American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-03-01
GurIey to the People.

|
u the items worthy "f note. for they are legion
q we must. prev Gus to our concluding argument: !
di some thing 10 one Of our la-t Statements aho
MENTION few more We stated N our last ms.
he street comm I>sioner was pad twenty Two
,andred dollars for very little service per0rmeo'
We now state nl-o that simultaneously the CITY
,aid to other parties more than twelve hnhdreu
dollars for work done also on the streets' J"
ac, other parties did about all that waa done,
md were piid for it. and this commissioner re
:eiv-d his IN ,ney for almost nothing
In 1856, c. s whitcomb was Ma or. and under
his administration and when the assessments
and collections of the city were not more than |
1900 or $4,000 and the Marshal's salary $500 An |
~ dinance passed allowing him per cent |
for assessing and ) cent. for collecting: W.
were a membcr Of the council in 1857 and be- !
lie wing that such per centum was beyon1 pru- |
depce we intI oduced ordinance reducing his
for assessing to per cent and Tor
~ d. nance book: the repealed ordinance was IN
priGt; dur ng the war every recorded aud printed
ordinance destroyed except some that Mr..
]. F. BOsworth had printed under contract ana
taken to his home. Of which being obtained
the said repealed ordinance was found in 1t.
Now. under this repealed ordinance. the city
government has been allowing ft@ Marsnai as
assessor aud collector. as the case may be. the
therein stated each and every year
from 1866 To the present: and under which the
marshal now receives fl1OO as mere com MISSION
and also a salary of $500 m king $1,000 or $780,
besides what of perquisites he may obtain from
other official business. amounting in the aggre-
gate, are informed. to very nea- $1,000
But did the aldermen know that this ordinance
was repealed? perhaps they did not for some
time. but whether they did or not should not
their sense OF Justice aud propriety have prompt
standard Of equity. We risk little in saying that
had it en- too small they would have found It
out in double Quick time.
We will now state here that We were present
last February Qs12 At a meeting OF the board
Of Mayor and aldermen. when q claim came up
under this same ordinance, and We stated to the
board that the said ordinance was repealed. that
We knew it, and what enabled us to know it was
that il was part of our ofhcial and personal
history that it done at our motion while We
we're a member OF the council. and that we were
willing to be gu lifted to it instanter. after lit
tie hesitancy and few dubious giances. they
passed the claim and having suffered the ordin.
ance remain without rect:dcatiOn, still pay all
claims arising under it, yet we say that it has
been repealed fifteen years to on' absolute per
soma, know edge; and although the law being ~.
we say is for the present amount assessed and
collected too high, yet the difference between
that and the repealed ordinance would. in o 600
or 3S5 900. the amount Assessed and Collected
since 1866. he full 1880.
One other Gaze We will present: The Mayer
is the judicial of the city he tries all
of misdemeanor and il flcts such zines and penal
ties as he deems proper. What does he do with
Those fines in what funds does he collect them
and how accounted for. does he collect them IN
currency city warrants. and il in currency does
he make proper report thereof and pay the same
into the treasury? Whether true or not we hear
that he collects much If not all OF it in currency
and with it purchases city Warrants and pays
them into tile Il easury. and hear further that
~ least one of the aldermen sustai1s him in so
doing. II such is the case, We think it fr .ud
practiAed upon the public. amounting to the diff
terence bet tween currency ana the warrants. We
can zee no reason why the Mayor should retain
the money he receives in fines. whether in pay
ment Of his salary or not. and OF er public cred
itOrs, especially labOrers. receive their pay IN
deprecated warrants: and even if that were. In
what
does he do with what he receives yer and above
MS salary? We are informed that he pays very
little money into the treasury, and all of what lie
does pay liz is in warrants ~ if he receives any
more than bis salary and does not receive il in
city warrants, he exchanges it therefor. and the
city l',ses the ference; in other words. he acts
broker and the city furnishes the capital. We
have thus. fellow cit :zrns. enumerated some of
the evils ami burdens under which we suffer, buf
assure you that these form bu. rather y small
portion OF what might be mentioned; they are
legion. The administration Of this city since
| 1866 has been perfectly romantic as an examin-
| alton of your warrant register would show.
