The Brookhaven leader., 1885-07-30
Was 1t Merely a Dodge or What?

payers of this city To secure reelection
of the salaries Uf the city officials viii he
remembered BY Uur readers, AMI u will
also l,e remembered 'hst pending con-
sideration &C the subject by tie City
Council, THE LEhDnk clearly demon.
stratcd that the salaries paid our Mayor
Snd Marshal are decidedly in excess Of
the A'houut paid : my n"ighhoriug cor
poration, and that the rresUut arrange
meut Ia calculated to dc!rat rathrr than
guarantee o vigorous enforcement Of the
city ordInAnces.
When the Board Of Mayor and Alder
dermeu did finally come TO a considora-
ton Of the petition of the taxpayers, We
find them, in their wisdom, delivering
themselves as follows. (Seo official pro-
ceedings, June LIST 1889;
/ The petition of T. II. Hartman and
forty-uine others, citizens and lXpaycrS
of the city of BrUOkhavcn. requesting the
Board to reduce the salaTies of the Mayor
aud Marshal i'll sum net 10 exceed the
sum of $1,000 per month and other eX-
pensee in proportion, was presented. His
| Honor j. 4. DcasOn, aud Marshal 4. ID.
Mct'lendon, we're at their request grated
leave to retire, while the Board consider
ed the subject, Of tho petition. After
consideration of the subject the Bnard in
! answer say, that before the petition was
heard of by any member of the Board,
that tie duties heretofore l,erfOi med by
street commissioner had been tan 1ferrCd
to the Mayor aud Marshal without in
/ crease ot salary. Aud il is now ordered
that the Marshal be put IN charge of the
T SupcIN isiOn of the city lamps, to SET that
they are properly lighted and kept in
order Aud that if these additional du-
/ ties are properly performed by these oth
| GERS the III larics now allowed are not too
| high, aud besides that. for the sum nam
I ed by petitioners cfiici, Mt officers could
| not be got to assume the duties of their
respective Offices. and that the clause III
/ the petition saying, all expenses III pro-
portion the Board believes was not
carefully considered Ivy petitioners, as II
asks au inpossibility.
/ There were present at this meeting,
besides the Mayor, who Withdrew as
above stated, Aldermen Daughtry, At
kius, BowsBy Brennan, Baker and Nc
! Gratb. We are free to confess that the
petition was faulty, Ill that il made no
discrimination between the amount of
salary to he allowed the Mayor, and the
Marshal, whose duties are far more
| arduous and cxactlng than those of the
Mayor, and also where it asked for Il re-
duction of "all expenses III proportion"
J but the petition was intended more for
the purpose of getting the subject of a re-
duction of expenses before the Board
/ than to prescribe exactly the extent to
which it should be applied, aud it was
expected that the Board would make
! whatever discrimination was deemed
! expedient. When, therefore, the matter
was adiudicated az above, while many
regarded it as very mild effort i'll the
right direction. they at least gave the
! Board credit for sincerity, and thought
they meant just what they said. How
! ever, ut the very next meeting held July
/ 9th, 1885, we fiud in the official proceed
! ings among the accounts allowed the fol-
lowing:
D. Wilson, lighting st lamps for
june. ..................., S%O -
! A. u. McCIeudon, overseeing streets 10 90
j. Il. Deason, salary for June. 81 90
! A. ID. McClendon, salary for June. so 90
! Here the Mayor and Marshal are paid
| tn cir full months salary and 1925 addi-
! tional is allowed tor services which it was
declared at the previous meeting should
/ be performed by them without extra pay,
| though we believe oil is included in lamp
| lighting account, which would of course
considerably reduce it. At this meeting
we find present, besides the Mayor, Al
dermen Bowsky, Brennan, Atkins and
Baker. We also learn unofiicially that
| the go 90 allowed the Marshal for over
seeing street work was at the rate of 81, On
per day, and as some good work under
his supervision las been gotten in on the
streets since the July meeting, VIC may
safely look for similar account il addi-
ton to his regular salary at the next
meeting of the Board The Mayor thus
far hasn't presented any account for extra
services on the streets, but it is also un-
officially learned that he has never yet
been seen experimenting street work,
although he continues TO draw his 5000
salary, part of which the public was led
to believe was intended to cover such
service.
Again, though We have an ordinance
making it obligatory under penalty OF
heavy fine for any one to refuse to re-
move at his own expense dead animals
from about his premises, the enforcement
of which devolves upon the Mayor and
Marshal, there is scarcely meeting of
the Board that the Marshal is not allow
ed an account ''for removing dead ami
mails"
THE LEADER doesn't wish 10 unjustly
critIcise any one, but as a public Journal
1t feels called upon to direct attention to
! these abuses, and to urge up those in
, whose hands the city government has
been placed, to make au honest aud
earnest effort at reform. Such extrava-
gance and protilgacy, as we have pointed
. out in hese'columns, comparatively small
though it be, is little short of downright
robbery, and something to which tax
longer submit.
e County Finances.
The following showing in relation Il
county sanccs for the fiscal year 1884