The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-07-14
THE CHURCH BLUNDERER.

ne DsSereL NEWS, InN CHuECn organ,
continues in its ignorant and malicious
way TO treat Of the city finances. 1t
is noteworthy that tho News has never
at any time applied at the City Audi
tors Office for it's figures. The City
Auditor s Office is the place where these
figures must necessarily be obtained if
they arc correct, because that is the
clearing house of the city. where nil the
accounts are balanced, and the only
place where the full financial account
ings can be had IL the Deseret News
wished TO obtain any correct figures OF
the citv's finances. why did 1T not ap'
ply there to get them?
In It's twist of the city's finances
last night, the News deals with the mat.
ter in its usual dishonest way. When
treating OF the city's revenues 1t con-
fines itself to the contingent fund alone,
although ii does not say so. Still 1T
has been educated, by repeated drnb,
bings, beyond the point whore it was
a week ago; for a week ago it started
its criticism of the financial situation
with the bald, unrescrved, and utterly
false statement: "The city's income
for the year amounts to $l64,444.
And, although in the absence of the Of
fetal figures, which it has never APP
piled to obtain, the News has advanced
beyond the state of mind which would
permit of its putting forth the bald abb
surdity that it did when it announced
the city S income at the total Of $164,-
444, it is still wantonly and willfully
wrong.
And the News is utterly befogged,
as we'll as dishonest, in its treatment of
the city's finances When undertaking
to state the income of the city, it deals
with the contingent fund alone; but
when undertaking to state the obliga-
tions, overdrafts, or any portion of the
expenditure or to make entries on the
debit side of the ledger, 1T sums up the
total of all funds and charges every
thing against the contingent fund.
This. Of course, would in au expert be
trausparently tricky and dishonest; in
the News it is simply the blunderlng
l<nave's ignorance that leads him to
that result.
In stating the probable city's ex-
penditures of the ensuing six months,
the News week ago undertook to give
exact figures and stated precisely what
it considered they would be. 1t does
not allow MS, however, TO make any es-
Inmates Of them; it states now, as the
fact is, and as we said at the time, that
L. ,haI
penditures will be. The News, how
ever, admits now. in spite of It's as
sumed definite fgure-giving of a week
ago, that "such matters cannot be reg
ulated with any precision y beforehand,
accompanying the admission with a
slur. As a matter of fact, however,
they can be closely approHimated by an
intelligent effort, which the News has
so far refused 10 make, or is unable to
make But when the News states fur
tber that cit is high time for the tax
payers to find out something about a
business that concerns them, since they
are expected TO pay for the extrava-
gance, or Incompetence, of their public
servants it simply begs the question
on both points, for, first, it is perfectly
easy for any taxpayer to find out pre-
cisely about how the city stands; all
he has to do is TO 60 to the Auditor s
Office and ask for the figures. The
News further begs the question when it
assumes that the expenses are extrava-
giant or that incompetence governs;
that is precisely what is not the fact
on either count at this time,
II is noteworthy that the News
counts the increase of the overdraft in
the first half of the year as something
to the purpose. But it is not, for the
reason, obscurcd by the News in its
false accounting, that the year S direct
taxes arc wholly collected IL the latter
portion of the year; and these will
make good any deficiency in the first
six months, which went to the increase
Of the first half years overdraft.
The News undertakes to make long
defense on the proposition that the
Morris administration left n load of
debt amounting TO upwards of $4,000,
as heretofore stated, and assumes that
this amount was derived from tine
Mayors message of February, 1907.
This, however, is untrue, The fact was
discovered and published at the expira
tion of four months Of the American
city administration. The whole matter
WAS thrcshed out at that time, in full,
The showing of the four months was
jumped upon BY the opposition press
rs something exceedingly unfavorable
TO the American city administration.
And the false impression created by
that showing has persisted In the minds
of the opposition, without justification,
ever since. At once upon the publica
ton of that four months uufavorable
showing, efforts were set on foot to
find out what caused it, The computa-
tions very speedily developed the fact
that the unfavorahle showing arose
from the fact that something over $50.
900 of delayed and overdue accounts
had bepu rpceive3 from, fhe Morris adj