St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-04-17

say tDdt the amounts PAID were hot
merely for carrying around of such no
tees, but also tor making and keeping
up Of proper index books Of the ad-
dresses Of owners and agents and tor
the clerical work, livery, etc, OF notices
themselves. Without the addresses OF
the agents, non-residents. etc, tie sery-
ice would have been utterly worthless.
prior to 1884 there were no books OF
owners names or addresses kept in
the city treasureT's Office, and not an
atte mpt was made to keep track OF nom
resident owners or persons whose adj
dresses or residences were changed
This was not very important as long as
the personal notices were but Limited
these were made out and served wholly
and entirely by one man. who received
the proceeds Of the bills put in therefor.
In 1884 the business had increased and
an extra set of indexes for owners
and addresses was begun. requiring
much labor by quite number
Of clerks. as 1t was found that
with the rapid increase and shifts IN
the population during this time not
much reliance could be put on the
directories. This was absolutely neees-
sary II tile personal service WAS TO be
worth anything al all. The work OF
Hiah4un OuL llG uOL4LEo hA1 Wv AhNot
also the serving and addressing and
making returns therefrom. and al times
nearly the whole clerical force was at
work thereon. The orders allowed for
the serving of these notices were turned
over 10 the treasurer, who paid regular
wages 10 the persons serving these
notices. and who also paid for the cost
OF keeping up the owners indexes and
addresses
Out of This Money
and to whoever worked on this service.
Mr.. IeyerOOs was one of quite a num-
Der Of clerks who had been engaged in
serving notices. lie commenced ia 1854
at a salary OF SO per month. which
WAS increased soon afterward 10 $50.
This salary was regularly paid 10 him,
and the tfeasurer's account shows eX-
actly what he received per month dur
ing the whole time. together with the
checks with Which he was paid and re-
ceipts III full FOR services OF all kinds
given al different times in the treas
urer's hands for inspection for any one.
The carrying or serving OF personal
notices did not require anything else
but ordinary diligence and Intelligence
or schooling, and il was easy at all
times 10 get good men for this service al
these wages. The wages paid were al
ways satisfactory and there WAS no one
who was not glad to do it under those
conditions.
The total amount paid out during this
period for clerical help for services of
all kinds Is $50, 57l.96. OF this there
was paid by claims allowed by the cOun-
ell for personal service OF notices $20, 279.-
%, while the actual cost Of this service
hHFinu fhia nari,I mr. afthtnn
April 20. 81. when il was discontinued,
was So, $50. II and in addition TO this So
33S. was expended on the address ana in-
dex books used for the purpose, IN Kin
total Of $50, U2S. IL. so that | am az cVu-
siderable loss personally OH account OF
the amount allowed not covering the
amount expended. This was eau. C
partly by the price per piece Above
by the council having been cut down
more than 30 cents since 1884 from what
1t was before that time, and also that
many OF the notices for park assess.
ments on which the city was
beaten in court we're dlsallowed
and not paid for by the city
while the work and services had been
done, and had 10 be paid for by myself
In addition 10 the above, at least one.
third OF all clerical help in the Office
could have been dispensed with and the
money saved TO myself If the old books,
without owners names, in use prior 20
1884 had been continued. This would
have resulted IN great Inconvenience
and detrlment 10 the public, and there
was no law requiring the change.
The fact Is, that lot OF cumbersome
detail has been burdened on the office
by the act Of the legislature which does
not belong there. and has caused an
enormous expenditure for clerical help
during the past years, to the annoyance
and detrilnent af the treasurer and tile
public. For instance, in 10 city i'll the
whole length and breadth Of the United
States can be found system OF collect
ing street sprinkling assessments as 1t
is here ia st. Paul, covering nearly
every lot in the settled portion Of the
city, and the detail work of collecting
which is as much, and more than col
lecting the whole general tax. There IS
No Earthly Reason
why this could not be coll ected as a
frontage tax the same as our 10 cents
per front foot water tax in the general
taxes, thus saving nine tenths OF all the
clerical expense. Another way would
be to pay il out of the general fund,
This IS only one of the annoyanceS |
have often before called attention to,
and which have made the routine of the
city treasurer's office cumbersome and
the office an elephant. There are
enough grave responsibilities resting
upon it without such. The result will
be serious trouble and Inconvenience to
the public some time or another, and
while | have reason 10 be thankful that
my health has been such that by close
application | have been able to avoid
any serious trouble, yet | would here
state that this is the real reason why |
have and will decline any nomination
for the Office. 1t is time that this UNI
necessary detail was done away with,
and with a change in the Office / hope
such will be better realized by the next
legislature.