Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-07-05
city Council.
Regular meeting, Thursday, July


that vacancy had occurred for Al
derman Of the Sixth Ward by the
removal OF Alderman Allen from
that ward, and it would become the
duty of the Council to elect an
Alderman for that ward to fill the
vacancy. As, however, the roll
call had shown the absence of two
or three Aldermen, he thought it
better to wait till their arrival.
Pending this, r. b. Walthall,
City Marshal, made his report, and
several accounts were audited and
passed and the Marshals new bond
accepted.
The missing Aldermen having ar
rived, on the motion of Aid. Faxon
the Board proceeded to the election
of an Alderman for the Sixth Ward.
Messrs. HI. Merritt, W. j. Ely and
w. S. McReynelds were nominated,
and H. Merritt was elected at the
first ballot.
Alderman Keesee reported from
the Street Committee that whereas
the committee had been instructed
to employ an engineer to make
specifications for the sewerage of
Franklin street from Caldwell &
Shelton's livery stable to Crusman's
corner, said committee had inquired
what would be engineers fees for
such specifications and found that
$3.50 was demanded, which was
considered exorbitant, and the COM
mittee had suspended action in the
matter till it could be referred to
/ the Board. Meantime he had con-
traeted with Mr.. Pat. Sullivan for
the work, which was in progress.
Aid. Jackson objected to the course
of the committee in making a con-
tract without laying the bids before
the Board and showing that the
best bid had been accepted. He
also contended that the contractor
should be placed under bond.
Aid. Reese did not see any need
for bond; his way was to employ
a man to do work, and not to pay
him if it was not done right.
Matters grew unnecessarily warm
between these two gentlemen, but |
no harm was done.
The Mayor interviewed and said |
that he had been called in to join
this committee, as Aid. Allen hav- |
ing ceased to be on it there were |
only two members; that the con-
tract accepted was really the lowest |
offered, it being at so cents a yard,
which would bring it to less than
$500, which was the lowest bid.
Two motions were carried as a
result of this conversation.
First-The action of the Street |
Committee was approved.
Second-That the contractor !
should be placed under bond suffi-
cient to cover his contract before
being allowed to proceed with the
work.
Next was brought up the subject |
of the
WATER-WORKS.
The contractor and engineer had |
signifed their readiness to have the
water-works, now completed, tested |
as to their competency to ope-
rate according to the contract made
by them with the Board. Alder
men FaXOn, Hyman and Kendrick
report the failure of the works to
meet the test. On this head Aid.
FaXon made the following remarks:
He says that the apparatus was
working satisfactorily until two of
the main pipes burst, when the
force became insufficient.
CITY TAXEs.
Aid. Hyman made motion that
an abatement of per cent. should
be made in the taxes of those citi-
zens who shall pay within the pres
ent month. He said that the city |
treasury has long been entirely
empty and that no collection of
taxes can be forced until next jan
uary. Meantime no payments are
made to the police or anyone else,
and all demands are met by checks |
and warrants, which in most in
stances are discounted at Is per
cent. off. The police and all other
creditors are loudly protesting, and
the credit of the city suffering. He
said that a measure such as he pro-
posed would bring q sufficient sum |
into the treasury to meet immediate
demands; that such a course had
ample presidents in former years,
and that in no other way could the
credit of the city be saved.
Aid. FaXOn opposed this method. |
He said that this method would re-
lieve not the rich but the poor man;
that the latter is not able to pay his |
taxes before they are due, and that
the men who will avail themselves |
of the privilege are those who have |
bought up city checks and warrants
at Is per cent. discount, and thus
get per cent. more off, while the
city treasury will be as empty as
ever, for it will be not money but |
checks which will be paid in. He
said that the city can borrow money |
at 6 per cent. TO pay the police,
which will be much cheaper than
throwing off per cent. from an in
definite amount of city taxation.
Aid. Hyman's motion was put to
the vote and lost, and then
Aid. Faxon moved that the Fl
nancial Committee be authorized to
borrow a sufficient sum to pay the
police to the end of the year.
This motion was carried unani-
mously.
During the discussion on this sub
ject the City Marshal was called
upon to state what proportion of the
city taxes had last year been paid