The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-05-09
is THERE TOO MUCH LAW?
The Peculiar Situation Which Confronts
the City Fathers.

At recent meetings of the city govern
ment there has been considerable as
cussion of a state of affairs growing out
of that law which prohibits members Oh
the city government being Interested IN
contracts made in behalf or bne Guy.
The committee on accounts has refused
to approve a lot of bills on the ground
that they appeared to have been contracted
in violation of the law menUloneo anu
at the last meeting of the City Council
an order was passed directing the COM
,nittee to audit the bills. The law which
has given rise to this situation is en-
bodied in the City Ordinances in the
following form:
ssNo member of the city council, no
subordinate city officer and no member
of any board charged with the e4pendi-
ture of any money appropriated by the
CITY council, shall be interested, directly
or indirectly, in any contract entered in
to by or in behalf of the city of Portland,
and all contracts made in violation hereof
are void.
1.-The city treasurer is hereby expressly
forbidden to pay any money out of the
city treasury on account of any such con-
tract made after the approval of this or
Ginance.'
Now the operation of the law as it has
been construed by the committee on &C
counts, is to prevent the payment of bills
for articles purchased of concerns, any
of the members of which are connected
with the city government or are men,
bers of boards charged with the expend1-
ture of money appropriated by the city
council In this way when the committee
found bill against the city from the
firm of AIiliiken, Cousens 81 Short, they
hung it up, on the ground that MIR. Cous-
ems was member of the board or trus-
tees of Evergreen cemetery. he bill was
tor towels and other dry goods, largely
bought for the almshouse, SO it was evil
IDENTIFY not contracted tor the cemetery,
which, presumably, does not need many
towels. 1t was regarded as very likely
that Mr.. Cousens knew nothing about
the matter, but the strict construction
which the committee put ON the law re-
suited in the pigeon holing of the bill for
further consideration, and there it lay
Saturday. One of the most amusing of
the cases which have come under the ban
is that of Assistant Engineer Long of the
Fire department.. 1t happened some
time ago that the overseers of the poor
wanted to buy refrigerator and they
found secondhand one which they
could buy Tor Sl5, and thus they figured
that they would save considerable money.
They reckoned better than they knew,
for up-to-date the refrigerator has not
cost the city cent. Mr.. Long is in the
furniture business and it was through
MIN that the Overseers heard of the re-
fr1gerator. Mr.. Long as a matter Of con-
yenience, bought the Refrigerator and paid
for it, then charging the city just what
the refrigerator had cost him. The owner
oil the article was paid for 1T, the city got
it, and then MIR. Longs bill got caught
and he hasn't been paid. Another one of
the bills which was hung up was one of
the firm of j. j. Gerrish q Co., for sup.
plies bought for the fire department. 1t
Is stated that these articles could not
have been bought of any other Portland
aouse. They We're purchased by the fire
department. officials without any solicita-
lion from the firm. but the bill was
pigeon -holed on the ground that Mr.. Ger
Fish was another of the trustees of Ever
green cemetery. Those who do not believe
THAT the committee on accounts had the
power to hold up the bills after they had
been approved by the committees by
which they had been contracted, say that
the law makes 1t the duty of the city
treasurer to refuse payment of bills in
violation of its provisions and that the
duty OF the committee of accounts is
only to audit the bills. If the commit
tee carries out the order the bills will
then go to the treasurer for his consid-
Bration.