New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-01-29

either through cupidity, negligence or il
capacity, have permitted the indebted
ness of the city to increase until i. hs
assumed the proportions which threate
to crush US IN one common ruin. As ] Civ
dates. you can draw your own differences q
to Who is to blame. am not here to-nigh
to denounce Democrats OF Republicans. no
to praise either. ] shall give you Q plai
recital of the most prominent facts in coz
necti0n with our city gcvernmente, an
shall nothing extenuate, nor aught Sc
down in malice"
No act can be more corrupt than that o
men placed in high official positions VIII
trade upon the knowledge derived fr0n
their Office to the prejudice of the commu
nity with whose intereets they are in,rus;
ed. In all countries it is considered higl
! crime and misdemeanor. All may hav
heard Of Hudson, the railway king. H,
was director and chairman Of many Iail
way companies, as we'll as a member Of the
British Parliament, controlling committee
on railways. Becoming aware from hi
position that certain charters were abou
10 be granted, he went into the market and
bought up all the available railroad iron
What was his fate! He was ruined. turned
out OF Parliament, sent to prison, and diet
| disgraced and broken hearted man.
Yet it has been loudly rumored that some
of the men who were in Office at the time
when the three municipalities were ab0u,
to he united under one city government
took advantage of the knowledge their Pc
sition gave them to buy up in good time
| the deprecated stock Of the three munich
pal;tiee, anticipating the settlement cOntem
plated IN consolidated bonds At par value.
Many such abuses occurred from time to
time, and not the least Of them was the
loose issue of notes which commenced be.
fore the war and continued during and
| after the war, all tending to create q deb!
of which it is my duty now to speak.
shall take as my starting point the year
1852, when the three municipalities were
| Incorporated under one government. The
| debt consolidated at that period amounted
| to about &c, 900, and / will show you
how, from 1859 10 the end Of Mayor Con-
| ways administration in 1870, it rolled up,
| by various means, to the acknowledged
| and recorded figures Of $lS,0oc.0oo.
Independent of the recorded indebted
ness there had accrued floating debt Of
unknown dimensions, unknown from the
| fact that accounts were very loosely kept,
and city notes issued al litit,sm, with little
or no record. The issue Of consolidated
bonds amounted to about $4,000. 0G0; rail
way bonds "a, SOC, goo. In 1861, an ordinance
was passed authorizing the Issue of psro-
chial notes to the amount of $500, 600, and
shortly after $500 900 more was ISSUED to
redeem the first, but strange to say. both
iseues Of $500, 900 each, remained in circula-
ton.
In July, 1862, the military government
went into operation, under bureaucratic
system, and ceased in April, 1866.
During that rule, military order was
issued by Shepley to retire the shinplasters
of private individuals and firms, and against
s o;e
issued in their stead. Tie securities JUST
alluded to have disappeared, and no trace
of them Can be found anywhere.
There were also issued. aboU: that time,
I'll ,3OO, COO of city notes, and wen. 70 increase
the city debt. At that same time were is
sued $3.50, 900 Of what were called con-
solidated city notes, but these did no. in
crease the debt, being applied 20 the pur-
pose Of retiring old bonds 20 that amount,
and their destruction was properly actesred.
In April, 1866, the second Monroe admin
istration succeeded to the military, and
during its tenure Of Office the city indebted
ness accumulated nearly as follows:
An issue of city notes to the exten: Of
81, CSC, 600, part of which was 70 have re.
deemed e250, 900 of old notes.
4 second Issue of consolidated city notes,
amounting to 81, GOO, 600, for the purpose Of
retiring municipal bonds to the same
neither the old city notes, nor the munich
pal bonds were destroyed. There is 20
legal attestation, such as Is usual. proving
the fact that these Co.es and municipal
bonds were destroyed; the only evidence
tina. can be found in this matter consists
simply Of some letters from the secretary
of the finance committee. notifying the
Of the Council tina: the notes were
destroyed.
There is no means of ascectaining 20 what
extent these irregular proceedings were
carried, and from the second Monroe ad-
to the close of Mayor Con
tinued. This was the muddle OF city ST. |
fairs, when Mayor Conway retired from |
,fice, bequeathing to the three subsequent |
an enormous debt, and to |
peak in gentle terms, al the irregularities |
hat created it.
In 1870, when Mayor Flanders was ap- |!
pointed, the recorded debt had reached the
um Of 100000.
The exact amount of liability for city
totes had never been accurately discovered.
There was no:State law. and seldom even
n ordinance of the Council authorizing
heir issue. They were scattered broad
asst, and l have been credioly informed |
hat these notes were put in circulation
whenever money was required. There is
10 record extent of how much debt was &C. |
by this loose and fraudulent eys-
EN- of imitation, so widely spread, and SO
eyOnd the reach of ali investigation, that
Though the Flanders administration TOOK
ONE millions Of them OF. Of circulation,
hey are still to be found decorating the
7inGows Of city brokers. Some Of these
Otes are old and diiap:dateG, as we'll they
hight be. bu. how to account for fresh and
new looking ones, is prob
IN only to be solved by the inae ination.
q there is no way Of tracing their legi-i-
.acy, may there not be manufactory Of |
1em in some convenient corner, even 20
lis day!
The city debt increased and is stili in
reasing under the pressure OF these damn
bic nOtee; they are worth in the market
,rty-fve cents to the dollar, because they
re taken a5 the City Hall IN payment OF
lxes. By VIVA, law, by what right. are
lese pieces Of paper accepted by the pres
At administration, when these same Ad.
Illustrators would refuse TO recognize seven
lxes, nor would they even pay the interest
&c on them!
It was in 1869 that an act was passed. au-
lorizing the issue OF seven per cen. cur
,ncy bonds, to retire the loose issue Of city
Dtee, and this law was carried out with
,me vigor under Mayor Flanders, who
ame into Office in 1870.
This administration found the city credit
a very low ebb; the bonds and foatin <
ebt quoted under forty per cent, and al
nough the revenues were exceeded by |
early y 000, GOO, confidence was so FAR re-
tored that the city credit was re-es.ab
shed, and its evidences Of indebtedness
rose into favor, and at last were
70rtn over eighty cents to the dollar.
During this administration city improve.
aents were carried on with some activ-
y; certainly more than the revenues JUS