Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-12-22

appeal, he thought. from their actions,
FOR II would take away power from the
! people. Mr.. Cohn then attacked the sec
| tion relating TO the appropriation for
| public schools, which prescribes that II
shall not exceed the limits prescribed by
| law. Mr.. Meredith. however explained
| that the city would be able to appro-
pirate $4,000 for schools under this sec
tion, and Mr.. Cohn was forced TO admit
that he was not aware OF the fact. He
went on 20 contend that the tendency Of
! the measure was to reduce the salaries
OF the workingman. and concluded by
saying that the people were far from be-
ing unanimously In favor OF the amend
ment.
Mr.. Rountree moved as n substitute
| for Mr. Caskie's amendment that the
| Finance Board should be elected by the
| City Council The substitute was loss,
| and Mr.. Caskie's amendment was then
| put, and carried by a vote of II 10 3.
| WANT THE PRESENT COMMITTEE.
Mr.. Bloomberg moved to amend sec
| tions / and 2. proposing as d substitute
| lengthy section, which. briefly stated,
named the present members of the FL
| nance Committee -MessTs. Hardwicke,
Allen, Starke, Zimmerman, Wallerstein,
| Cottrell Harrelson. Jones, and Rountree-
| as the first board. He made a strong APP
peal that the present Finance Committee
should be left in control of this new
| board. They were men. he urged, who mad
been elected by the people, and whose ser
vices in connection with the finances OF
| the city had been eminent to degree.
Messrs. Rountree and Harrelson asked 10
be excused from voting on the question.
Mr. Caskie opposed the amendment on
the ground that the object OF the bill was
TO have proper ward representation, ana
under Mr. Bloomberg's proposition Mar
shall and Jackson wards would not De
represented.
Mr.. CARRIER was opposed to any present
member of the Finance Committee being
excused from voting, but the Chalr ue-
cided that the Council had already eN-
| cused them
Mr.. Bloomberg's amendment was lost
by an overwhelming majority.
CHANGE THE FISCAL YEAR.
Mr.. Bloomberg then moved to amend
section ) of the bill. The present, ne
thought. was an excellent opportunity 10
change the fiscal year Of the city. The
city had hitherto been paying interest on
her own money, and each year had been
compelled 70 anticipate expenditures. he
moved to change the date of the begin
ming of the fiscal year from January lst
to April 1st.
Mr. Rountree heartily endorsed TINS
amendment.
Colonel Jones argued that the one great
difficulty attending the city's hnances
was that the income is practically spent
twelve months in advance. The amend
ment he urged, would increase 'he uiiil-
Guilty by three months.
Mr. Rountree then stated, on the
authority of the City Accountant, that
the date of the fiscal year could be
changed at any time by the Council, and
he asked Mr.. Bloomberg 10 withdraw his
amendment and that gentleman COM
piled with the request.
Mr.. Ebel moved to amend section lO,
by striking out the words except that
the pay to members of the Fire Depart
ment shall not be diminished. except by
the Board of Fire Commissioners The
amendment was lost by a vote of to T.
Mr.. Bloomberg moved TO amend section
by adding the following: "But the
hoard NAV change the fiscal year of the
city for it's appropriation when 1t shall
see fit" He offered this amendment, he
explained. after conference with the
City Attorney This amendment was
adopted unanimously.
WE'RE BEING CRITICISED.
Mr.. Wallerstein then took the floor. He
had refrained from taking part in the
he had felt embarrassed. Members OF
the Finance Committee and of the Coun-
ell had a right to feel that they were
being criticised by this measure. There
had been much discussion on all sides he
said. of our municipal affairs, and the
result had been that we had advertised
to the world that the city is in bad
condition. He contended that the pre-
vailing conditions are infinitely more faVo-
rable than they have ever been. Ihe
present Council had been engaged In cor
recting abuses which prevailed for ten
or fifteen years. when the good results
of our work are manifest" he said. you
come and say to us, You don't under-
stand your business You would MAKE
of us an automatom," he continued,
and then he went on to deal with present
and past values of bonds, in
order to show that the value has
been raised under the present admins
tration from 80 to l05. He spoke elo-
ouently of the services of the Finance
Committee. and closed his remarks along
this line by saying, "and after all TINS
you come and tell us that we do not
understand these matters. He deprecated
any idea that he was making political
speech and said he hadn't moved out
of his tracks to get elected last time,
and didn't propose 10 90 at tne ioilH-
coming election. 1t had been argued
that the members OF the Finance COM
mittee being called on TO serve on other
committees might be unduly influenced
I'm their duties in the former capacity
nv a consideration of the needs Of the
department in which they were inte-
rested and he cited the case OF the
Light Committee four members of which
served on the Finance Committee and
had unanimously recommended the reduc-
tion of the appropriation for the Light
Department by $4,000
WAS NOT PRACTICABLE.
Mr. Wallerstein further contended that
the provision that no department should
spend more than n quarter of their ap-
nropriation in three months was i'm
practicable. instancing the Department
Of the Poor The City Attorney had
stated that the bill practically created
third branch of the Council but The
sneaker was of the opinion that, even
as at present constituted, the Council
had one branch too many. He meant no
discourtesy to either branch, he said,
hut he had frequently heard that the
onponents of any measure would not
make their fight in the Council, but would
u,oi, until the measure in which they
we're interested came to the upper
branch where there were only eighteen
members He closed by saying that he
believed that under the provision OF the