Those having control seemed uniformed upon
any principle of the laws of political economy
production or taxation. they had the power to
tax and appropriate money and that seemed to be
| the sum total of their duties. and well indeed
have they performed their duties in grinding to
impoverishrnent their people.
There is a philosophy in everything. and there
il cause for the evils which now nfflct us
what is il? One of the NEST prolific causes oil
general
the graf love Of gain and the desertion Of the
| useful and honest Nv ocatiOns Of life. We have q
vicious system of social ethics, which att aches
greater social disgrace to the working man than
to the public depredatOr; which esteems q well
dresse man who had swind!ed some citizen on'
| Of his clotheAs as gentlemen. whose society was
| to be cOurted .hnd would flee from and avoid the
working man. lest they be contaminated by con
| tact with him; that tolerates the dishonest. the
vicious the licentiOus. and the profane II sus
tanned by some little family prestige and ignores
virtuou. poverty in the humber walks of life; in
fact. to great extent, oblterates the distinction
| bet wren vice aud virtue and looks with compla
cency on the superiiciaities of society. And to
such ideas has all the education OF the times and
for the last forty or fifty years been directed. 80
! that if boy could read page OF latin or repeat
= few verses from Shakespeare or Homer llliad
he forthwith thought himself too learned to work
| ut any useful avOcation. and only at for some
public Office, where, instead of earning his living
he could extract from the people any amount
| that his vicious propensities prompted. This
system of social and literary education has we'll
| nigh EN- ssculated all common sense from the
| human mind. Our sense Of honesty and pre-
priety has been dethroned. the paths of virtue
pretty well abandon self -hness in its forms
| rules the hour, and chart and compass lost
moral wreck, social disorder and financial ruin
reign supreme.
We will now submit a few remarks on the
| property Of salaries. Why should the Mayor
Yes. they do. and that il one OF the traditional
| errors which infatuate the human mind. The
mayors of large cities occupy the same relative
position to the people that a governor Of State
does. He is its chief executive officer, has over
tight Of the financial and police affairs. and sees
that the laws are duly executed. but does net act
| as justice OF the peace; there are other officers
to attend to such duties. What ia the mayor ot
little town village but justice OF the peace;
what other duties pertain to his ofi.e worth
| mention why just nothing ut all; ali his duties
have their pay annexed, AID why should he have
more pal There are. by law. seven hundred
Justices of the Peace in this State-iues any one
OF them liaye a salary? Goes Sherffs or Clerks Of
Courts they all have their pay in their duties
and why Gail m n mayor. placed in u lucrative
Office, and then call upon the taxpayers to give
! him u salary for ma.ing from $l5O0 to $1,000 per
year. $1,000; the proposition is absurd and
fraudulent. But one says he ought to have q
| sa,Ary bee he is mayortO support the dig
n u of "ffi e. Well, srs. is the Off e 30 dis
graceful that the people have to he robbed to
make it respec abb? Verify. that is what we
call killing with respectabI,ity.
And why shOuld things be 50 managed "a to
pay the Marshal Sls00 more, besides his per
quistes. which We told brings he aInonnL up
| 1, S2BO0 or 5000? His commission fur asses
sing SIG 500 the amount for the current year
Amounted to near $500. and which ASSESS nent
can be accom- plished in three weeks at the far
| ,hest. thus making $l66 per well and for col
lCcting Sli 900 ut per cent. his commission are
| s72O. both ountng to $1,000 or mere. and with
monstrous; but you say it il necessary to his
support. That being 50, how do the working
men of this and all other localities support
themselves aud fomilies? The highest wages
| obtained by the most sklful workmen in this
country is from three to tou- dollars per day, and
their wages for the whole year. for they are I'm
| able to obtain wdrk all the time. does not aver.
aye more than from six to seven hundred Iilars.
and with that they have to suppDft enseises
and families but city officers must have from
IN. Z TN rhptns lvpI in