The Daily clarion., 1876-01-29
Ahe Proposed Change i'm tIe civ
Charter.

Oli introduced by Senator Johnston which
Ioohs 10 Tie reduction of the expenses of
! GilS CITY. i am glad to see you favor a re-
| duction of salaries aud exDTnses and tj,,t
yoI only dissent from the mode bv which
III 1IidC coHeunmatlOn Is proposed to be reached
me ildtteF, OF course, is one for the good
people OF the town to settle, and | presume
our Representatives will be guided nv their
] wishes. L regret that, while disaDprovino
Che ptil introduced, you did not Indicate
some other equally as desirable tits easv
70 De lconoclastic in tendency, know, but
lt is very different thing to shape legisIa-
lioh SO as TO hear down expenses and vet
| conserve the general good The neonIa
| OF Jackson have been louder in their com
plants about heavy taxation than the citi
| zens OF any other city iu the State. The
! great burdens upon us have come through
| our county and municipal corDoratlons
How shall the evil be corrected? There
ought to be some wise, prudent and general
| law upon this subject reaching to the hot
tom OF the grievance. You can't have a com
pllcated system OF local government with
OUT paying round sum for the apparent
blessing, and if the Incidental erpenses of
such government are great the taxation
must be great Also
L. The first objection you urge to the bill
| above referred to may be good one. the
premlse granted; but are the premises
true? Have the lands been pnrch aSed
houses built, etc., for the purpose of
enjoying the blessings adverted to? On
the contrary, is net the very opposite
| the case? And If that section is Topped off
are not the Inhabitants bettered in this, that
they are not compelled to pay the heavy
taxes of which our people com plain?
2. Your second objection is hardly we'll
taken In the present condition of things.
| The assessment of property in the city has
| already been made and paid for, and the
| rolls thereof are kept distinct and separate
under the assessment laws of the State-a
! XXi2n Gin in fhn lnvxr Dlo Co1
| lector of the county can very easily collect
! the city taxes, and can afford to do go for
one-fourth what it would o Otherwise cost the
! city. Either OF the banks will act as Treasurer
or depository, OF the city funds without pay
or cJm pcnsation. The Clerk of the Board
would be fairly paid with one hundred dol
lars. The City Physician is now paid 5000,
| and charges fully as much for looking after
the sick of the county confined in the Jail.
3. The pay of $3.50 to the Mayor, IN the
present condition of affairs. with the perqui-
| sites OF his offices, which might be increased
| it necessary, is sufficient. The debt of the
| city must be paid, and unless you retrench
| closely you can't do it. So with the City
Marshal. This, however, is matter easily
| susceptible of a fair adjustment. / don't
| agree with you that "poOr pay makes poor
| officers" F" necessarily. Our Circuit Judges
before the war were very poorly
| paid; were they poor officers? The
! Mayors OF many of our towns serve for
nothing; are they poor officers? / know OF
| valuable public officers charged with very
| grave responsibilities and duties and whose
time is com pletely occupied, and yet their
salaries are not equal to that of our Mayor
perquisites included, by at least one thousand
dollars. Certainly, offices ought all to bt
/ filled by competent men, and if we were
rich, should not object to any salary in the
State. Ii your proposition was correct, that
''poor pay makes poor officers" do you
t mink large pay makes good officers? Is it
n 1t the truth, in the practical workings OF
| our local governments, that the character OF
officers is ordinarily in the inverse proper
t on? In other words, that large, fat Offices
coupled together, necessarily produce ac
tive political combinations to get control Of
them tor the money that is in them, and not
pro bono pubHcO.
4. Prior to 1873 the City Marshal was
regularly appointed by the Board af Alder
men. Have the people who lived under that
provision of the charter for nearly forty
years but recently discovered its mpropri-
ETY.? The Marshal, being Chief of Police
it seems to me, ought to be appointed by the
Board so as to be subject TO their control.
But this is a small matter. and if the people
do not want the change, no one would,
presume, insist upon or urge it.
5. AS TO the jail, if you will look at the
old law dividing the county into tacO dis
trtctS, you will find, if | am not mistaken.
that the county is entitled to it. The double
Jurisdiction over it has given rise to great
trouble and expense, much confusion, a
want of responsibility, and great perplex-
ity. | remembe to have heard these sub
iects spoken of in open court by Judge
. Brown. AS the matter now stands, the eX-
pense entailed upon the county is very
great, notably in the Judicial bills; and the
troubles between the city officials and the
county officials have been frequent. The
city can't be damaged by the arrangement
proposed, which is but carrying into effect
the provisions of the old law. Have we a
good police? If you say yes, | will reply
to your objection on this point.
6. The law funding the city debt is not
repealed by the bill proposed. 1t is only
the amendmedt to that law which deprives
, the holder of city warrants, issued prior &c
A pril IS, 1873. of the right TO use them IL
payment of his taxes, and which allows tue
t city authorities to issue ''Scrip or evidences
of debt, i'll cOnUenient form, to defray the
general eX penSes," etc. The repeal is pros
pective, of course If the law has accom-
t plished its purpose, what harm is done?
$ Certainly you do not oppose tle repeal o
the act of April z, 1878, which allows an
male resident of the city to vote, on making
an affidavit that he has resided an the CIT
U tiYtu dauS. The old act required fou
months residence, actual, and under colo
: of this Ldec it is very hard to say who coult
n not vote in our municipal elections resi-
+ dence of one month in Hinds count.
and thirty days in Jackson, at any time
echether neat before, or gears before the election
: give a party the right to vote. But TIL
/ Whole subject is before the Legislature, an
e let the people, and particularly the tG1
payers, speak. Let us have temperate diS
q cussion of this subject, by all means.
the majority want nothing done, am i
favor of that; if they want merciiess re
= trenchment, am in favor of that. Person
ally. have views of MY own about thes
y municipal corporations, when L 90 NOT SUI
70 nosr would meet the approval of many.
= am in favor of repeating all these charters
with some exceptions, of course, provldln
% for all contracts made, etc.. so as to avol
k constitutional difficulties, and to provide
II General law looking TO their government Q
Roard of Commissioners authorized {
I'll select a President, who would be Grimm;