The Sentinel=record., 1913-11-08
|NO SHORTAGE BY
 MAYOR WATERS
DISCREPANCIES IN ACCOUNTS ARE EXPLAINED BEFORE
 THE CITY COUNCIL.
Mayor Had Paid Out Some Sums in Salaries in Excess of What Had Been shown in City Audit.

That Mayor Waters was not short one penny when he left the city re- sponsibility, was an open acknowl- cdgement of the city council last night, after the former mayor had brought the matter before the city council and made such explanations of alleged discrepancies as seemed to indicate that if there was variation in his final settlement it must have been ill favor of Mir Waters.
 It was after bill had been present. ed to the city the sum of $200 for the city's part in decorating the streets during the state fair that Mir. Waters addressed the council. He prefaced his remarks with hearty thanks on the part of the Arkansas State Fair Association, of which he is president, for the citys aid in the matter.
 And l believe that the people, as represented in this council" added Mir. Waters, will be interested to know how the state faid come out. We were about $2,500 short of our ex- penses, and that seems a good show ing when the weather is considered. It was a good state fair, and big show, and the people approved it, and that is worth whole lot If the weather had not been bad we would have come out even or made some money. One good big day might have made the difference for us"
 Mir Waters then stated that his ob- ject in coming had been to talk to the council about the shortage in his ad- ministration of something like $200 as shown by the city audit Mir Bulh- anan had mode. He said that MT Buttefield was clerk and Mrs Butte field was his office assistant. and that the mayor did not handle ei.h- CT money or scrip. He merely sign ed lis name. The administration Lad been clean and honest
 He then explained that in some in- stances he had paid the city employ , es larger sums than had been sum- marized in the audit, but not in eX- cess of their legal salaries. For in stance. there were city employees who might be getting $100 per month n : scrip, or in lieu of that $75 in cash. Sometimes such an employe would |. have long hours of overtime. or per form some extra work, and the pay would be in cash the whole sum of the salary, as q reward for such ser vice, which had not been taken into account in the general summary. He also explained that the audit , showed that he had only paid $25l interest for money borrowed for the city, while he knew of having bor- rowed during his term more than $20,000 to tide the city over, and he knew that he must have paid more than s600 in interest to receive that money making another error in his favor of several hundred do lars.
 T know the administration was 5 honest said Mir Waters "I know that cvory dollar of the city money is accounted for While there may : Gc some things can not remember yet on the whole the city has re- ceiyed a square deal from all the em- ploycs during my administration. l believe a strict accounting would show that was over instead of short, but even under those condi ! tiCns the money would not be any the more mine, for it was the dtys money, all of it. squarely handled even if there are discrepancies in the records either way
 Mir Butterfield stated it was his be- lief that all the city money was prop erly accounted for, and that he had gene over the matter with Mir. Buch- anand and had convinced him that there was no shortage.
 T say here that l don't believe there is dollar short in the Waters administration said Alderman Rigs bee Tt was a fair and sQua
 ministration."
 Alderman Petit said that if the ac cunt showed that the city had not paid but $251 interest at the bank for borrowing $30000 there must 5e where the error was, and that 1t was more than accounted for in that single item.
 Alderman Ellis stated that he did not believe there was man in the room nor citizen. but who believed the Waters administration had been honest, and he thought the whole matter should be dropped
 Mayor McClendon stated that le had not believed or charged the for mer administration with corruption, but had merely wanted the city ac- counts to be balanced, and that it was not done to attempt to prove that MT. Waters was short in his accounts.
 ------- 0 O---~ .i The U. D. C. will meet this aft sr. = noon at o'clock with Mrs Meta N Mallory on West Grand avenue.