Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1900-05-14
CITY: WARRANTS.
Mayor Jersey Explains His Own and
the City Clerks Duties Thereto,
and Counsels Harmony.

NY ny uuc mayor vi Ullc NldICu udCCIl
of city warrants, the city clerk i'm
proved the moment to give The TEL
EGRAM his version of some Of the res
pective duties of mayor and clerk rel
ative thereto. AS regards his expla-
nation, essentially erroneous, with the
signing of another batch / improve
the opportunity to give a different
version.
TO sustain his position the city
clerk quotes from the city charter a
portion of Sec. 10, as follows: Gle
the city clerk-shall have exclusive
charge and custody of the records and
papers of the city, which shall not be
taken out or away from his office, un-
less upon the order or process of a
court of competent Jurisdiction"
This is evidently quoted by the city
clerk for the exclusive purpose of con-
veying the impression to the public
that the city warrants from first to
last officially, are his exclusive prop
erty; that they must be born, reared
and kept in his office; that only in his
office, unless by due process of law,
can the mayor see them before signed,
and only thus sign them.
No error, however, could be greater,
and this error without doubt arose
from a misapprehension of the words,
"rccords and papers. These words,
as used in the charter, do not include
papers which are not on file and are of
no value; and city warrants before
signed by the mayor, are not on file,
are incomplete and valueless, worthat
most only the paper on which they
are written. Officially to guard them
with locked doors to be opened only
by court Of competent jurisdiction,
would seem simply ridiculous. Quite
as ridiculous, too, is it that others
should be allowed the right, as they
were, to take such warrants from the
office, while the mayor should be de-
MED that right.
The truth of the matter, therefore,
seems to he that not until the city
warrants are signed by the mayor
and placed on file in the city clerks
office are they included in the words
"records and papers," as used in the
city charter. They then do repre-
sent their full value in money, are
the city clerks authority for paying
out that money, and henceforth be-
come his vouchers. Then, and not
until then, is there good reason why
he should keep them In his Office, I'M
less taken therefrom by legal process.
AS matter of fact indeed, the city
warrants, until approved by the board
of aldermen, signed by the mayor,
and placed on file in the city clerks
office, are supposed to be the mayors
exclusive property. He is supposed
to prepare them and to place
them before the board of aldermen for
their approval. The city clerk, being
the clerk of the board of aldermen, is
then to be present to do his
duty in stamping the warrant as ap
proved, and in attesting that approval
by his signature. Then the mayor is
to take the warrants back
to hi S own office, there to sign and de-
liver them to the city clerk. Until
prepared, approved, and signed, there
fore, the warrants are not supposed to
be in the city clerks office at all; much
less in his possession. On tile con-
trary, until this moment the war
rants are supposed to be in the exclu-
sive possession of the mayor.
But custom has been different. The
city clerk has done the work of pre-
pairing the warrants for the approval
of the city council and the mayors
He is paid for this extra
clerical service. 1t is a good arrange
mcnt and has my cordial approval.
would IN no way change the custom,
but it should be understood to be only
I custom, and. in so far as the city
clerk is concerned, only a clerk ser
vice.
Having fallen into the considerable |
error now, | trust, corrected, 1t is
hardly wonder that our city clerk
being thus misled should, in his pub
ished article, have committed ten
other smaller errors. But no matter
they are mostly personal, unimport.
mt and of no public interest. They
'nly show that one so prompt and
aithful in the performance of his
very duty, may yet be, in some other
like the rest of us, not quite
nfallible.
l write this article with no inten-
lonal discourtesy to our accomplished
ity clerk, but only in the interests of
ruth. OF course, we officers of the
ity, who are simply the servants of