The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-10-18

Mayor Thomas H. Carr of Montgom- lery last night transmitted to the City Council his annual message, which was accompanied by reports from the chiefs |of the various departments of the city government. The message is dated October IS, the day on which Mayor Carr's first year in ofiace ended. It was as follows: 'Ofice of the Mayor, Montgomery, Ala, Oct. 15. 1904. To the City Council of Montgomery: Gentlemen-During the. fiscal year iso3-o4 our favored city has passed through one of the most prosperous years of her history. This condition applies not only to our business inter- ests. but to the finances of the muni- |cipal government. The increased amount of taxes collected from all sources and the fact of same having been paid with less delay and friction than usual cannot be construed other wise than In renectng the general prosperous conditions prevailing throughout the city. In noting the in- creased receipts. of the treasury, only refer to the amount of taxes collected from the, old territory of the city, as the collection of taxes in the new ter ritory did not begin during the fiscal year. and the licenses from that ter- ritory being small compared to the greatly increased expenses incurred.
 That Montgomery is going forward with vigor and is more than maintain ing her position among our Southern cities is clearly evident by reason of the large amount of valuable improve ments that are constantly being made in all sections of the city. During the past year large number of new bus iness enterprises nave besn established in our city, and several manufacturing industries secured. giving remunera- tive employment to many men and add ing largely to the upbuilding of the lefty. t~-
 "A considerable number of new homes have been erected for the steadily in- |creasing population, and plans are be- ing made for the erection of many more buildings not only in tho residence sec | . ons, but within the bug mess and man. lufacturing districts. Among others be- ing that of a modern seven or eight
 story hotel. which will occupy the site of the old Exchange. With hotels of this character in our midst: with the marvellous Improvements which have
 been made in our system of street rail- ways, and with thorough and system
 atic advertising of the plentiful amount of pure artesian water. as we'll as the numerous other advantages offered by our city, see no reason why Mont tsomery cannot eventually become one Iof the foremost winter tourist resorts in the South. The more persistent the publication of our superior advantages
 the more certain we are to reap the in-
 evitable results, by the concentration
 here of larger manufacturing establish
 ments and more extensive mercantile houses and agencies. l "Montgomery. in my opinion. is un- tquestionabIy just entering upon a pe- triod of progressiveness which will ex- Iceed anything in her previous history. and which, while adding to the pros perity of the citizens generally. will
 also add-very materially to the revenue
 of the municipality, thus clearing
 way for public Improvements of much
 larger scope without adding to the bur
 den of the taxpayers.
 l Between the administration and the public there has been absolute har- mony and, at the close of the year, I feel that mutual congratulations are
 called for on what has been accomp- llished. As the record made during the
 year 1so3-o4 is a bright one. hope and believe that a continuation will be had lduring the succeeding years.
 "To attempt in this message to emu merate the work performed and the lgeneral Improvements accomplished
 would be only a reiteration of the most thorough reports made by the heads of Ithe departments, and would be entire- lily superhuous on my part. l shall. therefore, content myself by briefly ltouching upon the various subjects un-
 der their proper heading. trusting that
 you will carefully examine and study Ithe several statements which are here annandad shall however. from
 time to time. during the year. in the
 discharge of my duties as Mayor, invite
 your attention specifically to such ques-
 tions as seem to me to demand your inn mediate attention.
 l General Finances.
 Under and by authority of an act of
 the Legislature of Alabama. the City Council. immediately after the close of Mitigation regarding the annexation of lterritory, directed the sale of $3S0.0O0 I4 1-2 per cent. bonds, for the purpose of lproviding funds with which to secure the Iconstruction and equipment of school buildings, and the extension of water land sanitary sewer mains throughout Ithe territory added to the city. These bonds were readily sold at a premium of S5.356, which Is strong proof of the high character of our city in the money centres of the country.
 Tt seems a self-evident proposition l that if we were to do anything during Ithe year toward meeting requirements lcalled for by the existing conditions In lour suburban sections, out of the cur rent revenue for the fiscal year, we lcould not hope to make any progress
 without increasing the def1ctt which lextsted in the treasury at the begin lnInR of the year. It is source of Imtich congratulation to you, however, Ithat notwithstanding the unusual de- lmands which have been made upon all ldenartments of the city's government, line expenditures are shown to be only IS1sO55.s6 more than the income as against S1O,622.34 at the same time last lyear. This amount includes to a large lextent the obligation created by an- lnexed territory as heretofore noted.
 .The income of the city from all sources (not including balance from last year) carried to the credit or the
 general fund. was $317,51s,6l.
 | "Included in the above from eXtraor- dinary sources Is the following:
 ''Insurance collected on Her
 ron Street school .-....... .N4'ZfO'S1
 'Insurance collected on Elmer
 Rency Hospital 2'OSl'SS
 expenditures during year
 l waH.... .. '''""""'V'c.t'
 Including extraordinary expendi- lures as follows;
 | storm water sewer on Cleve-
 1 land Avenue ''S 4'eoo'VV I storm water sewer on Goode l Street V''"V'VV | .ztorr4 vvater sewer on North