Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1894-06-28
MORE SHARP FINANGIERING.


The sum OF Nearly $4,000 Belonging to
tho Hoard of Education Collnred by the
Starving Republicans OF city Council.
Whoever the distinguished parsonage
is who has hold of City Councils finan.
cial matters has again shown himself
gentleman Of marked resource, even If
he be not troubled much upon the moral
distinctions OF meum ct tuum. AS the
whole city understands, the present Re
publican City Council is stretching every
nerve towards tho sole end of closing
the present fiscal year with an apparent
cash balance in bank.
This has got to be done even if scores
Of business men to whom the city owes
money have to wait weeks for their Just
dues. The point, as stated, is that the
Republicans arc determined at any risk
Of scoring a clean financial slate for
their administration OF 1884. And
the present experience Of using money
belonging to others than themselves is the
clever way they are doing it.
But for the $4,000 taken Illegally
from the Street and Sewer Department.
City Council would be tout of sight"
in debt at this moment. AS it is, pretty
nigh half of that sum is gone, and, prac.
tically speaking, the finance committee
of Council has announced that no more
bills shall be paid until next fiscal year
That is one way of squaring accounts.
The newest development in this line
OF whitewashilg as straight deficit as
any group Of city fathers of Whining.
ton have been guilty of, is that OF
holding up" the last monthly appro-
priation of the Board of Education,
which should have been passed week
or ~ days ago. This clever piece of
work eases the Republicans off to the
respectable sum of $0,433.lS, quite a
solid help to any bankrupt party these
times. But that is what the finance
committee has done. This money should
have been in the hands of the Board Of
Education two weeks ago when IL was
asked for in the usual formal manner.
Week and week went by, however,
and nothing was heard by the Board of
Education Of their money. Everyone
Was sure that the Council would have
allowed the money in the last meeting.
But when one of the members of the
board arose in his seat last Monday aud
made formal inquiry as to whether the
DEBATED check had arrived, the reply
was that it had not.
City Council, it seems, has not vet
even moved in the matter The SUP.
position is that they will order
its passage this evening. But that
will allow of only two days to the end
OF the month, that is to say, to the end
OF the fiscal year And he would
indeed be poor Republican finance
manipulation who could not staye off its
being charged up to this years cash ac
count with but two days to handle the
question.
The point which has thus been
cleverly managed to aid depleted
treasury lies in the financial policy.
adopted in former occasion, described
as very tritiing natter OF making
use OF money for one purpose that
clearly and definitely belongs to an.
other. This condemnable policy has en-.
abled City Council to sail along with.
out apparent financial wreckage. The
technical wrong done in the present in.
stance is OF Council retaining funds be-
longing to the Board of Education
which should have been in bank for the
past two weeks TO the credit of Inc
latter body and earning interest for
them and not for City Council.