Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-04-26
DEVELOPMENT ACT
MAY Be WITHOUT EFFECT
Believed That Entire S125,O 600 Sne.
cial Improvement Fund Has
Been Exhausted.
BALANCE OF $4,000 REMAINS
From This Amount Board Must
Meet Pay Rolls Said to BE $4,000
and Sundry Bills Chargcable to
This Account, Consuming Balance.


This Account, Consuming Balance.
Passed by both branches OF the
Council. under suspensions OF the rules.
and signed by the Mayor at once in or.
der to make tho employment funds
Immediately available. the ordinance
setting aside $4,000 with which to hire
again men dropped from the city nav
rolls because of disability due to old
age VIII fail utterly. according TO the
present outlook. to accomplish the pur-
pose for which II was intended
Under the terms of the ordinance tho
$1,000 Is to be taken from the balance
thought 10 be remaining from the soe-
cEtl Improvement appropriation passed
by the Council last December in tho
interest OF the unemployed Accord
ing to the Administrative Boards best
information. the whole $4,000 appro-
priation has been exhausted
POWERS ASKED FOR
STATEMENT OF BALANCE
1t appears that when Alderman Pow
crs. OF Madison Ward was preparing To
Introduce the accomplishment fund or
d!nancc two or three weeks ago he
called at the Offices OF the Admlnistra-
tive Board to find out IL there wers
balance left from the $4,000 special
improvement account. He was in
formed at that time that there was n
money balance Of about $4,000 10 the
credit OF this fund
Upon The assumption that this was
a net balance or, at any rate. n balance
large enough 10 take care of the So
600 transfer which he hoped the Coun
Gil would authorize within the next
two or three weeks. MIR Powers stip-
ulated in the measure that he intro
duced that the $4,000 unemployment
fund shall be established By trans
fer OF that amount from the special
improvement account balance.
The board, II was stated yesterday,
was not Informed by MIR. Powers why
he sought the information about the
special improvement fund balance. Had
he done SO. 1t was said he would have
been told that the $4,000 did not repre-
sent net balance, and that 1t was
subject even AT that time TO outstand-
ing pay roll and other charges amount
ing 20 more than $1,000.
SPECIAL IMPROVEMENT FUND
HAS $4,000 BALANCE
while there Is still a money balance
OF about $500 10 the credit OF tn.
special improvement account" said
Paymaster Charles Z. Shepherd. of the
Administrative Board. yesterday, II
doubt whether anything will be left
when the pay roll balance chargeable
against II are met. and the outstanding
oils chargeable TO this fund arc paid.
out Of this balance there has to be
rrct the pay roll of certain extra forces
employed until last Saturday by the
electric. Cemetery and Park Depart
mcnts. AS we'll as of force employed
In Gintcr Park. i suppose that the
amount that remains to be paid in
pay rolls will reach $4,000. In addi-
ton To this. there are number OF out
standing bills charEeable to the spe-
a
have not prepared a complete statement
OF these bills. / have reason to be-
heve that they Will consume most OF
the balance that Will remain after
the pay rolls are satisfied"
DI;CK WAS NOT AWARE
OF TRANSFER PROVISION
Henry p. Beck, OF the Administrative
Board, said yesteI day that he had been
under the impression until n few days
ago that the unemployment ordinance
passed by the Council provided for a
special $4,000 appropriation instead OF
Il transfer. Had be known that a trans.
Ter was contemplated, he said, he would
have drawn the attention of the patron
of the ordinance TO the fact that the
special Improvement fund was nearly
exhausted.
Tho Administrative Board on Satur-
day dismissed the last remaining men
that were hired last winter under the
sl25.00O appropriation in order to miti-
gate the unemployment crisis. About
forty men were dropped. The men
were discharged. 1t was stated because
there were no more funds at the boards
disposal with which to keep them at
work. At one time more than 500 men
were employed in the several city
departments under the special improve
ment appropriation.
COUNCIL PAINS MAY
PROVE TO he IN VAIN
AS the matter stands now the pains
which the Council took to pass the
emergency ordinance for re- employing
men who have become superannuated
in tho cfty's service will go for naught
a detailed statement of the charges
outstanding against the special i'm
provcment account balance will be
prepared at once. If 1t shows, as the
members Of the board believe, that the
entire balance has been exhausted.
there will be nothing for the Council
to do except make special appropria-
tion to take care of the men whom It
was intended to relieve by the -e-em-
plovmcnt ordinance.
The Street Cleaning Department re-
Gently was compelled to drop from its
pay roll thirteen men who we're no
longer able to perform their duties.
Several of them had been in the city's
employ for periods varying from ten
to fifteen years. The plight in which
these superannuated employees found
themselves inspired Alderman Powers
TO introduce tho ordinance setting aside
$4,000 fund with which TO re-cmploy
all persons who had served the city
continuously for ten years or more. at
wage of $3.50 day. The measure
was designed to take care Of the sit
uation until the permanent provision
for 1t could be made by the establish
ment OF permanent municipal PEN
sion fund.