New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-10-18

1
fifty cents per thousand, the city payin,
cash within thirty days. The same monti
April, lS7O). Mr.. Madden charged the De
partment Of Police ten dollars per thou
sand for envelops Of the same qualit,
and description. This comparison does MOI
argue we'll for the Mayors economy.
The objection to Mr.. Fields bill for ter
hardly be sustained. The same month
paid eighty-five cents cash for coal for nv
lamily use, and considered myself yery for
tunate, as a day or two after the cash mar
ket rate was advanced to one dollar Del
barrel.
6 In the matter of groceries. l challenge a
comparison Of the prices charged with the
market rates. The bills are as reasonable
as any reasonable person could expect, and
have this piece Of information to commu-
nicate to the Council, that have invited
proposals from prominent wholesale and re.
tail grOcers, with q view Of purchasing SUP.
plies at the best 0btainable rates for the in.
terests Of the city. and in no instance could
Mr.. Moriarty be underbid. Some grocers
positively declined selling to the city, they
mad so little confidence in the city promises
| to pay, and preferred to see their stores
filed with saleable articles than to have
| their bank boxes contain evidences of debt
from what the Mayor has often publicly de-
clared a bankrupt corporation.
l have the bills in my possession of par
ties who sold the flour to Mr.. MOriarty, and
the average price for the sixty barrels sold
the Boys House of Refuge was seven dol.
lars and seventy-fve cents cash. The
Mayor has personally visited our flour mer-
chants, and a few DAYS since asked prom
ineht one what he would supply for. The
answer was nine dollars cash.
| If the objection of the Mayor is to the
large amount purchased, will explain that
| the material is consumed in making bread
| for all Of the public institutions supported
by the city, consisting Of the WOrkhouse,
with an average number Of inmates per day
Of about one hundred and forty; the Boys
House Of Refuge, one hundred and forty;
the Girls House of Refuge, twenty; the
House for the Aged and 1ntirm, twent y.five:
and the Insane Asylum. about one huudre 4
and forty-five; besides supplying bread to
the officers and employees OF the institutions
named, aggregatins abOut thirty-ive.
| The lumber bill, fud by reference to
the market quotations on that date, is not
unreasonable. Had it been. would not
| have presented it to the Council.
trust that these explanations will satisfy
| whether the purchases for the Department
Of Police have been extravagant.
JAMES LEWIS, Administrator.
Mr.. Cockrem called up the items in the
expense ordinances Of the Depa, .nents of
Improvements, Police aud Finance, vetoed
by the Mayor at the special meeting on the
fourteenth instant, and 40 far as the items
affecting his own department were con.
cerned. stated tina: the prices charged were
reasonable, and were the regular cash
prices prior to the depreciation of the city's
currency, " it'll the one exception of coal.
The price charged for coal last month was
dollar aud ten cents barrel, and the city
could not now purchase coal for less than
dollar and twenty cents. 1t was his mr..
Cockrem's) opinion that the city would
have to pay much higher prices yet for sup
plies. owing to the depreciation Of the city's
credit. He now moved that the items be
passed. the veto of the Mayor notwithstand-
ing, aud that they he referred to the Adj
ministrator of Accounts with power.
Mr.. Shaw: l look upon most of the OBJ
jectiOns of the Mayor to these items as hav-
ing been removed by the explanations given
in committee Of the whole, aud would like
them to be referred to the Mayor with
power. l believe many Of these items can
be passed, but there may be some excep-
tons. In other words, the Mayors criti-
cisms are not altogether unfouuded. l
would ike to bear the Mayor himself on
this subject. believe his disposition is to
settle fairly al just claims. l have an
opinion that by little care and courtesy
exercised on the part of Administrators,
and by dealing with people who are able to
transact business with large corporation,
we may avoid high prices. No man able to
hold on to bis paper has ever suffered by
giving credit to the city of New Orleans.
The city has had a good deal of financial
difficulty at various times. and has now,
and it has always happened that those who
could afford to deal with the city and to
hold on to their certificates have got rich by
it. This crying down of the city's credit
has become little fashionable of late but
believe we can lind plan by which We
can buy and not pay such extravagant
prices, either, for our supplies. The difficulty
is in making the actual position of the city
understood. l certainly think it would be
right for us to give the patronage
in the matter of purchases to peo-
pie who are able to deal with a
corporation which we
all know does not receive its assets,
does not collect its dues all the year round.
There are two periods only in the year
when our revenue comes in. 1t comes in |
from March to July in the shape of taxes,
and after that it comes in rather slowly in |
the enforcement Of taxes. In January and |
and February we receive our Licences. At |
other times our city treasury is al ways |
short. think it is rather unwise to pur
chase of people who have to take the paper
Of the city, and at orce sacrifice it at twenty
to twenty-five per cent discount. ac-
knowledge the difficulty under which the
Department which has this purchasing to
10 rests. and blame our system of finance
and also the Legislature. We
nave very large duties to carry out, streets
20 repair. and an immense amount
If things to do, and an imperfect
'evenue to meet it, added to which we have
his year deficit of five hundred thousand
dollars, the reason of which everybody who
s acquainted with city finances knows.
The Legislature told us to levy one and
hree-quarters tor ourselves, and seven
lghths for police and other purposes, max
ng two and tive-eighths per cent, and, at
he same time, passed a law that we should
'ot levy more than two per cent. Suppos-
ng this fact TO be known to every public