The daily morning Alaskan., 1902-08-20
MATTERS BEFORE THE CITY
COUNCIL.

City COUNCIL AZ the present ume tnat snoull
not be passed over lightly. n the first
place there Is the matter Of the publ.t
schools expenses. The school board has
cut out a progr.m that cOntsmplates an
expenditure Of SOS per month, and there
Is 10 the school fund onlv ga % There
Is no dOub, but that the school directors
DO no, Intend tina, the expenditures shall
exceed the revenues; but should The an
tIcipa,ed revenues fail 10 mature, the re-
sponsibllity Of the councll, 10 whom IS
given authority 20 regulate the dIsburse-
msnt Of school money. will be none the
less bec use the school directors had made
a mistake. L will be ImmatsrIal that the
mistake was made In good faith. This
matter was referred h the ways and means
committee by the couneil ant that BODY
should be prepared next Monday nlght to
mike an estimate Of the revenues that can
be reasonably expected to come into the
school funds during the ensuing wear, to-
ge,her with the facts upon which the esti-
mate Is based.
The other matter referred 20, Is the lueS-
ton Of paving the bills contracted In con
ne-tIon with the illness Of a family re-
Gently afflicted with sarls, tsyer. It will
be conceded thit the Circumstances are as
contsntei bv those who favor allowing
the claims, tina, the bills are legitimate
and that the family has endured hardshIps
that san Be NY afforded. Yet there Is little
doubt bu, tina, there is no legal Obligation
ayalns, the eIty, and there seven a great
dolb, whether or not the city courcll has
any legal authority to sxpend the tixpay-
srs money for anv such purpose at all.
However. ., Is the precedent the payment
would set,a0ove al else, 10 which ths.tax,
plyers are interested. Il the eity should
make itself the guardian Of the wslIflrs Of
every we'll deserving MN. woman and
child. who can tfuthfullv tell a hard luck
story. there would not be sufficient money
70 70 around.
This sIty is iust fairly launched on It's
munIcIpl career and the acts Of the pres
snt will be the precsients that will count
flr mu,h In the future. Can the council
afford TO set a prsc-dsn, for plyInE out the
the cltv's money, simply bec1uss It Is for
deserving purpose. Other and older
cities than Skagwav have found tina, the
legal obligations against the city constl.
iu,c a sufficient burden on the taxpayer.
Il vas Grover CleyslInj, as mayor Of
Buffalo, who vetoed an appropriation for
the al, Of Decoration day cslebr 'tlon.
Ne then heidst a subscription for the aid
Of the cslebralion With $50. In doing so,
he said he w-s always ready 10 spend his
own money for a worthy eluse, but he
could not permit the money Of the taxply-
srs to be paid out except to discharge the
legitimate obligations Of the cltv. Mayor
Cleveland showed a proper conception Of
his duty In this p-rtlcull; instance. no
m liter how much he nav have failed az
forwards In other matters.
II the council shall depart from the
straight and nluos path Ia the expendl-
ture Of funds, the question naturally arises,
where Wilt celss' Where can M There
Is In Skagway a hospital owned and main
tainet BY a physician al his personal ex-
pense. In that hospital there are several
patients who are without funds. They
ar. not only receiving medical attention,
but their nursing and their board Is being
paid for by the physlcI-n referred T., and
this thing has been going on for years
here In this city. Or. Brawsnt IS no
doubt bearing burdens out Of proportion to
his obligations to socIetv. Is the council
going to some to his relief Again, manv
people arc kept at the Bishop Rowe hos
pltal a, the expense Of the contributors to
that Institution. VIII the council help
the Bishop Rowe hospI,i2
The Oily Alaskan does not mean to
pass upon the merits Of the case which
brings the question here referred to up for
consideration. We assume tht 1t IS one
worthy Of ala. However. we are con-
WINGED that the council will be wise II it
sonfnss rs attention to those things over
whlch IL has legal jurisdiction.