, 1876-07-06
CITY FINANCES.
How to Meet the Problem OF tho
Floating Debt.
a Plan to Increase the Assessment, and
Thua Be Enabled to Fund It.
An Earlier Supreme Court Decision Sus'
talning Bill 900.
TIE FLOATING DEBT.
how TO MEET IT.

THE FLOATING DEBT.
how TO MEET IT,
The bed of The Financa Committee OF the
City Council is not strcwn Will, rosca. There
nrc thorns In plenty, and they aggregate % 51s,-
n7B, which slim represents the indebtedness Of
&hs city over tts visible asscts. What to do with
these three millions and one-haf Is the qucs-
tion; nyc, It Ia tho rub. Over this cunundrum
Tic Committee hnvo lahorcd diligently nnd fire.
Quontly. They havo consulted with tho bcst
financial talent In the city. Ills nnqualitlcdly
confessed that the municipality Is at present TN
nblo 10 pay this Indebtedness, or oven any con-
siderable proportion Of II. Like tho sword Of
Damoclcs 1t hangs suspended by q lair, and
there Ia no knowing at what moment the power
Of tho courts may bo Invoked to draw tho sword
OF justtco and hurl tho city into bankruptcy.
Tho Flmuco Committee, which Is composed Of
some Of tho best business talent In the
city, and the gentlemen, with whom they hive
advised, ara unanimous in tho opinion tint this
as 4 iioatcr. Il Is altogether too lnrge and un-
wicldy to he taken caro- Of IN that hlsnpu, II
must bo put on a solid foundation. How TO do
II Is tho pllzzlO which hnuslts tho Committee in
It's combined dreams. It has been suggested
that .
APPLICATION nn MADE TO THE COUNTY Au-
TItonlTlEB FOR NEtiEF.
IT, sIe & ps s'sy sS sss oan ssa SH' S e
tho city. taking warrants upon the. City Treos-
nry therefor, payable whenever tho city will
have tho money to rcsutnc-say three Or four
ssaas ae o eea%y nn aoSs sS' IS eS os eee
600. 6ome Ut tho Commissioners wero spoken
to on tho subject, but thu proposition did not
mcet With very warm reeept!on, and u Is now
understood that ttat attempt to Enisc the wind
will be abandoned.
The impression now proyai1s that this surplus
debt should be
FUNDED IN rwEsrY-yran noNDs,
but how to cvade tho constitutional Limitation
is the bug.bcar IN the way, The Constitution
municipality siall exceed psr cent On the as-
sesssa ,ya,uHto tcrco Ths ~ ooutsta,ing
rcae,,.s valuation $aT0,DG0, ,0O6. 10 bond tic
81, ,500 600 additional would require an i1crcase
Of S7o, o,No, 700 In thc misunderstanding, II in
ass for year sS T. e5,spcica
though the totals have not yet been footed up.
It Is nut llkeIy that It will n!nou;lt
to u!ore thnn tlnt Of lust year, whtcl, was
0boO Tor ti,a entire county, or s17i, ,ooo o6o for
iond thc ea,5oo,ooo surplus 3cbt vii, therefore re
require o Valuation Just about double TINT
tho payer III city taxes u makes no difference
whether tho assessment be S20o, o,09O 900 Or
s500I0oo 0Oo 10 much revenue ilas to be raisctl,
and It makes no, difference whether the rate Ii
" cents OF, low valuation or 10 cents on n
high ono. The county tax figures tn tic same
WY. ...
nur WITH TIE srATE TAX
aoua % y .ho saaoa sa GSek 6 efPoay 5
clty pay moro than their legitimate rro
rata of t6c State impost. TEk!s
s conceded by all tho ilnanc!crs who hayc invcs-
the principle that those who dance must pay tic
ddd1ert tboy Dc not hesitate to say TINT thls 10
tho only tangible and feasible way. out Of Tic
financial labyrinth In which tho city Is involved.
sloo,. Of whtcl. The State gets 90 centa,-a very
small proportion Of the total amount At this
price, It 4 thought that thu city will get OF very
cheap. Ths benefits n.cr1ltng speak for thc1n-
debt llablo to bo sued for at any time viii bn
consigned to an abillng-placc, whence II
cannot return to trouble Flnance Committees,
ey G9an' h u s sgycaS ts 5 sSSasaf v su
be restored; and tho way would By paved to m
a!lairs. Affairs The M presfnt Council a5o n earnest n
municipal Susisss o "'' res a101s whe id oRpy gever1
private afrairs III hard timcs, but they nro lam
pcrcd by an Empty Treasury, q host If unpaid
officials, and floating debit part due, that cali
not by my possibility bo paid for several years
An assessment nt the rate OF sa50, OK, 900
would b1 alt,it $i0, ,000 600 moru tllnn tho
highest valuation ever before placed on tho
clty-'Mil TINT was during The year Of tic panc,
wien thu population was great deal less tim,
~ Is now, and as consequence, tho Hntcrinl
rcsourecs OF the pcol,lu Wcrc proportiouately
snnllcr.
THIS plan mccts tho Views Of Comptroller
Farwcll, several inufnhcrs Of the Finance Con.-
mtttcc, md s0n,o Of tho most prominent bust
ncas men In The city.
TftH POPULAR LOAN.
Comptroller Fnrwsll had All interview yester.
day afternoon with Aid. l3r3rrs 1}0seu-
burg, nnl AtcCrea, ut the oilico Il thu last
named, concerning the popular loan' which
will bo offered to the puhllc In few days. II
wns decided to placa Il In blocks Of $5{jN and
upwards, to hear i per cent interest," aud to hu
rccelvabla IN payment III the taxes Of 1870. As
no communication llail hrcm hlll with CnltNly
Treasurer flnck, Ms to whether llo would re-
enlye tho lnan certificates nu account Ut city
tnxest 1t was decided to rot m expression of his
views previsMs to the advertising VI the loan.
tcu Of ono to Interview Treasuror luck, and hu
will do 80 this morning.