His Honor MayOr
Leftwich.

yetoing the resolution 10 estaDllsh nIe
alarm telegraph, at a cost of $4,000. The
embarrassed financial condition OF the
city is the cause alleged.
The following is the annual message:
MAYORS OFFICE, Cry HALL,
MEMPHIS, January 4, 1870
The Honorable Board Of Aldermen:
This meeting virtually ends u man
agement of the municipal government OF
Memphis. and sewers the official tie that
has united us for the past two years.
Eagerly as some of US have looked for
ward to this release from grinding care,
the occasion cannot be otherwise tnan u
sad one, as partings ever should De; Ior
though unpleasant episodes may have oe-
~casionally interviewed, the pleasuraDle
ones have largely pr~edominated, and time,
I hone. will soon erase all memory
not pleasant to remember.
For the information of those whom We
have the honor to represent, n with a
hone to give aid and encouragement to
those who are to succeed US, a review OF
this administration seems TO me to be APP
propriate at this time; and If, p~erehanee,
there aDpears what is seemingly personal
10 myself. il is introduced " with malice
toward none and charity toward all"
merely to illustrate the motives that nave
guided me.
j u SOW VI AALNA@
about. but enough 10 know that at the be-
| ginuinc of the administration the noun
tain of due and pressing debt that loolned
no before rs was enough to appal the
most resolute, and to so low an ebb had
the credit of the city gone that am
ashamed to say it-merchanJs positlVely
/ refused to furnish the small plttance OF
provision and medicine absolutely neces-
sarv to supply the city hospital, Whne
that class of city employees who are de-
pendent for their daily bread on their
monthly wages, were in many instances
without the common necessarles OF HE,
and these wants for awhile were only sup
piled on the personal credit OF the Chalr-
man of the Finance Committee.
There were two hundred and twenty
five claims against the city in process OF
legal collection, and the first greeting that
I received on entering the Mayors office
was from the Sheriff 5 deputy with lite
rally an armful of executions, some OF
which had been levied, and All would
have been except that no more property
could be found, while there was not
money enough in the treasury to pay for
an answer to g telegram from a credkor
in New York city.
Thus matters stood at home-nO money,
no credit. and few friends-whiie in New
York one banker held hfty-seyen one
thousand dollar city bonds, with several
past due coupons attached 10 eachy 10 Sc
cure a fifteen thousand dollar DEBT with
interest accruing at 10 per cen per an
mum, and another held $4,000 IN city
scrip to secure SIG. 600, at an interest OF "A
per cent. per annum.
hssty survey of the situation devel-
oped the fact that a system Of economy
SO rigid that, under ordinary circumstan-
ces, It would be called niggardly couId
alone save US. Accordingly, the firemen
were first summoned and plainly told the
facts as the were. when. witha Lberalty
characteristic of them as q class, they con-
sented to a reduction of their pay from
one hundred to sixty-ive dollars per
month.
In like Il was the pruning knife
applied whereveri il could be borne. All
charities and improvements not lndlSpen-
sible were suspended, and the ever hun
gry lob and place hunters who claim to
have voted for every one who has patro-
mage to bestow, were so plainly told that
there were mo pickings" that within
twenty days after his Inauguration, tht
Mavor, who had been oppressed Will
overweight of encomiums, was the oDJecl
OF curses loud and bitter.
This, however, did not change the pol
lev, some OF the benefits from which are
as follows:
During 1867 the Fire Department cost
the city SILL y as, which was paid II
scrip at so cents on The dollar, thus o
linz the cost, besides accounting for "los:
on scrip"to those VINO sold for less thar
80 cents, while in 1869 the total cost wa'
only S43,9T5 IS. In evidence OF its rel
alive efficiency. 1 may add, from Nov l
1866. to Jan. l, go, fourteen months), the
losses by fire were $3.50, 600, while from
January l, 1868 TO January l, 1870, TWEEN
ty-four monthsl, the losses were only
S27l ,023.
947 "A land paid in scrip at 80 cents), anC
in 1869 only S16, 100 70. which embraces
some improvements that leave II now II
better condition than it has been in FOL
years.
The pauper account for 1867 was $40,
Sl4 81, paid in scrip at 90 cents, and II
1859 only S3,S02 %. Without particular
izing further, the s-amesystem of econOm!
pervaded every branch ofthe city govern
/ meut. Through the competence II Wig
lance of the city engineers, who cautious
l " made and carefully guarded every con
tract, a large sum has been saved IN Tn
: aggregate; while in the single item Of ex
changing sixty-fve $1,000 six per cent
r bonds for an equal number OF ten pc
t cent. bonds a saving was made OF S7z,6S
in interest!
: Immense as were these savings, the.
e were not of themselves sufficient to al
=. ford relief. A due dent of about 81, 10000
was to be provided for; creditors if posi-
f BILE. became more urgent and imperatlY
in their demands; money was indispensa
BILE to meet the current expenses of th
, city government, and especially to pa.
y those debts that were bearing sue
r heavy rates of interest and secure
by c0llaterals of such magnitude.
In this emergency our only %alternativ
was to issue and sell time bonds, which
after mature reflection, was agreed upon
- AEo,-k - hoe haop mora 1pTrRfu cor
sured than any other relief measure W
have adopted, the bonds we're sold at sue
) rates as TO make the interest we pay abou
ten per cent. per annum, barely tn
amount then being paid by the Feders
Government, counting the premium o
gold interest and exemption from taxa
ton. with this great advantage, that th
/ interest can cease whenever, and as fas
as, a surplus is accumulated to retire tn
bonds.
It was thought that one million
: bonds would be enough to bring the Ia
collectors office to a cash basis, and thi
was based on the expected cO-Operatio
of parties then largely indebted to tn
q CITY. who not only withheld their due
l. but banded together against the city GOV
eminent, and prevented by a legal quill
d bic against the hypothecation of bond.
the contamination of an arrangement a
f ready made by which the city had bol
a rowed at the low rates OF seven and min
n per cent. per annum, a sufficiency to full
n restore its credit.
T.; This effort to break down the city
e, credit by a few designing and man
is ~thoughtless and misguided citizens, prov
ed as fatal to its projectors as the reeOil
v the boomerang to Ii savage unskuled j
IF its use, for though it failed to reduce it
h a point at which they were willing to il
Y vest to cover their indebtedness, it con
! PEELED us to submit to some heavy loss
! which their taxes will have TO help mai
# good: but the misfortune is tina. innOcoI
At taxpayers are made equal sufferers.
Bat in spite of this organized oppos
ton, and in spite of the fact that thes
u creditors still avail themselves OF tt
: laws delays to postpone the payment
. their dues, we are able to show the follow
ing results:
OF the two hundred and twenty-f1
+ claims against Us in process of o~ollectio
n at the outset, W rave paid two hundre'
amounting in the aggregate to $4,000
Our due floating debt has been reduce
about one-half. The bonds we have sol
realized twenty cents more on the dOIli
than they were worth at the first of lS6
I and an average OF eight cents more tina
was expected when this issue was autho.
> lied, and no doubt would have advance
= several cents higher, but for the discred
brought upon them by the action of I'll
l. so-called Citizens Union. City scrip az
! vanced from thirty-three to eighty-hN
s cents; and though it has declined SON
y from the anxiety and connection cons
quent on the approaching election, l al
satisfied that under the %judicious admin
. istration that is likely TO succeed us,
, will advance rgain to nearly par. Cit