The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-02-06
RETRENCHAIENT.

The city council has begun the work
of retrenchment in the matter of the
city's expenses in good earnest. fact
that will be hailed with pleasure by
the over burdened taxpayers. Ma
turally enough those generously in
clined will regret that the employees
of the city have their income cut down
by the retrenchment, but government
is not created for the purpose of giving
employment at good wage to anybody,
but for the preservation of peace and
good order; and since the people have
to pay for the service that secures that,
they are entitled to have it at the very
lowest price consistent with efficiency.
The wages of the city's employees
were fixed when times were much bet
ter than they are now, or than they
have been for two years past;
so that the employees may congratulate
themselves that they have escaped
the cut which has come TO most other
people for so long time.
City government and all other gov
eminent must have an elasticity about
the management Of it's affairs that will
operate upon the same common-sense
principles that obtain in the manage
ment of private affairs, Individual or
corporate. That is, when times are
good and money plentiful, the govern
ment may consistently push its works
of public improvement and pay for
service rendered the rates that are paid
by private individuals for similar serv-
ices. Then when periods of depression
come, such as the past three years have
been, let retrenchment be practiced as
sensible individuals practice st; and let
wages of employees be reduced in
something like proportion to the reduc-
ton that comes to employees of other
institutions.
These may be commonplace observa-
tons, but reasonable and commonplace
as the proposition may seem. there
has been an absence of this elasticity
in the management of our city govern
ment in the past, as is manifested by
the boom wages that have been paid
the city's employees so long after the
boom exploded and left us in the midst
of its debris.
The city council has unquestionably
done well so far as it has gone, and it is
to be hoped that the good work will
continue. There is only matter about
which we entertain any doubt and that
is in relation to the heavy cut in the
police force. not in the matter of the
wages Of the patrolmen. but in the
number that ora d;sp,iSsed fro,,, 49,
force. We understand it to be the in
tention of the present city government
to strictly enforce the ordinances of the
city in respect to closing the saloons
on Sunday, abolishing the gambling
dens, and breaking up the houses of
prostitution. If that work is to be
prosecuted with any degree of vigor
and success then we question the wis
dom of reducing the police force from
forty-one to thirty-one. We think the
suggestion of Mr.. Wiscomb should have
prevailed. namely, reduce the police
force five instead of ten. OF all the de-
Partments in the city government the
knife should have been
used most prudently in this, since the
enforcement Of the laws. the security
of life and property are dependent upon
an efficient police force; and to cut
down the force so heavily upon the
very eve of increasing the work to be
done by it is, to say the least, of
doubtful wisdom. However, the work of
the council is to be SO generally praised
that we will not question severely the
of SO largely reducing the raiice
force. as it is matter that can be
corrected if retrenchment in that has
gone too far.