Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1876-03-21

the customary approximations; and there win also
be as usual some calls for money for purposes not
strictly municipal While it is out duty IS servants
carrying out the will of the people, TO adhere to a
liberal public policy, yet it behooves us to be very
careful Of the peoples money, and allow none 10
be diverted to unlawful or imp oper ends
You will be called upon to make provision ior
the construction of several sidewalks and drains'
and think it would be we'll before the work IS DE-
gun, to unserab!y limit the amount to De so spent
| shall deem it my duty to refuse to allow ooilar
to be drawn from the treasury when the aPptopria
ton against which bills may accrue shall nave oeeh
| hausted -, Al,
| There are only few purposes Tor when the
amount of appropriations needed cannot De denhH-
y predicted, such for instance as tnat ior lne poor
department. But it is possible to foresee with
| tolerablc accuracy the sums required TO carry on
| the various departments. And let us require OF
officers as strict an accountability for every dollar
appropriated and used, as if it were our own.
| I think it would be good plan to require OIL
GERS who make purchases on the credit of the city,
to give their orders in writing, naming IN each case
the price to be paid ; and for the City Council to
disalow or postpone for satisfactory explanation,
any bill presented which is not accompanied by
| such written order. This would conduce to care
and moderation in the mourning OF bills.
| CRY ORDINANCES.
| Some of you are already aware that the present
code of city ordinances is too inadequate for that
| perfect administration q the affairs of the city
| which is desirable. Among the regulations man
festlv needed those for lighting the Streets the
hiring of city rooms, the insuring OF cry pIopei'
the giving of notes and deeds in behalf OF the city,
the construction of drains, the fixing OF street
bounds, the erection and preservation OF street
| signs and monuments, and also for the more sys'
| tematic discussing of the income from the isaac
Sanford legacy. A suitable revision would render
the administration of city affairs much more SIM
| pie and systematic than is now possible: make
| these suggestions with confidence, and will re-
mind you that the subject has been pressed upon
the attention of the former City Council BY one or
more of nv predecessors. The expense OF rev-
sion adapted to the present condition OF our city
| will be trfng, compared with its desiraoihy ana
the many little reforms which will be accomplish
ed by it.
RAILROAD TO SOMERSET.
A railroad between the thriving town OF West
Waterville and Augusta, in continuation oil Inc
| Somerset railroad which was recently completed 10
North Arson, is a subject which has attained con-
siderable importance, and is engrosslng the atten-
| tention of many of our leading citizens. Inc
route was surveyed last autumn, and found
| to be one over which a road can be constructed
at comparatively low cost. 1t IS contemplated
that this extension of sixteen miles shall
| eventually be q link in great inter-
national railroad from Quebec to the sea haroor OF
Wiscasset. l doubt not all this magnificent con-
ception will some day be accomplished IN iAct,
| this end of the line. 1t is thought by many men
| of sound Judgment that the early building OF
read from West Waterville to Augusta, indepen-
dent of the proposed International road, wooid DC
| of inestmable benefit to our city, by divertng 10
it the traffic of Western Somerset and all the up
per Kennebec valley, which before many years
will be almost wholly transformed from forests to
| productive farms. 1t is q subject worthy OF the
deep thought of our citizens, whose aid will be In
voked before the building of the road is under
taken.
A SOLDIERS MONUMENT.
1t is fitting that durable monument should be
erected, in some appropriate and conspicuous spot
in our city, to the memory Of those citizens VINO
went forth to defend the union and fell in conse-
quence of their patriotism and bravery. Eleven
Years of the peace which they helped to gain have
already passed. since the last one laid down his life
on the field, many who survived the days OF con-
Hict have since passed from earth, through broken
health and sickness growing out OF nardsnips anu
privations endured while in the service. Neither
the present nor future generations can too highly
| honor the memory of these men. We need as
| citizens some perpetual reminder that tney once
| lived and moved in our midst,-some remem-
| brance of their noble type OF manhood aud sen,
| sacrifice,-some enduring everyday memorial
| to tell us that like the men at Thermopyl@, they
sleep in obedience to their country's laws. The
members of Seth Williams Post OF the Grand Ar
| my of the Republic, an association OF worthy ex-
soldiers have Systematically inaugurated the pro-
| ject of erecting such monument rs l have men
toned; and take this occasion to commend the
| subject, in my official capacity, to the people OF
the city, and bespeak their sympathy and assl'-
lance the association having charge OF the enter
PRISE The sum of about one hundred dollars Is on
deposit in the name of the Post as q nucleus for
| the whole amount required.
THE REFORM CLUB WORK.
cannot refrain from abiding at this time to the
recent glorious revival of the temperance reform
work in our city. 1t is indeed cause for public
| congratulation that many hundreds OF our people
should take resolute stand against the mighty
evil of intemperance, and ahx their names TO the
"iron- clad and other total-abstnence pledges,
calling upon God to witness their act and keep
them steadfast. The ranks OF the Augusta IKE
| form Club are to-day made up of men who consti-
| tute a moral power invncible that drunkenness
and the myriad crimes arising therefrom, can we'll
| nigh be banished from our community. 1t IS the
sincere desire of every one of US that such may be
| the result; and that every dram-shop may be
| transformed into place Of legitimate and honor
| able business.
| A great reform movement like the one now In
progress strikes much deeper in its results than the
reclamation and upholding of the unfortunates
| whose appettes have been their bane; it strikes
even to the taxpayer, and lightens his burdens
which are so irksome to be borne 1t is reasonable
to believe that one of the great secondary resu
Of the work and influence of the Reform Club,
will be reduction in the expenses of the police
and municipal court departments the coming year.
CONCLUSION.
| 1 will now simply say in conclusion, gentlemen,
that during the year upon which we have to-day
entered, it will be becoming in each one of us to
be prompt, attentive and diligent in the business
| of the city over which we have been placed. Let
us not forget that the offices which we occupy are
honorable as we'll as important, and that the peo-
pie whose interests it is our sole duty to serve,
will watch us closly; and that if We perform our
stewardship well, they will reward us with the
prize of their approval. 1t would give me great
pleasure to see full attendance at every meeting.
Each one Of us has his proper official work to do,
and unless it is performed there is danger that the
city will suffer by the neglect Let US, therefore,
| in the spirit of the oaths we have taken, exercise
| in the performance Of the duties Of our several
Offices the same care, interest and judgment which
we employ in the prosecution of our own every
day business.
| CHARLES E. NASH.
Augusta, March 20, 1876.
| ELECTION OF CITY OFFICERS.
The convention then proceeded to the election
of the following officers:
| R. W. Black, City Clerk.
| S. w. Lane, Treasurer and Collector.
| r. l.. Harrington, City Marshal.
| Seth G.. WhitehOuse A. ID, Townsend, Greenlief