The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-12-07
G4teG'rteQia
The Subscriptions In Council Last
NIRht.

S5OOOOO 10 the Nv. d L. 3. Railway Co.
and the ordinance subscribing $500 ,O0t
to the Nv. & o. o. Railway Co." Not
withStanding very Skillful and able re-
distance on the part Of the Chairman o.
the Finance Committe and two or three
other memben, these ordinances werC
put through with haste and want Of con,
sideration which It Is very mild TO char
acterize as indecent, when we reflect that
they involve an appropriation Of $500,
600. The first mentioned ordinance re
ceiyed its final reading, and the vote OF
its final passage was put, 30 hurriedly and
indlstnctly that the vote was taken and
the result announced before any one had
presence Of mind to demand a cal
Of the roll, and before many knew
what was being voted on. Only three OF
four members voted at oil, but the chair
ruled that as no voices were heard in the
negative, the vote was unanimousin favor
To afford an opportunity for Q fair ex-
preston, and give members q chance tc
go upon the record and take the responsi,
bility Of their vote, Mr.. SIMPSON moved q
reconsideration. Mr.. O'BRIEN promptly
moved to table this proposition, and 9
maiority were guilty Of the moral cow
ardice Of refusing to allow . fair vote tc
be taken and recorded. Three hundred
thousand dollars were thus voted away
by men who dared not go upon the re-
cord as voting 1t. Their instincts were
right. The future will rise up in judg.
ment against their act II II be consum,
mated, and any loophOle to escape their
just responsibility will be Q godsend fol
them.
One valuable amend ment was made to
the railway ordinance. Itwas offered by
Mr.. Altmyer and requires that the sub.
scrlption Of the city to the Railway Com.
pany shall be paid by the Commissioner
of the city upon the Railway CompSny'a
subscription to the Bridge. The game
was that the city should subscribe $780,
900 to the Railway Company and pay II
in city bonds at par or in cash as the
Company preferred, and then the Compa.
ny was to subscribe 100000 TO the
Bridge and pay in Its own (worthless sec,
ond mortgage bonds. The effect OF Mr.
Altmyer's amendment is that our sub
scription to the Railway goes by short
cut to the Bridge, in payment Of $s0O,0OC
Of the Railways promised subscription
If the Railway Company intend
in good faith to pay their prom
iSed. subscription to the Bridge, they
cannot object to this. There is
no use Of the formality Of paying our
subscription to the Railway Company to
be in turn paid by them to the Bridge
The city saves this trouble and secures 9
guaranty by paying directly to the Bridge
Company, which will credit our $780,.
900 on the Railway Company's subscrip-
ton. This puts our 100000 all into
the bridge instead Of dividing its expcn-
diture between the bridge and the eastern
end Of the road. So far as this amend,
ment goes, therefore, it Is good. Another
very proper amendment was made on the
motion Of Mr.. ]. G. SMITH, viz
that the subscription to the Railway
company should not be binding till the
companys subscription to the Bridge
should be "paid over" Another proper
amendment was to forbid the sale o.
bonds by the city for less than par.
But the whole matter ofproper security
for the city is still lamentably deficient
We have security as the ordinance
stands that our money will all go to the
Bridge Company, but what guarantees
have we from that organization that they
can complete the bridge; and II they could
then what guaranty that the road woult
be built to use it! There Is still an uttel
failure to secure the city as the act Of thC
Legislature provides and as the people o
the city understood in authorizing Coun
Gil to subscribe.