The New Orleans Democrat., 1876-07-19

revenues. and il shall not exceed The same
Now. is II possible that whom Mayor, .Wiltz was
utes BY the watch, be intended to abide by this
miserable snap judgment, which was taken by
Flanders as early Us November l2P Is 1t posi-
Bile that new Mayor and Council elected by, a
people being pecuniarily ruined by the Radicals
could think q letting their predecessors, by 2
foot for whole year in the most important part
tsrous argumenti Better to have said not
Attorney Laeeys had advised Mr. Wiltz, and
his Council to stand by that budget, they should
ment Is anouah. .s suppess poh Mr. Nv witt aud his
Council had themEe yes made M tho budget on
November "a, will II be eontended for moment
that they themselves in all the balance Of No
veinber and December following could not re.
wise their own aaon-tould not overhaul and
remodel reno q their , own work within ,be time laid
own action, could they not that of FlandersY
The fact is. II is only necessary to read care
absolutely contemplated by its trainers that the
new ,functlonaries and they alone, should make
up the budget.
"A Legislator has raised ND this demon from
the depths Of the City Hall to haunt Mr. Wilt
NO, sy we. But + i IT,, our weae9,n now ,a c,,
paid current expenses in printed promises
Although this is not MfraHg. IT Is substantially
true. "A Legislator, adults that "when, OK
fatal budget. money 10 meet the ssine WIS aps
pfoptiated by ordinance Those payments wer,
made, when thcre was money In the treasury,
out OF tax collections enough to meet thsni. etc.
Now here's the rub The trouble was that tho
money would not be In tho treasury hence aros
another item Of city Indebtedness as an article OF
traliir on the streets. aud KIN lwu by the brokers'
and others as Time" In othef words. our
creditors were selling their claims on city ordi.
nhnees and an-to them empty treasury. Al
this is but another form OF the printed promls
to pay,
On the subject Of the increase Of the city debt
under Mayor Witt, we oiiet the following oilie
Total bonded aud certified debt Dec.
3t, lsf2-the end of Flanders adj
ministration. aud the beginning
Of ofWilt8s-ns per Eemi-annua re-
port, Dec. 81 lHI3... S52, ,345,9S 90
Total bonded and certified debt. Dec.
81. 1874 close Of Wiltz's admins
tration. 22.si2.l79 SO
Floating debt ut close of Wiltz's ad
ministration. n..e.,..,...........t... leso,5s5 9s
debt at close Of Wiz's administra-
ton. s24 TAI .T6b 81
Now let Va deduct the following items which,
we are told. the Witt administration don't ALLOW
to be to their debit
Issue Of Con Gold Bonds ........ 81 ss4, 900 60
Public School Warrants funded. 29s. i6s ts
Debt of City of tartollon. .4.....4.. Isl Gal i6
Mrs. Gaines judgment. .,tH.t..... 1921 ~
metropolitan warrants. city money,
ete. ...,..........4......+. 100 900 90
ltegistered Judgments. ..4.........s.. 10000 90
Total. Observation-Disclosures. s2.3A7. .0bs IA
Deduct the one from the other and we sti
have an Increase o1 debt under the Wilt regime
of s4p.T2s IA,
We would like to go on and truce the course of
this public debt einee the advent of Mayor Wiltz's
successors in Office. but we have gone far as
the subject demands.
One little item may not be uninteresting TO the
reader: the difference at this date between tn
expenses of the Mayors Office alone under the
Wilt and the Leeds regimes is 1886 II per
month, or ~, ,6Jl OF per annum.
One other little item. Wo have stated that on
The retirement of Mr Witt from Office the tota
bonded, certified and iloatng debt was s2474t,
T65 ~. The official statement of this same debt
issued April Is. 1876 is s926ss 43s 90, reduction.
in less than eighteen months of the Leeds
regime, OF k3ob3,32i "a.
Finally. rs to the costly drainage contracts bv |
brass."
The regime of Mr. Wilt bowed to the majesty
Of the law as interpreted by their Radical Attor
ney. and issued TO Mr. Van Norden an enormous |
aupl bf drainage bends at ninety cents on the |
legal advice ref5ed 70 iaa,ia ionals ist al erokaI
Van Nordens unholy scheme down bougtft hip, 4
out ehoapy. and rid the city OF one of the incubi |
which fattened under their predecessors in |
Office.
We make these comparisons only to show
That, az the old saw goes. where there's will
Si1th-"A Legislator fails entirely to rise TO the
plane OF our argument z, @ against gan Mayor Wilt Tor
ters pending tho day and night of the 14th Of
September. We critieise Mayor. not Mr. Wilt
Tor not appearing there with an approving |
eountenanco. The non-appearance OF any in
dividua man OF the community in those trying
hours was matter of small moment. but that
Of the highest officer OF the city. matter of
great import and it was the subject of especial |
remark. History teaches that the City Hall the
official headquarters Of the MHyor-was captured |
by our troops, not voluntarily and more than |
willingly put into the hands Of Lieut. Gov. Penn |
We have not called attention to these matters as
u charge against Mayor Wiltzs personal patriot |
ism or consistency Of devotion to his people but |
an illustration of his political weakness and
unreliabllity in trying moments.
We say II in shame. rather than exultation. |
that our knowledge OF public sentiment in re- |
gard TO the animus that controlled Mayor Witt |
and his Council for months prccedng tho 14th |
of September. forces us to the conclusion that |
the City Hall was captured. because there was
little faith in the political atmosphere that per-
"a Legislator says: IF. as WIS then prob
able. the usurpation,. sustained by the Federal
Jure government established by the l4th Septom-
Der, a preteSt for deposing tho city government
and establishing a municipal administration
composed of its own tools. would not Mr.. Witt
have been utterly crushed by the denunciatione ;
would he not have been arraigned by our solid
citizens us reckless. hair-brained manY etc.
Ali here is the great stumbling block Of the
politician. The phantom of the solid citizen"
haunts him at every turn. In his eye the great
masses who elected him to office on q platform
Of undying cples-principles for which
they are ready to die-are now but vapid senti-
mentalists. The voter is theory: the solid
citizen" a fact. The one is "a pleasant breeze by
on which to sit after reaching the longed- for
haven.
the Radicals attempting any act Of deposition.
The mere occupancy Of the seats and drawing
Of salaries aside. what could such a step have
benefited the usurpation ? We're not Mayor
Wilt and the Council going right along in the
groove marked out by the Radicals even into
retaining the immaculate Lacey and Bell
Seueath--On the subject of Mr.. W. as a leader "A
Legislator" gives the public a full account of his
public career, and makes for himself happy
deduction therefrom. 1t is fruitless to argue
this point. We wrote our criticism as a single
private citizen: We We're entirely conversant
with the facts detailed in the political biography
set FORTH and we have not been blind to all those
little addenda which attach to the material OF
which biographies are made. Our conclusion
has been the reverse OF that of "A Legislator"
and both of our opinions are only those of indi-
vidual men.
But in the course of his biography, "A Legis-
lator" should have been car fu not to lose his
temper and fall to futile efforts at illumination
of his candidate with the pitch he points to on
other men. Say all you can, friend Legislator"
for your friend we don't blame you we'd do
the same for our friend. if we thought of him as
you do of Mr.. Witt; but how can making pig
my Of us swell Mr.. Witt to q giant? We are ;
thoroughly conscious of our litteness In this ;
great community. but we have our little ideas,