The Detroit times., 1911-03-01

ut.ter, me tlt1 81 Detto.es 49,
dld In 1891 enter Into the arst o. a series
OF agreements with the railroads enter
ing this city, rfoviding for the separa
ION OF grades. which agreements nav.
been renewed on several occasions vi
| 10 the time OF present writing. and
I = Wnereaz. The fundamental consldera-
ton Ina each and every one OF hes
company OF companies was obligated
| there-under 10 pay the entire cost or con-
struction. including retaining walls, eS,
| cavating and paving. and the city = enl
4 OF the expense was the assumption oy
II OF the payment 10 the abutting prop
| erty owners the damages which the stat
| ute provided. which agreements nav
been satisfactory 10 both the rauroaos
and the City OF Detroit. and
4 Whereas, The street railway company
was made party TO the contract aho
was required 10 pay that portion OF tne
burden OF construction pertaining 10 its
own property Cracks. overhead EQUIP.
ment and drainage), which. up 10 thls
timeoso far as the clty's representatives
know. has been willingly borne by the
, street railway company. and under which
plan Detroit has made substantial prog
ress In the matter OF separating IT'S
grades: that there has been no serious
contention that anyone who claimed TO
suffer as consequence was not ade-
Quately reimbursed; that In many IN
stances In place OF the separation being
a detriment. II has actually materially
enhanced the value OF surrounding prop
erty, and
whereas. The grade separation law as
IL stood In 1898 required the city 10 ffle
it's petition In the Recorders Court be-
fore the actual work OF separation was
started which became a physical i'm
possibility, and which. upon appeal TO
the Legislature In 1903. was amended In
ing ascertained until after the work was
finished. and
Whereas. II is apparent that by rea-
son OF the fact that the present Act has
six different occasions. that many OF
those who are familiar with the court :
decision realize that they are unable to
collect damages against the City OF De-
hereafter be instituted, have taken II
upon themselves TO have the law Sc
amended as to permit the recovery Of
damages TO any property. including that
OF street railway companies. which Will
materially increase the cost to- the City
OF Detroit OF separating it's grades, I'm
that Il will burden the tax payers with
additional damages aggregatfng many
hundreds OF thousands OF dollars I'm ad-
dition TO the damages which they win be
Whereas, The passage Of this Act rs
contemplated. will mean the expenditure
or millions OF dollars by all the munich
pahties In the state. who contemplate
separation OF grades in their respective
cities. therefore. be IL
Resolved, That Il Is the sense OF the
Common Council OF the City OF Detroit
fore whom said Bill II now pending, be
requested In behalf Of the people OF the
City Of Detroit and State OF Michigan
to reject said Bill In it's entirety. and
allow the cities or Michigan to proceed
with the separation OF grades under the
existing acts. which have been held valid
by the Supreme Court, and be IL further
Resolved. That the City Clerk be. and
he is hereby directed to transmit copy
hereof to each or the Representatives
from Wayne County and also a copy &c
Adopted as follows
Ellis, Field. Carney. Gilman. Grindley'
Hindle, Keusch. Koenig Knapp. Little
held. Lodge. Lynch, McCarty, Merritt.
GBrien. ostrowski. owen. Schultz.
Vernon. Walsh. Watson and the Presi-
dent.-2s
Nays--None.
FROM THE SAME.
To the He norable the Common Council:
Gentlemen herewith return, with
out my approval. that portion Of the
proceedings OF your Honorable Body
authorizing the Detroit Legal News to
publish in it's daily issue for three
consecutive days. the recently enact
Code. Common Council Journal. Fol.
201.)
The new Building Code Is attract
ing general attention. and copies are
and viii be In demand by interested
parties. The Board of Building Com
missioners has forseen this demand.
and has provided for an ample supply
OF the code. II Is TO this bureau. and
ed will naturally turn for Information.
The Detroit Legal News, at the be-
hest OF your Honorable Body. publishes
from time to time certain portions or
the ofiicial proceedings under terms OF
contract; but 1 am informed by an
attache of the Legal Department that
such insertion Is not compulsory. Publ
cations like the Legal News are essen
TALLY looked upon by the legal profess
sion as a source OF Information on
court items. Supreme Court decisions.
and mn,s similar data. information on
direct and easily-available sources.
"A very conservative estimate places
the expense of the proposed publica-
ton of the Code in the Legal News
at about ss5o.oo. 1t would. in all
probability. be greater. This In not
such very large sum. but I fail to
see any real reasons for its expendi-
ture. and. therefore. feel II incumbent
upon me to veto Its appropriation.
wM 3. THOMPSON.
Mayor.
February ,2sth. 1911.
On motion the vote by which the
resolution was adopted was reconsid-
cred without objection.
The resolution was then referred to
the Committee on Ways and Means
From the Controller.
To the Honorable, the Common Council:
Gentlemen--I herewith submit pursuant
to Section 1, Chapter 8. OF the Charter
the estimates submitted by the various
departments OF the City for the fiscal
year beginning July 1. 1911.
Tho amount OF these estimates totals
s14.o5S, 10i.o4. by far the largest sum
dollars In excess OF the record breaking
requests of last year.
These figures require no comment The
task before your Honorable Body II self
evident IL Is up to you whether the
high tax rate OF last year IL TO be re-
needs OF the City. literally supplied.
make such n rate necessary. whatever
disposition IL to be made with this bud
get, there IL one point on which all must
agree, namely. that the bonding limit
must be at once increased unless the
growth OF the City II to be strangled
All permanent improvements OF any mag
nitude should. for some time TO come
be paid for by. bonds. Your Honorable
Body has gone on record to this effect
several times In recent years. and not 60
put this resolution into effect would be
under present conditions, an Imposition
on the taxpayers. The bonded debt OF the
city Is relatively small. II should be al
once Increased To provide necessaries OF
permanent nature. IL should be care
fully guarded. however. from ephemeraI
schemes or wanton extravaganza
The procedure OF other cities. similar
to Detroit In sine. location and standards
fa yaIua bla I'm adjusting aa la riaa oy,a H.