The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-07-31
Wells Calls II "Bosh."
Fernstrom Submits His Report.

lowing minority report from the finance
committee:
we the minority of the committee on
finance beg leave to report the following
facts concerning the attempt OF the ma
jOrity of the finance committee TO bring
in a communication by j. William Ed
mundS, accountant, purporting to be d
report prepared in compliance with a res
olution introduced on May IL last by
Councilman NJ. e. Mulvey, wherein the
finance committee was authorized TO
spend $1,000 in the employment of some
one to examine into the account of the
bond fund
The finance committee was called to-
gether once 10 discuss the matter, and
for the work contemplated. Such men as
Messrs. Godbe, Bateman, Edgar Howe,
RaybOuld and several others were men,
toned The committee decided that the
chairman thereof should communicate
with the aforementioned gentlemen to
ascertain if any of them could be secured
for this purpose. and what they would
charge, and then report to the committee
for further action. Although Mr.. Ed
munds' name was not mentioned as an
expert at the time, at least not by the
committee. for that reason he could never
have been engaged by the finance COM
mittee.
Last Thursday he appeared before the
committee and read a document which in
every line shows that il was prepared
for nothing else than political purposes
and as such should not be filed or accept
ed as a statement coming from or author
lied by the finance committee The city
should not be called upon to pay out
money for labor performed for no other
purpose than TO mislead the public.
Takes Up Statements.
ITO show TO the members of the city
council why the city should not be re-
sponsible for a work unauthorized and
utterly unreliable and of no value TO the
city whatever, it may be necessary TO
call attention 10 a few of the statements
contained in the aforementioned docu-
ment
THE gentleman leads out with the crit
icism that the city will not receive all ac-
crued interest on the bond money which
it is entitled to- That statement is not
true. 1t only shows that the author lacks
common sense and is by no means an ex-
pert at business transactions. According
to his calculation the trust company
should have paid the interest on the bond
money 10 the very minute that the money
was received in the treasurer's office at
Salt Lake City. The fact is that the
money was drawn by the city in New
York and the discrepancy. as he calls it,
is the time required TO make the trans
fer
The next is his attempt to criticise
the engineering department. There
among other great discoveries he has
made, is the statement that SPILLS ought
TO be transferred from the contingent
fund and credited u the bond fund, as
the money properly should have been paid
out of the contingent fund. His excuse
for making this great and important rec
ommendation is that. when the work
contemplating the increase of our water
supply was commenced ii was necessary
TO buy equipment for the engineering de-
partment 10 carry on the increased work
in the department And because there
might be a possibility that the instru-
inents so bought for that purpose might
not be entirely worn out or destroyed
before the work is completed. therefore
his opinion is that it should be charged
against the contingent fund which is now
already depleted: and he entirely forgot,
or did not know. that there always will
he water problems and that the engineer
ing department wiz always be engaged in
SOME kind of work in behalf of the water
system of our city. and as such the in
struments can always be used by that de-
partment: and il only shows that the
gentleman was entirely unfit to sit as
judge of the engineering department.
Gall and Stupidity.
And TO further demonstrate this. we
wish to call your attention to the SUBJ
lime and stupendous gall and stupidity of
the gentlemans statement wherein he
claims that the engineering work to Sc