The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-07-14
THE PAY FOR CITY I.ABoRERs.


! fcit in half on one days consideration.
At this rate perhaps il will take it
about a week. to wipe out the deficit
altogether. On Friday morning it stat
! ed the deficit of the city at $20S,
! 1888; yesterday morning it stated
that the deficit IN the contingent. or
| operating fund, will be over 100000
after all the taxes arc in.' But as the
contingent or operating fund is the
only one that is properly to be consjd-
cred in this matter the other funds all
! being provided for specially and by
separate sources, the Herald is in the
! fog again. 1t was not surprising to us
TO SEQ it fall into the foolish error Of
reckoning the city's "defcit" at up.
wards of 100000. II arrived at that
result by simply doubling the first half
years expenditures with all the ex-
traordinary costs they had to meeti
first of all in covering the 100000 over
draft at the beginning of the year, the
upwards Of $1,000 Judgment damage
sums awarded by the court for previ
Gus administrations, and $4,000 inter
est taken from this contingent fund.
We predicted that the Herald would
fall into this blunder, this trap of its
own making, which it promptly did,
but it evidently saw it's error yester.
day when it reconsidered its figures.
The Herald in its absurd lccturinC
recitcs the fact that it is eighteen
months since the "Americans took
office, and announces that "they have
had ample time to make their expenses
fit their revenue That is quite true.
That is precisely what they have done.
There will be no more overdraft at the
end Of the present year than there was
of Morris belated accounts shouldered
over into the American administration
for payment. But the Herald says that
these Morris dehnquencies do not ex-
cuse the present administration, But
they certainly do not accuse it; for
there is nothing in them for which this
administration is in any way response
bic. 1t is not a matter of accusing or
eXcusing. 1T is simply n matter OF
fact. Those accounts were turned over
They made the overdraft which was
necessary at the end Of the year i'll
accounting for the years revenue and
expenditures; they carry into the ad.
verse balance the amount which they
involved. That is ali there is TO il.
The money was necessarily taken to
meet those delinquent accounts, When
it was so taken il created the overdraft
stated. That overdraft remains, and
will probably remain, for the most
part, at the end of the present year.
Ii is idle TO deny that that is what
caused the overdraft. The truth Js,
and the figures have been fully shown
from time to time; the figures persist
today precisely as they existed before.
No attempt 10 squirm out from under
them will be Of any avail
The Herald claims that 1t printed the
figures embracing the other funds than
the contingent fund. as received from
the auditor, as matters OF news, and
claims that The Tribune ought to have
done the same. AS a matter of fact,
the Herald did not print them as mat
ter Of news; there is no news in them,
1t printed them simply because ii
thought that by SO doing it could make
a point, and very serious one, against
the American party. The Tribune
printed all Of them that afforded any
public information, and gave the facts
and computations appropriate thereto.
The other funds than the contingent
fund, as we have stated, have no bear
ing in this discussion, because they arc
treated separately in all respects, and
are kept entirely separate from the
general account of the city which is
carried under the head OF contingent
fund. The whole matter appears at
the present time to resolve itself into
this: That the American party re-
ceived from the Morris dministratiou
a legacy Of about sS5,000 of debts to
pay. AS these belonged in the previous
year and ought 10 have been paid in
that year, they necessarily made an
overdraft which has never yet been
provided for The American party last
year came out practically even, exclud-
ing this overdraft inherited from Nor
ris 1t will do the same the present
year. That is to say, the American
party is making its expenses fit the
revenue, precisely as the Herald claims
| it ought to do and that anybody would
claim that any administration ought to
do. 1t is mere commonplace.
! We Will state further that the Herald
! in making its bad blunders made them
! for itself alone, making an erroneous
use of official figures supplied TO it by
the auditors office, The News, we
| may state in this same connection, has
never applied TO the auditors Office
for any figures whatever; its figures be-
ing obtained in a random way, having
no source of authority and being Who'll.
ly erroneous throughout
The outcry of the Herald for econ