Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1893-01-31

This was followed Immediately by the read
ing of communication from Mayor Mari
gold, inquiring whether this city would
combine with other cities in the state
in a movement to oppose the granting by
the legislature of valuable franchises for
At this point the following resolutions
which, by the way, were unsigned, were
read by the clerk:
Resolved, That the corporation counsel
be instructed and the senator and repre-
sentatives be requested to oppose all char
tiers and amendments to charters of all
street railway companies unless provisions
are inserted in the charters of said compa
MES requiring the approval Of the court of
common council of New Haven:
First-As to the streets through which
such roads shall pass in the city of New
Haven.
and curves and the form and weight of the
rails.
Third-As to the motive power to be
used.
Fourth-As to the time of running cars
Fifth-As to the fares to be charged.
Sixth-Requiring the property Of such
roads located within the city limits to be
taxed the same as other property located
in the city.
Before any action waz taken on the
above resolution Alderman Gallagher pre-
sented the following, which was unani-
mously adopted:
Voted, That all the petitions and reso-
1utions concerning street railways be re-
bridges, and that said committee ba and it
is hereby authorized and instructed to al
ford duly advertised public hearings on
said petitions and resolution.
Voted, That the corporation counsel be
and is hereby instructed to report this
action to the general assembly (through it's
proper committee) and to request a post
ponement Of every action by said general
assembly until this body has had oppor-
tuntty to investigate the subject matter of
said petitions and resolutions and deter
mine upon a course of action concerning
the same.
TO PREVENT FURTHER DEFALCATIoNs.
After the settlement of the previous i'm
portant matter Alderman Hitler arose and
introduced resolution calling for the
auditing Of the accounts of the city off
oials. Alderman Gallagher also introduced
q resolution of similar intent. Finally the
two aldermen put their heads together and
evolved the following order:
SlOOASA, Aho1 q bPcSAc1 Oo1li44AssO0 SSAA-
sisting of the mayor, two aldermen and
three oouncilmen be and is hereby ap-
pointed to inquire into the alleged defalca-
tons, alterations of figures aud embezzle-
ment of moneys In the department of
the board of public works and to
report at as early date as is
practicable the facts in the case,
to the court of common council, and the
eaid committee is hereby authorized and
instructed to audit, or at the city's ex-
penss to cause to be audited, and to in
and employees for the year 1899, and as to
the manner of receiving, collecting and
Disturbing the city money in the different
city departments, and the said committee
| is requested, if possible, to submit in their
report to the court of common council suoh
| proposed plan, ordinance or amendment
| to the city charter as In their judgment
will hereafter best protect the interests of
| the city of New Haven from future care
| lessness or dishonesty on the part of any
public oficial.
Alderman Gallagher in support of his
| motion stated substantially that this reso-
luton was offered not for the purpose of
| bringing criminal action against any one,
nor did he believe that any defalcation ex-
| listed in the accounts of any of the city
officials. He did, however, favor an audit
| ing of the accounts and ali improvement in
! the present system of bookkeeping, if any
| better system could be devised, and he
was of the opinion that one could
BE- "In 1888" said he, "when I was a
member of the court of common council,
Henry B. Sargent and myself were appoint
ed members of the auditing committee of
the court of common council; and that year
thu accounts of the auditor were con-
scientiously audited. Since that time l
| understand the books have not been. There
| ia no question but that in some of the de-
partments of the city the system of book
keeping is decidedly bad. Take for ex-
ample the system in vogue in the city
court. There is no more honest man in
| the world than the present clerk of that
| court, James Bishop, and yet in that court
there is no proper way of keeping the
books, and money could be received
and paid out, while never could
an exact audit of the books be
be made. There is chance here for defal-
cations and DEFICIENCIES to occur, but there
never will be any while James Bishop is
clerk of the court. It is time now to make
Improvements. can stand being mis-
quoted by the newspapers, but I cannot
stand being made fun of. When the
JOURNAL AND COURIER and other news
papers of the city make fun of you, Mr..
Mayor, myself and the other members of
the city government because of the fact
that no action has been taken in the mat
ter it is something I cannot stand.
This resolution may not be the best way
to improve the bookkeeping, but it is pos
sible that some improvement may result. I
do not believe We shall find anything
wrong in any of the accounts, nor Is this
auditing to be made for the purpose Of
bringing any prosecution.
know that City Auditor Lake sudits
the accounts and I also know that he has
audited the books more often than he Ia
required to do by the charter, but as he is
not the custodian of the books he audits
there is ample opportunity, as in the Wald-
ron case, of altering the books after they
have been audited. The present system Of
paying the city laborers is q perpetual
temptation to the officials handling the
city's money. The introduction of this
resolution Is not meant to be an insinua-
ton against any official, but simply to find
out exactly how the books of the city of
New Haven are being kept and devise some
better system If possible.
Alderman Mcdonald as an amendment
moved that the work of auditing cover a
period of five years, from December 81,
1887, to December 81, 1892. The amend
ment was seconded by Alderman Lowe
but failed of passage by vote of to 8.
The original motion was then voted on and
passed by an aye and nay vote of 10 to 1,
Alderman Foley being the only member to
vote in the negative.
Before the motion had passed Alderman
Gallagher stated that his idea in limiting
the time to the one year 1892 was simply
in order to ascertain how the books were
being run and, as it were, obtain "bird's
eye" view of the account of the city. After
this had been done he did not know but
what he would favor an auditing of the &C.
counts for five years as strenuously as Al
derman Mcdonald.
The designations of Alderman Gilhuly of
police commissioner, and Alderman Kelly
of the Seventh ward, who is soon, it ia eaid,
to accept q position in the board of public
works, were accepted.
A communication from Corporation
Counsel Driscon asking what steps the
court of common council desired him to
take in reference to the bill raising the sal
aries of several officials of the city court
of this city, now pending in the general
assembly, was referred to the committee on
ordinances.
Closed Last Night.
The fair of the St. Patrick's T. A. B. 60
oiety closed last evening. A very large
number were in attendance, and the can
vassers did great work in the winding up.
n. A.