Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-02-07
mUNrcrpAL Abrams.
Meeting Of Ehe BOard Of AIdermen.
Lengthy Message from the mayor.


Lengthy Message from the mayor.
The Board of Aldermen met at I P. NJ,
President Wilkinson in the chair.
THE MAYORS MESSAGE.
The following message from the Mayor
was read: t
NASHVILLE, Feb. 6, 1s71.-Fellow-eiti-
zens of the Board of Aldermen and Com
mon Council: Knight refrain from attempt
ing to interrupt swift current of legislation
which alarms me if were not commanded
in our charter of incorporation especially
'sto communicate to both branches of the
| CITY Council such information, and recon-
mend all such measures as may tend to the
| Improvement of the finances and police gov
eminent generally"
| l am laboring most earnestly in conjunc-
ton with your committee on finance and
with such other gentlemen of the Council as
seem willing to join me, to improve the
| finances, which no member of the Council
can feel more pleasure than myself in such
progressive measures as the finances of an
overwhelmed and almost ruined corpora
| ton will afford. In spirit of compromise,
1 have approved some bills of expenditure
which had hoped would not pass your
honorable bodies. / have many times en-
! treated every member of the City Council,
especially those gentlemen who, with the
utmost respect, may class as fast legisla-
tors, to 90 to the books, which are kept for
the information Of all branches of the mu-
nicipal government, and see for themselves
the exact condition of our finances. / re-
new the invitation.
In obedience to the emphatic Injunction
r. -. IL &c
mendation that all possible means be used
| just at this time, to save the taxpayers
money, rather than to cast about for new
and extraordinary opportunities to expend
it that we may go forward in the laudable
work of paying our debts, as did the two adj
ministrations which preceded this. Those ad-
ministrations not only paid much ofthe city's
| Indebtedness, but they wen a good name
! for Nashville in financial circles, at hom
| and abroad. They did what is, if possible,
better stili-they inspired the taxpayer OF
! small means with hope that the assess
ment on his cottage home might not for
! ever be equal to such rental as Shylock
himself would consider adequate. and they
caused the heavier tax payer to hope tor the
! day when ''taxation" on real estate IN
! Nashville would not be asynonym for''con-
| fiscation" while the rejecting renter said
| to his family, "when taxes return to what
they ought to be, l will buy me home,
and cease to pay rent"
On what have we recently fed, that we
should affect financial fairness and kick at
economy? Have we forgotten that a mu-
nicipal government cannot repudiate its
debts? Do any gentlemen Of the Council
believe that by joint resolution, suppressed
ing such tardy devices as Ordi-
ndnces (and ignoring a coordinate
branch of the government, chosen by the
people to act with them,) they can run
! headlong over a minority nearly equal to
themselves in numbers, abolish debts by
simply swapping their fingers at them, and
enter a splendid career of gayety and fan
cied glory, as individual bankrupts some
times do? As unfaithful servants Of the
people, we might all join together with
music and dancing, and pursue our sportive
| legislation so long as the courts of the
country would permit US. Perhaps it
might not directly injure some Of us, in
pocket or in spirit; but people whose in
terests we pretend to represent, would just
! " cover our names with execratiOn, while
they paid with compound interest for our
music aud our meTTiment.
The following figures are respectfully
communicated for your consideration:
Usual monthly disbursement as averaged
for five months ending on the last day of
June next, from three consecutive months
past, including such debts, as we