The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1872-04-21
s. G.
Sunday hornia9, April 81, 1879.
Our City Finances.


troll OF our city affairs, the citizens oi
Columbia have been unable to get any
reliable statement Of the financial condi-
ton OF the city. Several weeks ago we
called upon the Council to make at least
an exhibit of the receipts and expendi-
lures OF the government for the past
fiscal year, as has been the custom of the
city authorities, heretofore, from time
immemorial. To this no attention what
ever has been paid, and there is but q
slim possibility of our ever having full
and entirely trustworthy statement fur
nished Of the 1noneyed transactions of
the late Council. Exactly how much,
and from what special sources, money
was received. and to whom and for what
exact objects paid out. are subjects of in.
quiry. according to the rulers of the
present day, about which tax payers and
citizens generally have no right to con-
Germ themselves. We, they virtually
say, tax you, take hundreds of thousands
'of dollars from you of your hard earn
inga. and apply. spend or appropriate it
as oompolts with our wishes. It is no
matter OF yours. Your business is to
pay. But though satisfactory showing
cannot be had. there are sufficient dis
closures which have been made-faots
apparent, here and thereto convince
any sane and unprejudiced person that
the city finances have been miserably
managed; and, more still, that there has
been hole somewhere in the city troa-
sury, into which many thousands of dol
aars have been sunk. It is to the inte-
rest OF the present Council to present
rthe financial status OF the city, at least in
as bad light as truth may warrant, in
order to pave the way to such sxtraordi-
mary measures OF securing revenue as
they may see fit to desire. That the acts
81 plots and schemes and jobs of the
a..o Council will be honestly ventilated
for the satisfaction of the people, we
have but little reason'to hope; but the
permanent injury which has resulted
therefrom will be made known.
In the late proceedings of Council,
published by rs yesterday, we find that
there are outstanding notes Of the late
City Council amounting to $S1, 1000,
borrowed at short time and at ruinous
rate of interest. It is impossible to
conjecture how this money could have
been honestly applied. There was, &C.
cording to the testimony given by the
City Clerk before the committee Of the
General Assembly, at its last session,
upwards of $4,000 received into the
City Treasury over and above the ordi-
nary expenses Of the city governm ent,
salaries. department expenses, interest
on the public debt, &c. Here. then. is,
say $4,000. The assets of the city in
the Charlotte. Columbia and Augusta
Railroad stock, amounting altogether,
we are informed, to sl25. 900, were sold,
and realized something over $50. 1000.
This added to the surplus taxes makes
100000. There was borrowed of DR..
Neagle S75, 900, and of the Carolina Ma
tional Bank Sc. 6.0O0-SS1, 1000, making o
grand total of $171, 900 over and above
the ordinary expenditures OF the city 60
vernment What have we to show for
this. in the way Of extraordinary ex-
penditures that have been made? There
was the debt to DR.. Neagle. Judgment
obtained on past due coupons of about
$4,000, what little has been done on
the new Market and City Hall, which
$1,000 will cover, making in all $40, 900.
This amount from $171, 900 leaves the
enormous sum of $131, 900, for the out
lay OF which no account has been given,
nor do We believe con be given.
SO much for the late Council. AS we
have stated above, it may be to the inte-
rest OF the present Council to present
the existing liabilities OF the city in their
true light, and we presume that this has
been done in the late proceedings re-
ferred to. Blu. in the ''sources of re-.
venue." the Committee of Ways and
Means has fnllen far below tho trua