The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1871-07-28
let Us Have Light.


We should not be doing our duty tc
the people of this city il we did not give
public expression to the regret which Is
generally felt at the refusal Of the First
Branch of Council last evening to grant
the Finance Committee authority to EN-
ploy competent accountant to go
through the city books, and try to
straighten up the accounts and find out
from them the true condition of the Of
fairs which those books, were intended to
show but actually serve to conceal. DIR
LOGAN, the Chairman of the Committee
in his place in the Second Branch, explain
cd the deplOrablO condition olneglect and
confusion presented by the record Of
city accounts and the lAck OF record /,
and the utter lmpossibllity OF having them
them cleared up and set in order by the
Committee without Tire aid OF y com.
petent accountant He also made q
brief explanation on one or two points in
the First Branch, but members there did
not seem desirous Of having the books
fixed up. II was charged very broadly
that the object was to provide job for
somebody in want Of one, and some of
the members seemed very anxious to
scout tho idea that it could be Of any use
To have these accounts set in order II
was proposed to limit the expenditure to
1900, and DR.. LOGAN stated that ii was
the wish OF the committee to employ Col.
WILKINSON, probably the only man In
the city who could do much with the
books, and a gentleman who Is not inneed
Of Job. Yet COuncilmen seemed to
think this would be very eXtrAvagant
expenditure for purpose of no conse-
Quence,
live are correctly informed, 1t is n
matter Of very great consequence that
these accounts be looked into and straight
enCd out 1t is very poor economy to al.
low the financial managers of the city,
who handle over three hundred thousand
dollars year, to shroud their operations
in such mystery and confusion that no
body can tell anything about them. We
are informed of state of facts touching
the records of the successive finance com.
mittees for several years which suggests
culpablo neglect, II nothing worse which
indeed suggests ways that are dark and
tricks that are vain SO strongly as
to call imperatively for the fullest
investigation. For instance hundreds
II thousands of dollars Of the city's
stocks have been sold within the past few
years, yet there Is nothing 10 show how
much was received for them, or who re-
ceived II, or what became oil the proceeds.
1t was stated in Council last evening that
the city yet held stocks Of value, for in
stance sol 600 in Marietta road stocks
worth 2s per cent. Yet there is nothing
to show what has become Of these stocks
or who has possession of them. SO also
there Is nothing to show what comprises
the real estate owned by the,city. y.
Wehave protested for years against the
secrecy that has veiled all the operations
of the finance committees Of the city
And now II would seem that affairs in
volying several million dollars have been
conducted with such carelessness or sucl
intentional neglect that new finance
committee, anxious to find out the ilnan
cial status Of the city, finds It impossible
from the confused records handed down
by their predecessors TO tell anything
about II. I...|.
There ought to be, we fully believe, no
only good accountant but commits
sion of say three ortlie best accountants II
the city to make a thorough investigation
under direction Of the present committee
into the affairs of the city, that at las
daylight IN ay be let into the dark place
and that we may turn over new leaf ant
begin to conduct the public business II
an open and business like way. It is tim
to close the old books and open now Sc
ona diFerenaPlaH
Restless Church DISturboTs.
To the Editors Of the Intelllgcneer