The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-04-17
ST.. PAUL'S Willy WATCHDOG
OR WHY NEARBY CHANGED
HIS MIND =

Wouldn't Stand for Forty Extra Arc
Lamps, Not He, Because There
Wasn't Sufficient Money In the
Lighting Fund-votes, However,
Were Needed and the Comptroller
Thought 1t Over.
From Dec. / last up to March ], the
members of the council and the board
of public works spent considerable time
discussing and talking about the much
needed increase in the number Of arc
lights for street lighting.
When the tax budget was passed the
number of arc lights was increased
from 120 to ZIG, and provision made for
the expense of the additional ninety
six lights in the lighting fund.
The individual members of the board
of aldermen and assembly saw a chance
for giving themselves a boost" among
their constituents and decided to divide
some forty extra lights in the several
wards.
This plan to make good fellows of
themselves at the expense Of the tax
payers, caused delay in the putting
up and operation of the arc lights or
dered, and up to date but fifteen of the
SAIId lSHlS are III SERVICE.
The councilmen ordered the board of
public works to go ahead with the 10
eating of the forty extra lights in adj
dftion to those provided for in the
budget and parceled them out to suit
themselves. All went right until the
resolution reached Comptroller Nc
Cardy.
When it did that official, as becomes
tie watchdog" of the treasury i'm
mediately notified the board of public
works and the gas company, that he
would not stand for the game.
So worked up was the comptroller
over the scheme that he dictated an
interview with himself for publication,
in which he said he would not pay the
bills for the additional forty lamps, and
gave as his reason for this action that
there would not be sufficient money in
the fund, and provision had only been
made for the ZIG lights. So
Comptroller McCardy, at the time
gave 1T out that he was on to the plan
by which the aldermen and assembly,
men were endeaVOrlng to make a few
votes for themselves at the expense Of
the treasury and taxpayers, and very
pointedly said he would not allow it,
When the news of the position taken
by the comptroller was made public,
there was a good-sized howl from the
aldermen and assemblymen, and all
kinds OF figures were presented to the
board Of public works by the council
men to show that there would be
plenty Of money in the fund with which
to pay for the additional lights.
1t was made plain to the comptrol-
Ter that, If he stood in the way of the
VOte-getting on the electric light
scheme, it would probably be as bad, if
not worse, for his candidacy as it
would be for the aldermen and assem-
blymen.
1t had evidently never occurred to
the Watchdog in this particular
light, and he at once held another con-
ference with the board Of pulic works
and ecided that there might be some
thing in the estimates made by the
councilmen as to the lighting fund.
- Taking one consideration with an
other, and particularly the near APP
proach of the campaign, the comptrol-
Ter decided that he had been a trif1e
hasty in his letter to the gas company
and the board of public works, and
that there would be plenty of money
in the lighting fund to pay for the adj
ditional lights.
By the time this had been decided
upon by the comptroller 1t was within
a few days Of April 1, and since then
the gas company has had force Of
twenty-five men at work putting up.
poles and stringing wires for the new
lights. On the West SIDE, fifteen are
now in service, and Manager Ellison
stated yesterday that the entire 1876
would be in service by May or shortly
after.