Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1894-02-09
CITY MATTERS.
An Obseryant Citizen Calls Timely
Attention to Affairs as They Are
Now Manipulated.
To the Editor of the New Mexican.

To the Editor of the New Mexican.
Santa Fe, Feb. 8.-Among the proceed
ings of the city council published in yes
terday's edition of your valuable journal
notice with pleasure an inclination
upon the part of some of its members to
decrease the numerical force of the mu-
nicipal police from five to two.
This is move in the right direction,
and manifestly in the interest of econo-
my and good order, and especially SO at
this time when city warrants are depre-
ciated, and the council, in it's wisdom,
has seen fit to instruct tho city marshal
to discharge all prisoners as soon as the
appropriation for the present fiscal year
for their care is exhausted.
Our municipal police system, as at
present organized, is receiving the we'll
merited censure of many reputable citi-
zens, irrespective of party, and judging
from the character and antecedents of
some of its members, and the short terms
for which they are appointed -four
months, I believe) this system was, un-
doubtedly, created to conciliate and care
for disreputable set of heelers who have
been doing, and are now ready to do, the
dirty work of few unprincipled poll
ticians in this city. Men who were
openly known to have perpetrated the
most glazing and shame-faced frauds at
the last general election-and some of
whom now stand indicted for the same
have been in the past year, and are now
serving upon the police force, as reward
for their rascality and crimes, in pre-
venting an honest election, by brutality,
intimidation and fraud.
Apparently, even the mayor, judging
from your report, seems to be ashamed
of the last betch appointed. and evinces
disposition to cast the odium of their
selection upon the police committee, evil
IDENTIFY forgetting the fact that the law
makes it his duty to appoint, subj ect, OF
course, to the approval of the council
Assuredly, it does not become the mayor
of this city to cast the burden of an I'M
pleasant duty upon a police committee
and especially SO, when the law plainly
imposes that duty upon himself, nor does
it become a'police committee to wear the
mantle of an executive and to exercise
the prerogatlves attached to his exalted
Office, and, more especially, when some
of the men just retired from the force
are complaining that they were com
PEELED, upon each pay day, to take thei
$40 warrants to the store of a relative O.
prominent and influential member O
that same committee, on the south side
and submit to shave of 25 per cent, O.
$40 off, from warrant bearing, n,
doubt, - per cent interest. If all tn
| members submit to this shave it mean
| $50 per month, or 5000 per year, flowing
into the Golfers of this committee o
some of it's members, and inasmuch as i
is openly charged that this same inhu
entail member of the police committe
was an equal sharer in the net profits o
the Office held by the predecessor of GU
present efficient Sheriff Cunningham
have we not the right to entertain tn
suspicion that this enormous discoun
upon interest bearing city warrants i
simply the SCOOP or "rake off" intend
ed for the personal perquisite of tn
great political "Warwick" or of tn
committee of which, it is said, he i
chairman.
If the present city council still insist
upon continuance of it's past reign o
extravagance; still insists upon ignoring
economy and prudence in the conduct o
its municipal affairs; and, citizens VIII
are loyal to the welfare of our beautiful
city, irrespective of party, are averse &
interfering, or possess no desire to cor
rect these evils at the proper time, all
can say is, God help Santa Fe, for as
suredly her people have deserted her.
| w. L. L.