St. Paul daily globe., 1888-07-30
REFORM IS NEEDED.
The Movement Should Begin
Now and Not After the
Election.
Violations Of the Law Respon-
sible for the Eighth Ward
Trouble.
Contracts and Bonds the Safe
guards Thrown About the
City's Affairs.
Tonight the Prohibitionists
Will Nominate a Full City
Ticket.

those otherwise eStimable citizens
who are moving for a citizens ticket
base their action on the necessity of a
reform in the city government. That
such necessity exists is too true, but
that it can be met in this political per-
od by the means they propose the
GLOBE stoutly denies. There is no ne
ceSSlty. either, for waiting over five
months before inaugurating the reforms
desired. Indeed, such move has already
been made. The expose of the Eighth
ward situation made in full Yesterday
shows just what is necessary to be done,
III such cases at least, and the GLOBE
has already shown that irregularities
which brought about the Eighth ward
difficulty have been in existence for
years. The aldermanic trio that has the
honor to stand sponsor for that Situa
ton has not been heard in its defense,
but it is almost unnecessary and the
case is practically indefensible. But
they are not alone to blame. If the
IN the city hall, much of the
Indebtedness would have been avoided.
The engineering department must bear
its share of the responsibility, in spite
OF the fact that many people seem to
regard that department as too holy to
crltlciSe. Here are several large con-
tracts, unauthorized by the council and
uneXecuted Oh behalf of the city and
yet the engineer has not only permitted
the work to go on, as all city work is
under his supervision, but has cer
tilted to the correctness of bills
that are. to say the least,
very questionable. Valuable papers
are missing from his office. The COM
mittee says that when it applied to the
engineers office for original bids the
clerk in charge stated that they could
not be found. A reform in the Office
methods of the engineer would not be
out of place, and yet these newspapers
that are howling for reform have re-
Gently gone Oh record as declaring the
engineer to be above criticism and an
officer the city could very lily spare.
Other cases are known, in which work
was done and the money paid out with
outa completed contract OF the filed bond
required by law. If afterward the work
had been shown to be faulty or the ma
terial imperfect, the city could have no
possible recourse. 1t was the violation
of law that is largely responsible for the
Eighth ward situation. The aldermen
ordered work without authority of the
council. and the engineer permitted it
to go on and certified to its correctness,
without either contract or bond. The
comptroller had not countersigned the
contracts and had paid no money on
two of them, as the indebtedness
is clearly illegal. 1t will be well for
aldermen if it is no worse. The law
has set enough safeguards about such
transactions, and if it is observed there
would be 10 such difficulty. Every con-
city and countersigned by the comp
the contemplated work, the comptroller
refuses to sign, and that is the end of
it-or should be. But it chances that
in the cases of Bowen and
Wilson, the work went Oh, although
the contracts were not executed, and
there is where the engineering depart
ment is to blame. The engineer should
see that no contract work begins unless
the contracts are properly executed,
and these proper executions are notifi-
cations to him that the work is author
lied and the money will be Forthcoming.
The question with the Eighth ward
taxpayers is to pay or not to pay. Most
of the clauses could be repudlated as il
legal, but, at the same time, the work
is done, and the contractors may not be
totally to blame. The entire indebted
ness will be over $4,000. with about
100000 to pay it with, and if it is to be
paid, the question arises whether it shall
be pro-rated or whether some claims
must wait. The committee is not vet
through, and the aldermanic trio is vet
to be heard from.