Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-03-10
A Word or Two.


city Government that could have been de
vised it does away with the disputes n
to which alder men become Street Com
missoners-it abolshes the one maj
power in the several wards-hereto lot ore th
Street Commissioners would order repairs
on streets, crossings, &c, present the BIZ
TO the Board, have it referred to himself
within three minutes report it correct, have
the rules suspended and the or1er on the
Treasury was ready to be handed over %
| himself to be divided with those having
performed the labor-it makes the terms
OF all officers one year so that if the people
make a bad selection sometimes they do
not have to endure the dishonesty OF n
competency very long-t abolishes the
| control of one man over the books of
Registry or Boards of Election cuts off
all the petty steals in the shape of bills for
services by the Ward officers except n
| proper cases--it throws the Books and
papers OF the peoples servants, open for
their inspection, and makes many other
valuable improvements that every iutell-
gent reader of the act can point out to him
self Now the question presents ITSELF
VIII our citizens avail themselves OF the
benefits to be derived from the passage of
| this law aud e ect honest competent men
to fill the offices vacated by it, or will they
si quietly by and zee their hard earnings
! squandered or stolen in the future as ia the
past. will enumerate few late trans
actions: Mr.. Mlssegades the Hon Street.
| Com ~ issoner from the 4th Ward receives
$50 for experimenting the construction Of
the piers and abutments Of thu new Cady
Street BsIdge Until elected Alderman
Que would have supposed that the man was
an accomplished Civil Engineer aud hope
| the gentleman will not consider me unjust
! by denying it nrw. | think [ am
justified in questioning his ability to handle
| the compass ny pointing 10 the awk ard
! position OF the bridge. | have heard others
blamed for this outrage, but as Mr.. Mertzka
certhes in the last issue OF the Weltburger
that Nj. Missegades was the Engineer, of
| course all Others are eXon-rated. Mr..
| Mertzke appears in the proceedings Of
| the Board OF Street Comm lsSoners as as
sistant to Mr. Mlssegades with a salary of
| $50. DO these lion. gentlemen know that
the law forbids their getting pay Tor any
service whatever as alderman or Street
Commissioners, and knowing such to be the
case had they not as citizens of this glori
Gus coan'ry the privilege to decline to &C
cept such office. In q communication to
the Weltnuerger Mr.. Nissegades is pleased
to remark: 81 wish to know by what pro-
visions of law that | am compelled to work
a. days for the city without compensation"
In answer: Will the gentleman show us
when the city employed him. l dc not
think that the voters Of the 4th ward viii
compel the gentlemen 10 work for the city IN
the future, pay or no pay. Mr.. Devy is
paid S25 for making out the Tax rolls when
it was his duty as City Clerk to perform
that labor without extra charge-he also
receives 1913 for lobbying against the we'll
fare of the city at Madison. There are
many other cases of petty larceny that
might be cited but this communication
would take up too large space and ex-
| haust as well the reader as writer to under
take to go in to details. There is one Their
| item however of which | wish to speak and
that is the amount Of stone used in build
lug The piers aud abu,ments for the new
Bridge one man furnishes 500 loads at
first donated, afterwards paid for, another
% Dads another % cords, another A.
| cords and number of others from l to sc
cords or loads besides several thousan nd
cords supposed to have been quarred out
of the he'd Of the river Though the to er
of Babe is said to have been big thing
| do not believe that the building Gem
| mittee was able TO account for as many
cords of stone being used in lis construc-
tlon as are now supposed 10 be in the Piers
aud ahutments of the Cady Street Bridge
How promptly the orders for the foregoing
and numerous other fraudulent bills were
issued can readily be ascertained by calling
al tie Guy Treasures office, but hen the
men who performed the labor On the said
Bridge cali for their pay they are put of
under various frivolous pretences, and will
pr badly succeed in getting orders for their
hard earned wages when the money in the
Treasury IS all exhausted. Should these
laborers ard mechanics he the losers be-
canse the authorities were too stupid to
make a binding contract with other parties
Among the browning glories of this Board
must be mentioned the attempt to open a
street through the Farm of Mr.. Frank
koenig in the 9Th Ward, where none had
been laid out, and the consequent result Of
la Nv suit, at an expense to the Tax payers
Of The city variously estimated at from
$3.50, to 5500,-but then who cares for such
small amounts
$3.50 worth Of lumber used at the build
ing Of the 5bridge has disappeared. Mr.
MaertZke Informs US in q comm nnication
in the Weltbuerger that Mr.. Bursinger can
furnish the Information Of its present
| Whereabouts better than the Street Com
missioners-another member of the board
suggests that it foated over the Dam-tht
writer believes that some one stsle it, ane
that Mr.. Bursinger is not the man who die
it. In conclusion permit me to say fe W
words about the everlasting Bond question
f | maintain that the great cry of "Bond
holder in regard to our own citizens is
raised by Demagogues and Office seekers te
control the votes of the less informed bn
honest portion of the ccmmu nifty, and would
answer all such charges in the words of th 9
lamentea Mr.. Greeley, "You lie, villain
you lie" A. B.