, 1875-01-10

nearly exhausted by the defalcation of Mr
GAGE. It appears, from statement Of ths
amounts nominally to the credit Of tn.
special funds, furnished us by Compt-olle
HAYES, that the only money which can nov
be borrowed by the city for any length O.
time without interest is as follows:
Wster fund ee soo. :
4o'a4 .a
This is mere nothing in comparison tt
the annual civic expenditure Of five or 81,
millions. It will not be long before this
scanty pool will be wholly dried up. Their
the city will have to borrow (and pay inter,
est) as it goes or pay as it goes. It cannot
| do the first long. Our borrowing capacity de,
creaseswith every addition to our floating debt
If We persist in issuing certificates Of indebt-
edness to meet our running expenses, we shall
| swell this debt, mob only by the difference
between the tax as levied and the ta1 as col
lected, but by the whole interest on these
certificates. Our inability to carry our debt,
then, becomes simple question Of time.
Municipal bankruptcy is the sure result.
We are treading in the path over which
New York has already passed The
message which Mayor W1cKHAM sent
to the Common Council Of that city
is full OF suggestions for Us. He says: :
"What the liabilities Of the city really ore, I
am not at present in position to inform
you. The Comptroller states the total debt
M H,7+ n f1n{ af,f
Of from $40, ooo. 900 to SEQ, ,o0o,0 900 besides.
The time has come when the actual
financial condition Of the city should be
definitely ascertained and published" !"
This time has also come here. The
time has come, moreover, when We
should adopt a sensible system Of taxation,
aud collect our money at least as fast as We
spend it. We must stop this childs ploy Of
making the appropriations equal to the full
face value Of the years taxes, when expert
ence proves We cannot collect TINT face value
By 10 to Ii per cent. When the Stats needs
100000 net, and experience has
shown that the cost Of collection is 10
per cent, the Auditor makes levy Of So, ,300,-
900. If this yields only $4,000, 600, he
makes up the deficit next year by leyying
So, ,500, 900 or So, Cox, 900, orwhatever amount
is sure to yield the requisite revenue Of that
year, pay the cost of collection, and cancel
the deficiency Our Common Council pro-
ceeds on radically different plan. If the
city needs $5 500, 900, our sapient Aldermen
authorize the Departments to spend that full
amount and then levy tax Of $780,
600. Of this, the city gets, within the year,
perhaps $5,ooo,oo0 net, or less, and
has to pay, out Of this, the inter-
est On the money borrowed for si1
to nine and twelve months or more to antici-
pate the collection Of the t1. Mayor COL
y1N's last message, submitted to the Council
Dec. Z, shows that the outstanding certificates
OF Indebtedness, to be paid between that
date and the 1st Of ne1t June, then amounted
to $3,ls6,o15! On nearly all, if not oil, Of
this'large sum, the city is paying from to
10 per cent interest.
How much Of this three and quarter mill !
ions of floating Indebtedness has been created
by the annually increasing and accommodating
delinquent taxes? Since, say, 1869, we are
not able ct this moment to state, but it must |
exceed ten mi2zions, which have been thus
lost and on which interest is paid for: bor- |
rowed money to fill the vacuum.
Yet the sapient, reckless Council take no |
notice whatever Of this rapidly increasing
floating debt, but 60 On heedlessly expending |
he full amount Of the appropriations
The Mayors message informs us that the
NEGLECTED taxes Of 1872 amount to $685.
)G2. &c, and that 20 per cent Of the ta1 of
1878 "stands on appeal and in tax certif-
;ates"; but what cares the Council for this
Ugly showing? The evil demands quick
:emedy. The Citizens Association, which
las been recommending the city to spend
million of dollars in extra fire expenses, will
10 well to wake to the fact that we are not
Meeting our ordinary expenses by large
mount; that the difference between our
ncome and outgo grows greater every
ear; and that our floating debt rolls
arger, like a SNOWFALL, and will, ere
ong, equal that Of New York, unless some
hing is speedily done to reform this loose,
eckless course. What We need is careful
1amination Of the civic finances by an ex-
ert, in order that we may know precisely
7hat We owe; such change in the tax
ystem that We may get our money before We
pend it; and limitation Of appropriations
. the amount which the annual tax-levy will
eally cover We ask the attention Of the
itizens' Association to this grave and import
ut subject.
HE CORRUPT LOBBY At WASHINGTON.
The plea of IRWIN, the agent Of the Pacific
[ail Company in the distribution Of the p,
750, 900 paid out for procuring an annual
absidy Of $500,0o "That his health Was
1ch That his imprisonment in jail, and the
mental disturbance, would se-
ous1y injure him, was very properly treated {
? the House. This man IRWIN acknowl-
lges that, as agent Of the Pacific Mail Com ]
my, he obtained that money to Influence I
gislation in favor Of the subsidy; that its I
aymeut was conditional upon the success of !