St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-08-30
CITY HALL CHAT.

CITY HALL CHAT.
The dual council does not work so har-
moniously as the sponsors of the Bell char
ter expected and for some reason the two
bodies are not as friendly as they might be-
AS result a number of important matters
which have come up for consideration by the
city fathers are hanging between heaven and
earth. and unless a compromise is agreed
upon there will surely be deadlock.
IL
| One of the most important matters at pres
| ent hanging fire is the question of granting
| to Thomas Lowry an extension of time in
which to complete his electric roads. MI.
Lowry two years ago agreed to furnish by
| Nov. 1, 1891, the Jackson street line, the
Maria avenue extension from Earl street to
| the Indian mounds, the Stryker avenue line,
and the West Seventh street extension to
| Fort Smelling In order that the Fort SMELL
| ing line might be built the city expended
| $4,000 to grade the street to the fort. The
! board of aldermen, at its last meeting, heard
resolution read, prepared by doughty John
Gehan. The resolution was to give MIR.
| Lowry until July !, 1892, in which to build
| the lines With the exception of two votes
| the entire board granted the concession, be-
| lievipg that Col. Lowry had received so
many favors from the city, another one
would do but little harm. But the members
! the upper house did not propose to give
| the street railway company all it asked for,
and Tuesday evening, when the resolution
] came up for ratification, it caused quite a
| cyclone, and President Murray wore quite
large hole in the table by the use of the gayel.
r
| Petitions had been circulated that Mr.
| Lowry ought to be compelled 10 finish the
Fort Smelling line on time, for the reason
that the money paid out to the troops at The
fort all went to Minneapolis. Mr.. Lowry as
serts that he cannot possibly finish his lines
on time, but the assembly. i'll double quick
time, insisted that the Fort Smelling line
must be completed though it will give him
until next year to finish his other roads.
| The matter thus goes back to the aldermen,
and unless they agree with the upper house,
the street railway company will have to
complete all its lines by Nov. /, which it
claims it cannot possibly do. The result of
| the ighs will be watched with interest
TT
Another matter which must be settled is
the dispute between the assembly and the
board of school inspectors over the cutting
| down of The janitors' salaries The aldermen
duly passed the last pay roll presented by
| the school board but when the matter went
10 the assembly that body refused to concur.
/ Some of the assemblymen denounced the
action of the school board as illegal, and de-
| manded'tha the janitors receive their orig
inal salaries. little investigation proved
that the school board had acted strictly
/ within its rights in reducing the salaries, and
that the assembly had no power to interfere.
| An attempt will be made to settle the affair
| amicably, and conference committee of
| three. consisting of Messrs. Oppenheim, Nc
Nance and McCafferty. will tomorrow call
| upon the school board. In the meantime,
the janitors are out in the cold and must
| wait for their ducats.
| IT,
| What will be done with the Azotine mud
| die is a subject that is worrying the members
| of the assembly. The matter has been ar
| gued time and time again, long legal opin-
ions have been presented on the subject by
the city attorney, yet the solution is as far off
as it was the day the Azotine works were de-
stroyed by fire. The company asked the as
| sembly to approve its plant at South st. Paul,
| but the fathers say no, and rightly, too, for
| South ST. Paul is outside the city limits, and
| the contract held by the Azotine company
| for disposing of garbage says that the site
must be in the city of st. Paul. The city
| says the company must locate site for its
| plant in the city and then ask the
| council to approve of it; but they an
| swer that the building inspector will not give
q permit. The city attorney gives his opin-
| ion that the building inspector has no power
| to refuse permit, and the company replies
| that if the city approves site and it erects
| plant, that there will be a repetition of the
| fight made by the citizens of the Fifth ward
| last Nd no q,
| The health officer complains that garbage
has not been properly collected, letters have
| been sent to the newspapers to the effect,
| and as the contract for collection has eX-
| pired, the city must ask for bids for new
| contract AS the city cannot tell bidders
| where the plant of the AZotine company is
| to be- in order that garbage may be delivered
| there for destruction it looks as if the mat
ter will drag along until the expiration of
| the contract in 1895 held by the Azotine COM
pany.
~
lively time is expected in the board of
aldermen on Tuesday evening. when the
commons will be asked to ratify the reso-
| luton of the assembly authorizing the issue
| of certificates of Indebtedness for so per cent
| of the tax levy estimate in anticipation of
| the collection of the taxes next year. Aid.
ways and means, has construed the charter
in a manner different to the city officials and
the city attorney, though just what his points
| are have not been explained. 1t is under
| stood that he is of opinion that the certifi-
Gates can only be issued for the purpose of
! placing the proceeds to the credit of funds
| and not for the maintenance of all depart
| ments' If he succeeds in convincing ma
| jority of the aldermen, it will cause serious
delay in securing money-tor funds are very
| low in the treasury, and by Oct. 10 the
| charter requires that certain accounts must
be opened by the comptroller, and all over
| drawn funds balanced.
+t+
| Comptroller Ponthau and Treasurer Refs
| view the matter with some concern, for they
! state that every days delay will make it more
| difficult to negotiate the certificates, as the
money markets are becoming tighter every
| day on account of the moving of the crops.
-
| Mayor Smith never made better appoint
| ments than when he placed Ansel Open
helm and Judge j. McCafferty in the upper
house. There is hardly a matter which
comes up that is not thoroughly investigated
| by the two gentlemen who sit side by side in
the assembly. Mr.. Oppenheim is skillful
flnancier, and Judge McCafferty is possessed
| of vast amount of legal lore and barrels OF
| shrewdness and common sense. and both are
! determined that whatever is done by the as
sembly shall be for the best interests of the
people.
A TIP FROM TOM.