Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-05-09
WHO RUNS TT
Shall the City Trustees or the Supervisors
Control City AffaiIse


Control City Affairse
The mistaken views of the City Attorney
concerning the right of the city to lay Ii
Case taxes, and fix the requirements prec.
edent to issuance of licenses, have misled
the City Trustees, and involved them in an
appeal to the County Supervisors that
amounts to a dangerous confession; one
that the citizens of Sacramento cannot at
ford to have pass into the force of prece-
dent. The Trustees are aware of this, and
the Mayor, who is the author of the ordi-
nance, will, of course, advise them to re-
cede from their proposition made to the
Supervisors. The instant it is conceded that
the city cannot enforce license collection,
or pass regulatiye ordinance without the
consent of the Supervisors. there is an end
TO most important branch and function of
municipal government. Worse than that,
the moment it is conceded that county
license protects one who procures it from
interference by the city, every man and
woman of whom license is required to do
business, will, and ought to, refuse to pay
city license. They would be fools of the
most pitiful order if they paid two license
taxes for the privilege of transacting bust
ness, if one will give them all the protec-
ton that two possibly can. The man who
cannot see this truth is incapable of under
standing that two and two make four. How
any one with thimbleful of brains can
hold, as, the City Attorney does, that the
contrary is true, that a county license over
rides and supplants the municipal license
passes comprehension.
Mr.. Church owes it to the profession he
represents to take the back track like man
and frankly admit his error. Deputy Dis
trict Attorney Brown is right when he says
TO the Supervisors, you have nothing to
do with the business of the city licenses.
If you require of one a license tax, and the
city requires of the same party license
tax, and fixes certain conditions to it,
then it follows that the man applying can
gain no right until he has taken out both
licenses, and complied with all REQUIRE
ments lawfully made" The thing for the
Trustees to do is to stand by the ordinance
of the Mayor, and when they need advice
concerning it take it from some layman,
If need be, for it does not require lawyer
to understand the simplicity of the propo-
sltion involved. The Trustees have The
right to close up places they adjudge to be
dlsreputable and inimical to the peace and
quiet of the city; they are ready to do SO.
but the police evidently render them no as
sistance; in fact, the doubts and bubbles
appear 10 nave emanated from the police
authorities since the Trustees have shown
their readiness to regulate the dives, while
the Chief of Police has done nothing to aid
them.
1t is bad state of affairs, and should
rouse the taxpayers to action in support of
the Mayor and Trustees As it now stands
the situation is open to grave suspicion that
there is venality behind it. We do not
say there is-we do not charge that
any man has been paid or promised pay
for bringing about the situation-but we
do say, and to this there can be made no
possible answer, that if the license-takers of
the city, who pay into the city treasury
some $4,000 annually, desired to save that
sum to their pockets, they could not expend
$4,000 and bring about situation more
favorable to that end than the present,
which, as it stands, requires the Trustees of
this municipality to humbly ask consent of
the County Supervisors before they can en-
force wise, needed and reasonable ordi-
nance. We repeat that the situation is
simply disgraceful, and that the sooner the
Trustees break from it and stand upon
their right to legislate upon and fix license
requirements, which no one has questioned
except the City Attorney, and the effective
ness of which no one doubts but the police,
the better for the city.