New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-12-13


l have given this much attention TO
newspaper article because the Times seem
to be the mouthpiece of the Mayor and :;v
Administrators, on the one hand. and az
eulnes to be the adviser of the Citizens
Committee and representative of the tax
payers, on the other, and is therefore dc
serving of more than ordinary considera
ton. Hence l have risen to explain.
Now, Mr. President and gentlemen of til
Council, with your permission, believin!
that you are the persons to whom if any
body, l should express my views upon tn
situation Of the affairs of the city. and tina
this is the place, beg further indulgence
do not find fault simply for the sake o
finding fault, but think. inasmuch as crit!
cisms upon the Administrators of the cit,
have been unsparingly made by the Mayo
and others, retaliation in criticism from
another standpoint may not be inappro
pirate. The financial embarrassment of tn,
city Is, and has been during the past ter
years, very great. With 81, SOC, 900 of inter
est money to provide for, with a polio,
organization over which the city has nc
control, costing 100000, with park tax
assessed by State law amounting to $780,
eoo and the necessity of keeping the streets
and wharves in repair, of keeping up the
schools and other institutions, together
with the legal inability to collect the five
eighths Of One per cent taxes assessed to
meet these expenses, can not but present
a va inv,s az In :<r,'a
but l protest that the situation of affairs
was not SO grave as 10 justify TIE letter Of
the Mayor to the Citizens Association. That
letter was declaration Of the Incompetent
c. of the Administrators, and almost equiv
aient $50 far as the Mayor could do it, to
turning over the management of the gov
eminent to the Citizens Association with
the reserved right to the Mayor an.: Admin
strators to draw their salaries it was at
the same time, in my opinion, an insult to
the Administrators and disgrace to the
Mayor l have also to complain Of
the Mayors budget message, which has
been characterized by some as statesman
Ike document. Three days before the
Council meeting at which that budget. &C
cordlnS to law, had to be adopted. while in
consultation in the Mayors parlor. the
Mayor complaining of the situation. be-
sought him to give us his views on the sub
ject in writing. in order that We might CON
slider them and modify the ordinance ac-
cordingly. His answer was, my dear sir,
l have no opinions. The situation is so
difficult don't know what to say" or words
to that effect. Notwithstanding this poverty
OF opinions at a time when suggestions
might have had some weight, the Mayor alb
sents himself, with his secretary, on Mon
day, and comes to the Council on Tuesday
with his statesmanlike budget message.
The budget had to be adopted at that meet
ing. and as it had been slightly modified
since the Mayor last saw it, he asked per
mission of the Council to withdraw his
message in order to make it conform
20 the budget as adopted. The
rext morning the budget was promulgated
by the Mayor and. the Administrators were
not permitted to see the statesmanl;ke mes
sage IN print until the second day there
after. Citizens have asked me. What is the
matter Is the condition of the city finances
really SO bad, or is this message OF the Mayor
bunkum = have been obliged to answer.
the condition of the finances is bad enough |
but the Mayors bunkun makes the bad
matter worse. His recommendations are
all of a general character and none specific. /
lie seems over anxious to be regarded as
the honest man. par excellence. and is un- /
generous enough to be willing to seek such !
reputation at the expense of the reputation |
II other men whose mott yes are equally !
mis- government as too Cnerous for poiit-
ally ambitious man to bear. and is ind:s-
,osed to tote fair" preterr.ng to throw
al the load upon the Adm uistrators, saying
hat he has no power to originate measures;
nat his ''supervisory powers are more nom
nal than real" etc. | contend that the
Mayor has the same power to originate
measures as any member Of the Council;
,ad it is peculiarly his duty to recommend
ne adoption of any orig inal measure which
ELL help the city out ofits present difficulties
ie has originated measures heretofore, ard
De Council have adopted them he has no
ight to say they will not do 40 again will
gree to introduce any ordinance or resolu-
:on he may desire to bring before the
iOuncil. But the Mayor was not always SO
nxious about the magnitude of the city's
ebt During the discussion in August on
he Waterworks ordinance, which provided
or the issue of two and 3 half millions of
Onds, the Mayor closed his speech in
lese words: THE only objection
ave to the ordinance is that it is two
billions and a hall, instead of five millions
md afterward, in he discussion of the
hat he objected to the rule of the majority
the Council
In his budget message, the Mayors
are so general as not to
e practical 1t is easy to say live within
our means and you won't run in debt
ny school boy could say that and not de-
,rve much credit. The difficulty is to
under the embarrassing circum-
ances which surround us, how We can {
mine our expenses within the limit of I
II receipts. To the solution of that '
.oblem the Mayor and Administrators
lould address their best efforts.
Still asking the indulgence OF the Coun- a
|, allow me to suggest what I believe to
lilies:
l. Let the Mayor cease trying to demon
rate that he ia the only honest Office