The New Orleans daily Democrat., 1878-11-27
MIR, STODDART HOWELL EXPLAINS.

MIR. STODDART HOWELL EXPLAINS.
The Consolidated and City Cash Account
The City Account.
To tho Editor Of the Democrat:
AS prelude to the abstract from the city
cash account or 1867 and 1869 which | propose
to make. will by way of comparison, give
the result OF the management or the Clty Coy
prnrnent from the date of consolidation in
1852 until the close of the aldermhnlG system
i'll 1870, and in doing so will contine vi ysell
exclusively to the records Of tho proper de-
partments In 1862 the entire debit counting
The consolidated md municipal bonds-wn5
IS, 73G 1888 Gl. In 1853 the debt dropped little"
being 8.425,2l7 &C. In 1854 the Jackson and
Opelu1,sas Railroads bonds were added, MAX
ing the debt $12. .2G7, 1913 r.
IN 1861, during period Of seven years,
which gave us the city railroads, the square
block paving. and $25O,0O0 Pontchartrain
Railroad bonds the debt was &116l7, 700 GI.
in 1853 of this period, the total amount OK
Dpndcd by the surveyors and street commits
eioners departments for cleaning aud repalr~
ing the streets Of the four districts making
new and repairing Old bridges, iurnishlnR
nuisance bonts and the canal bridges, and
material for streets and bridges furnished,
was 1927 3G5 80. The Administrator OF I'm,
provements will make Il note OF this, and
square block laid nor n street traVersnd by a
ralrOad; these corporations now Tighten the
city of b considerable part Of the burden re-
uuired for the repairs Of streets.
In 1862 besides an issue OF ST ,jOn,OOo or
city notes authorized by the Council and the
| preparation of war material, the debt went
| up to S12453 ,785 G3. From 1862 to 1866 was
| the military government, and after the pay
| omitted by the CounciI in 1862, the payment
of many debts left over, running the govern
| rnent in 1863 aud 1864 at per cent, and iesu-
ing ST 100000 Of city notes the total debt OF
| the city footed UP Si3,858,4 Alb. Only S5O,Ooo nt
| floating debt was bequeathed 10 the second
Monroe government, that began in 1866 but
was succeeded by the Heath government in
1867 and 1863 and terminated by the Conway
| administration in 1870, who LETT u DEBT o1
| S1R 1897 3l3 IS to their successors. tho Admin
| isttators, who have been pliDg on the debt
ever since.
| The second Monroe administration, Of
which am about TO treat, was the most ex-
| trHvngant that ever attempted the manage
| uent of the city government. The hrst act
| Of the Aldermen was on increase OF salaries
| from 10 to Is per cent. Soon after began the
| issue of city notes. and in about nine months
| 81 ,377 G72 without an authorization from tne
| Council or even the Finance COMMITTEE were
put out, while during the same period $458,
| 82g IS were destroyed without going through
the formalities required by law. The on'y
record OF their destruction IS the copy OF the
|
rotary, that the destruction had taken place.
| Ordinance No. 345, approved December D.,
| 1866, authorized the receipt into the clty
treasury of State notes at par in payment OF
taxes licenses and other dues OF the CITY, IN
accordance with an act Of the Legislature,
approved February g. 1865.
| Ordinance No. 537, approved April ), l8Gl
repeals ordinance No. 345 Under this Drl'-
liant financial scheme the entire collection,
| over 100000 in State notes, seems TO nave
gone into the city treasury in the space OF
four months and that before the collection Of
taxes was well under way Tho Impressions
were beautiful; Of the $l60,00O turned over TO
me, those OF the denominations OF hundred,
fifty and twenty We're splendid specimens OF
art, and it was pleasure in handling
| them, the contrast was so great In
their neat and tidy appearance from the
greasy mutilated city notes carried IN the
pockets Of the pebeians. This State note bust
ness seemed to be sumner to the healthy
condition Of the finances, and it not only cost
S25O,O0O in discounts, but it led TO the over,
trawal Of the bank account IN the sum oI
SS8 355 81 on February %. 1867, which was
only returned in the months OF May nnd July
following. Besides the regular collections
into the treasury the city sold batttlre proper
ty amounting to nearly half q million Of DOL
lars the cash payment ana many OF inc Iiots t;s
were used for various purposes, although TINS
same batttlre property had been pledged 1ol
the redemption OF half 8 million city notes
called the bAtture issue. ,
i, The next tlnanClai 1fOlle lnduigeu III WsI5 ''i'
borrowing of money from AVegnO ~ Wlllnz
responsible and well-known brokers at thf
time. Mr.. Joseph Hernandez, as, city treas
urer, borrowed from that firm in legai tender
notes, from March II, 1867, to May 10, same
year, $780, 900. He made payments for thF
! Same in State notes, from March 8, 1867, =
July 70, same year, $4,000 leaving unpaic
$4,000. The conditions were u per cent bro
kcrage, per cent per annutn interest ana ti1s
discount on the State notes, they being tcI
per cent at the time. AS warrants were gtvel
I by the controller the transaction was q legit
innate one.
In the treasurers journal No. are the fol
lowing entries:
March 8. 1867-Avegno & Wiloz. DR., to bills re
ceivable, for the following, described note
! to them as collateral security:
Notes specified .-......-,~ s71.856 6
b May TO- 1sG7-Same entry as above:
5 Sta1 1856 G
, June 12-Iess notes returned. ......,., 33 233 8