Arizona republican., 1911-08-17

at cost pluS d reasonable per cent or profit. They recommended that we ac- cept the bid, and after looking it over carefully, and recognizing the neces- sity of beginning the work immediately before the paving contractor got so far ahead of us that we could not go ahead without tearing up pavement and curbs to lay the conduits, we accepted the bid and awarded the contract. That is all there is about it.
 q am satisfied that the city will have the standards put in by the New State Electric company for an amount fully as reasonable as we could expect to expend if we had the work done by any competitive concern. Since a certain amount of criticism has been directed at us or the action we took in the matter I have reviewed the con tract carefully, and I still believe that there is not a single clause in it that could be changed to give the city a greater leverage on the contractor, or to give more positive assurance that the work will be done at a minimum expense, than we already have"
 The question of the legality of the council borrowing the s10,000, due on the first payment, from the water de- partment fund, was raised yesterday, and reference was made to Section of Article 19 of the charter of 1885, the following quotation being introduced:,
 If the council shall deem it ad-
 visable to make improvements, the
 cost of which, added to other e.
 penditures, shall exceed the annual
 revenue, they shall submit the
 proposition to the legal voters of
 the city by publishing the same for
 thirty days in some newspaper pub
 Iished within the city; and if sixty
 per cent of the votes boiled shall
 be in favor of such proposition,
 the improvements may be made,
 provision first having been made
 for the payment thereof"
 Another section of the city charter of 1885, which also has bearing on the question, was not cited by the writer in the afternoon paper. Article 19, Section 10, says under the head of Bonds and Indebtedness:
 "The common council shall not
 create any indebtedness or incur
 any liabilities greater in any one
 year than the revenues derived un-
 der the provisions of this Act in
 such year."
 The present fiscal year of the city of Phoenix commenced on July 1, 1911, and will close on June 30, 1912. The statement concerning the illegality of the council borrowing the money from the fund of, the water department Is based on the assumption that the oth- CT current expenses of the city for the fiscal year, added to the s10,00) which the council agrees to advance the New State Electric company. will make a total sum in excess of the annual rev. enues.
 T. J. Prescott, the city attorney, stat ed last night that the budget of ex- pense for the present fiscal year has not been made up. There is conse- quently no ground for believing that the city will be unable to meet the cost of the new lighting system from the regular yearly revenue, and although such a suspicion is entertained in a quarter from which approval has never been known to emanate for any pro- ject, contract, or enterprise, whether beneficial to the city or not, in which the Pacific Gas and Electric company has had a part, there is no ground at this time for an appeal to Section 2 of Article 19 of the charter of 1885.
 The council expects to meet the ex- pense of installing the lights from the annual revenues, and the city attorney said positively last night that the $10,- 900 borrowed from the water depart ment fund would be returned from the general fund within sixty days. Suf- ficient money to put the work under way is not at present available in the city treasury, and the council decided to borrow the money from the water department for the purpose of doing away with the delay which would oth- erwise be necessary, and not because there is any doubt that the city will be able to discharge the debt from the annual revenue before the end of the fiscal year.
 It is the opinion of the members of the council, and of the citizens who followed the argument of the article published yesterday afternoon, that the writer was guilty of making two un- pardonable blunders. One was that the lights are to cost the city s20,000, and the other was that the annual revenue will not be sufficient to defray the cost of putting in the standards, even un- der the provisions of such a favorable contract as has been secured by the council. Whether the lights are to cost s20, 900 or not cannot be known until the contract is completed, and the to- tals made up. Whether the annual revenue will be sufficient to defray the cost of installing the lights can not be known by anyone until the an- nual budget is made up.
 Never before in the history of Phoe- nix has city council been confronted by such difficult problems as have come before the present council for so- lution. The streets are being paved. Construction work on a new sewer system will soon be begun. Phoenix is about take the lead among all the cities of the southwest because of the energetic policies of its city coun- cil, and the progressive spirit of it's citizens. A growing appreciation of the servces of Mayor Christy and each one