Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-12-30

4 Terrific Effort to Spite the Spigot Of tn
Treasury 9ys order, to Open the Bet7,D.
hoie.
There is ever SO much happiness mani
tested in official circles with the salary COM
mites of the immortal twenty-one. The
committee has taken off its coat, read iusted
it's venerable spectacles, sweat over the
expenses necessary to run q municipal gov
ernment, and deliberately cut down the scant
salary of everybody who renders any service
to the city, and never thought OF
touching those particular items where large
savings could have been made.
Let us examine the report of the salary q
little in detail. 1t recommends the payment
of salary of 81 200 per annum to the city
attorney, who renders (possib1y) one
months service to the municipality out of the
twelve, and only $500 to the judge Of tho
municipal court, who is employed in the
city's service from early morn till dewy eve.
Any one cognizant of the labor and respon-
sibilites attached to the two positions would
readily concade that If the duties of the city
attorney were worth 81 200, those of the
Judge of the municipal court should GER
tainIy command at least $4,000. This one
item alone shows that the committee has
gone about their work lickety-smash, only
bent on ''reducing taxatiOn," thinking moth
ing of and caring nothing about the public
interests. Ten minutes careful examination
by the committee would have MAIDS this fact
clear to them.
The city comptroller is to be reduce from
81 500 to 81, 200, Notwithstanding. the fact
that men OF less capacity and with less re-
sponsibiIity resting upon them, are being
paid $4,000 and So, 500 for less services rem
dered to private parties. The city clerk
having been robbed of the beggarly fees at
tached to his petty office and his salary fixed
at 81 800, is to be cut down to Isl POO, and
this, too, in the face of the fact that his du-
ties have been augmented nearly oIle-half
above that of his predecessor, whose total
emOlumenlS aggregated not far from $l 800.
Even now the city clerk is working nights
and Sundays to save the expense Of an as
eistant. This, too, the committee could
have learned by thirty minutes investlga-
ton. But their duty is TO '.cut down. not
to investigate the justice or injustice of
what they are doing.
The clerk af the municipal court is to be
reduced from 81 500 to $500, while the du-
ties OF his Office ara more Iaborious and
more confn.ng than those of the clerk Of
the county courts, who smiles and smiles,
and-pockets $4,000.
The chief of police is to receive 1T 600 in
stead of 81 200 as heretofore which will be
equivalent to the BOLTON of the Office, as
no competent man would disgrace himself
by accepting such beggarly compensation
Tor duties 50 exacting and burdensome.
The city engineer is to receive 81 500 and
have an assistant at 5000. These sums are
entirely too much-the entire engineering
outfit should be wiped OUT. What is the
necessity OF having expensive q bureau in
q village way station on a narrow gauge
railway?
The committee further recommend that
no further money be expended on street
grading. This is q wonderful stroke of
economic genius! The heart of the city,
around the property of the wealthy and
'tony' members of society having been all
graded at the expense of the
outlying property, the people who
have paid the bills and have
property outside tue heart of the city must
now wait for the improvement of their
streets an indefinite period. But why not
drop the village style of grading streees by
general taxation and adopt the metropolitan
plan of paying for grading by special assess
ment?
The report of the municipal committee is
one chapter of solid absurdities. If the
other committees shall submit reports equal
~ idiotic the GLOBE will come to the conclu-
sion that the board OF trade has reached it's
second childhood and is rapidly approaching
irobecjIity