The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-11-17
THE ClTY'S AFFAIRS.
Matters Of Urgency Calling for
Attention.
OFFICERS AL HARD At WORK.
Qusstieu AZ q RSlAtions Bstwsen City
Csuaeil anA TIE Bssrds-rhs Sal
airy Ordinance.

sry Ordinancs.
The municipal officers are finding their
positions anything bat sinecures. The
members Of the board Of public works are
compelled TO devote the entire day to their
duties. and are frequently at their Offices at
night The mayor has abandoned any st
tempt to attend to his private business, and
- planning to leave It entirely to the other
members OF his 6rm, 1t least for . few
months. The comptroller is At his Office
nearly every night until IL o'clock. The
city clerk and his deputies are in attend
ance upon the TWO houses Of the city coun-
Gil and the several boards three and four
nights week. and the members of the
city council have committse meetings
almost every day.
Only the surface Of work has been
skimmed as yet When the new machin-
cry works smoothly, the books and forms
are al in good shape and the appointments
are all made, very serious responsibilities
await the departments.
After having determined how much
money must be spent in salaries and in the
other channels of expenditure for the city's
affairs, they will have 10 devote earnest at
tention to ways and means.
A committee consisting OF Delegates
Hanford. Ehipley and Muldoon has pre-
percd letter to Corporation Counsel
Jacobs asking an expression of opinion
from him upon the relation OF the city
council to the various boards and commits
sions. and stating the position taken by
the house OF delegates. The letter says the
house assumes that the council IL vested
exclusively with all rights and powers Of .
legislative nature. a. distinguished from
those of an administrative or executive
character. and that the departments are
vested solely with administrative and adj
visory functions.
The house, it says. has in several in
stances been embarrassed by SEEM
ing clash between these two heads of
the city government, while each has pre-
sumably been seeking to operate in its own
proper sphere.
The question arises chiefly as to whether
petitions for street improvements, streets,
etc., should be sent first to the board OF
public works or to one of the houses, and
then be referred to . standing committee,
which should consult the board. The
special committee expresses the opinion
OF the house that no authority exists in
the board to change street grades or place
street lights without the passage of an or
dinance.
Judge Jacobs viii reply today or tomor
row with written opinion. He declined
meantime to express any views upon the
subject except to say he agrees generally
with the stand taken by the house.
The board Of aldermen will probably re-
fuse to concur IN the amendments of the
house to the salary bill and ask for con-
ference committee. On Friday night they
asked for q conference but omitted to
state the grounds. and the house declined
to accede, - the course was contrary to
parliamentary rule. The real motive is
that the delegates feel that they have borne
the brunt Of the contest. which resulted
in shaving down of the salar-
les and so not intend that the
aldermen shall escape being placed on rec
ord. It 10 no secret that several of them
favor an increase of salaries beyond the
amounts set by the house, and the house
seems determined nat to agree. The prece-
dent offered by Tacoma is referred to by
those who think some Of the salaries for
responsible positions is insufficient. Ia
coma, in its new charter, allows the city
controller 81 900 year and each member
Of the board OF works 5000. besides allow
ing the mayor So 900 and each of the coun-
cilmen, of whom it has eight, two from
each ward, $500 year.
City Treasurer Ames is busy cashing
warrants on the water fund. About $685.
600 has been so far disbursed in this way
within few days. from the proceeds of
the sale of water bonds. Most of them
had been discounted and were held by
brokers, but large mum Der had been re-
tanned by workingmen to whom they were
issued, and whose thrift enabled them to
wait until they could be cashed. Quite q
number held as much as 500 each, and
they were made happy by not only having
saved the discount for brokerage,
which was usually 10 per cent, but by also
obtaining the interest of 81 or So. The
loss to those who were compelled by their
necessities to sell their warrants to brokers
is evidence of the hardship the payment of
laborers by warrants entails.
Street Commissioner Alexander has con-
siderable work on hand which he will push
during the next few months. Planking is
to be done on Yesler avenue from Sixteenth
street out. on Front and Kentucky from
Cedar TO Harrison, two blocks on Depot,
two blocks on Bell, on Madison between
Third and Fourth and Seventh and Ninth.
one block on Jefferson, and one on Fourth
His force will consist of seventy-iive men,
of whom thirty wilt be engaged on plank
ing, thirty on street cleaning and fifteen on
repairs in various parts of the city. He is
authorized 70 buy about 100000 feet of
lumber at probable cost OF $4,000, and
his monthly payroll will be about 5000.
This, together with horses, etc., and gen
eral expenses, will run up to about $4,000
q month for his department..
City Comptroller Ferris has designed a
system OF bookkeeping which will enable
HIM to comply to the fullest extent with
the require ments of the charter. The ar
rangement seems to be model of precision
and ciearness. One of his duties is that
..he shall be constantly acquainted with the
exact condition of the treasury" In order
to do this he must keep . infinitely de-
tailed balance sheet for each of the twelve
funds of the city, the amount available
from each, the amount paid in
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