Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-31
ANNUAL REVENUE Is INCREASED
Many Thousand Dollars by New Liquor and
Tax Laws and the Bill for the
Care Of. Insane.
THE STREET ACTS AND THE NEW COURT.
Senator Finn and Chief Elliot Both Well Satisfied
With the Results

lu6 LcHlSldluT6 Just ClOS6u Will udNS Oh luc
city. Much of the time of that body has
. been consumed in passing measures bene-
fetal to the Iron City and the result will be
noticeable in future years. The Controller
has been watching the actions of the State
lawmakers, and thinks he could not have
been better suited. Yesterday he was max
ing calculs-ion on the result of what had
been done, and discovered that by
means of recently-enacted laws Pitts
burg viii next year receive several hum
dred thousand dollars more than heretofore.
The Controller takes special pride in having
the finances of the city in excellent shape,
and he is an enthusiast on all legitimate
methods of keeping the municipal Golfers
well filed. In speaking of the matter he
said:
Whatever else the Legislature has done
it has certainly treated Pittsburg well, and
the people of this city have much to be
thankful for in that direction. Aside from
the street acts other bills have been passed
that will bring the city nearly 800, 900 more
income next year than she has had before.
Most important among these is the new
liquor license law, by means of
MhlGl We Will SSS Hpb lSSS
than 500, ,OOO The Boyer tax bill, making
increased appropriations for schools, means
S1S7 900 for Pittsburg, while the INDECENT
insane bill will bring in at least S12, 600.
The Biggest Item of All.
"The curative legislation, of course, is
the most important just now, bringing to
the city about s., ,0OO, 900, which could never
have been collected but for it. 1 thing peo-
pie interested in public matters are all
satisfied with the work of the Legislature as
far as our city is concerned. For myself,
could ask nothing more. Every bill L
hoped would pass got through nicely"
Controller MorrOw's views are shared by
almost everybody about City Hail. They
all agree that Pittsburg is fortunate, having
gotten safely out of the street improvement
difficulty and with the prospect of increased
revenues in future years. The amendment
10 the Brooks license law will assist mate
rally in furnishing money for the opera
tionS of the city government The city will
receive $500 out of each 81 600 license fee
Calculating on something near the number
of licensed saloons running this wear, the
500, 900 increase estimated by the Control
Ter viii come TO the CITY next wear. The
Bower tax bill, passed near the close of the
session, increases the public srhC d appro-
priation to 100000 The C Csrtroller esti-
mates Pittsburg's share of this to be $751;
600. Both of these sums will be received
and used b. the city.
Care for the INDECENT Insane.
The third bill referred to by the Con-
trOller was the one authorizing the State to
pay 81 % per week for the keeping of each
The energetic work of Chief Elliot, of the |
Department of Charities, was largely re-
sponsible for the passage of this act. The
Chief has long felt that the city should not
be required 20 care for insane people free of
charge, while county homes were receiving
compensation from the State for so doing.
The cost OF maintaining an insane person at |
the Poor Farm is not great, but when con-
siderable number of them are on hand |
the cost in year runs up into the thou |
eands. Chief Elliot felt that the State /
should stand part of the expense of keeping |
these people, and with this object in view |
the bill was introduced.
The average number of indigeht insane |
cared tor at the City Farm is nearly 200. |
Ii the State pays 81 % a week for each of |
them it will amount TO about ST., 600 annu-
ally for the city. This will not entirely |
meet the cost of their maintenance, but |
will be of great assistance, lessening the ex-
penses of the Department of Charities a /
great deal Chief Elliot is very much |
pleased over the passage of the bill. He at |
first wanted 81 80 per week, but since that |
could not be obtained is satisfied with the /
lesser sum.
Benefit of the Street Acts to Pittsburg
The passage of the acts regulating future
street improvement was strictly benefit |
10 Pittsburg, since Allegheny, the only
other city in the second class, still holds to |
its former laws passed before the adoption
of the new constitution. While the acts |
are not Of any direct pc summary advantage to
the city, vet they play a very important |
part in providing perfectly constitutional |
method of making street improvements in |
the future, and lift the city out of the dis
advantageous position she was in after the /
Supreme Court decided the old laws illegal. |
A great deal of the Legislatures time was
spent on these acts.
The new CommoA Pleas Court bears an
important part in the benefits Pittsburg has !
received. The necessity. of more court |
facilities has been felt by the legal fra
ternity for long time. The almost unani-
nous vote of the Allegheny County Bar As
sociation was in favor of the new court and
nearly all of the better lawyers were max
ing personal efforts to secure the consent of
the Legislature to authorize such depart
ure.
The various charitable institutions about
the city did not get as large slice of the
appropriations as they asked for, but all !
who applied received something. In most
cases The amount was satisfactory, and few
complaints were heard. Senator William
Finn, who is credited with having much to
do with securing these benefits for Pitts
burg, is very well pleased over the result.
In speaking of it yesterday he said:
Why Senator Finn Is Happy.
'fPittsburg has Jared well, and see little
room for complaint. Our members had to
work pretty hard to secure what we got, as |
the Senators and Representatives from all
over the State had large numbers of bills
they were anxious to crowd through ahead
of us. Then, we were opposed by some of
our own people in almost every move we
made. The better class of people, however,
who wanted TO see PittsbUrg safely out of
her difficulties were with us. The oppo-
sitiOn to the street legislation was at first
very strong, but that was because the
people did not fully understand
the matter. After they found out
what the acts meant they stopped opposing
them, which shows that Pittsburg's people
are fair. The new liquor law will raise the
receipts of the city from that source from
$50, 900 TO $500, 600. That is an advantage
which few will disclaim.'
Other Pittsburg Legislators feel like Sen
ator Finn, and are well satisfied with the
result of their labors
The First Ripe Peaches.