New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-12-23

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smaller population than the cities quoted,
pays two hundred and fifty thousand dol
lars more than any one of them, and five
hundred thousand dollars more than Gin
cinnati pays, with hundred thousand
greater population.
CITY PRISONERS.
The cost of keeping prisoners in the city
prison, as shown by ia BILE E, has run up
from twenty seven thousand dollars i'll 1853.
to eighty-tive thousand dollars in 1869.
The prisoners are kept in idleness, and as
idleness is the parent of vice, they come out
of prison after a few days, weeks, or
months incarceration. worse than they en-
tered, and with greater capacity and will to
prey upon community. Legislation should
be invoked to authorize the city TO board
the prisoners and to employ them during
their incarceration at some labor which
will repay in part, at least, their cost to
the community. Without such legislation no
no retrenchment of this item can be effected:
with it, it is believed that nearly the whole
amount paid for maintenance, which ap.
pears last year to have been eighty-tive
thousand dollars, may be saved. Some leg
islation of this kind is calculated upon; and
in the budget, the amount of prison expenses
for next year, is put down at fifty thousand
dollars.
CORONERs.
Up to the year 1858 there was only one
Coroner for the city OF New Orleans, whose
fees ranged from seven to thirteen thousand
dollars year. -, In 1858. the ordinance was
changed, and the Coroner was paid fixed
salary Of nine thousand dollars year.
This continued until 1868, when another
Coroner was created by law. the payment
Of both officers being by fees; and the city,
for the last two years, has paid upward of
t,,.fu oil mr. for
services. This item also is beyond the control
Of the Council. Legislation should be in
voked to empower the Council to regulate
and control the cost of these services, by
which means a saving Of twenty thousand
dollars year could be effected.
PRINTING.
The annual cost Of the city printing from
1852 to 1868 varied from nine thousand dol
lars to thirty-f five thousand dollars "a year,
the average being about twenty thousand
dollars, which included printing the pro-
ceedings of two Councils. The amount paid
by the present administration for printing
since April 4, 1870, is over thirty-seven thou
sand dollars for seven months, and the cost
for the year, at present rates, will probably
be about fifty thousand dollars. The Legis
lature should be asked to allow the city to
make the best bargain it can for its print
ing, by which it is probable the whole cost
of printing might be reduced, with a little
economy and retrenchment, to twenty thou
sand dollars q year. Thus, saving would
be made on this item Of thirty thousand
dollars. All the other items of expenditure
in the budget are within the control of the
Council.
Salaries
The item of salaries has ranged from a
hundred and twenty-one thousand dollars
| in 1853, to two hundred and thirty-five
thousand dollars in 1867, IS shown by table
| 4. For the years 1868 and 1869, the accounts
are not posted, but the monthly pay rolls of
the last Council average twenty thousand
dollars a month, which would give two
hundred and forty thousand dollars a year.
| The pay rolls of salaries for the month of
November last, under tbs present Council,
amounted to twenty-eight thousand six hum
dred and ffty-seven dollars, or at the rate
| of three hundred and fOrty-fve thousand
necessary increase from Algiers and Jeffer-
son, whose whole pay rolls, under the gov
| ernments existing before annexation,
| amounted to about fifteen hundred dollars
| q month.
| A retrenchment in this item, by reducing
the salaries to the standard of even pre-
vious administrations, would give q saving
Of hundred thousand dollars year.
| STATIONERY.
In examining the claims which went into
the floating debt, observed that the bills
for stationery we're very numerous, and
very heavy. which led me to inquire as to
this class OF items under the present COun-
Gil. l End that in seven months the sta
tionery bills incurred and paid BY this
+ Council amount "a Gil S1o ~ T,h;c oor.