Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1916-10-19

Gilman Cook took the floor and wanted
to know what the deputy was good for
as he had never been able to get any
thing done when that officer was de-
tailed to help on the sewers. He moved
to eliminate the item altogether
Deputy is Needed.
Councilman Unruh came to the rescue
of the deputy and stated that the eff.
ticiency of the health officers depart
ment depended greatly on the work
done by the deputy. He said he did
not wish to see the deputy eliminated
because he thought it was due to the
city to have all sanitary precautions
possible. He wanted to know wherein
the deputy was deficient and Council
man Cook replied that for three months
he had been trying to get certain
piece of work done and could not get
the deputy to do it. He admitted on
question of Councilman Unruh that he
did not investigate the work OF the
deputy to see whether he was busy else
where or not.
Councilman Roberts declared the sum
for the whole department was meas
ley one and thought it ought to be
raised He characterized it as ridiculous
for city the size of Salem. He said
the health of the people and the chill
dren was worth more than the streets.
Councilman McClelland added that
Deputy Bryant had responded to all calls
promptly and that he had made intelli-
gent reports. He declared with some
| energy that the criticism of the depart
ment came from people who were antag-
onistic to DR.. Miles, the health officer,
and had been so for years. He said
certain people were throwing as many
obstacles in the way of the department
as possible.
Library Estimate Stands.
Councilman Cook defended himself by
saying he was not finding fault but that
he was only stating he had not been
, able to get any work done. The mo.
tion to eliminate the item was lost and
the motion to adopt carried.
The appropriation for the engineering
department was cut from $4,000 to $2,-
500 and Councilman Cook was of the
opinion that if it could be cut that much
it would stand more pruning, Council
man Mills informed him that the salary
of the chief engineer was placed at ST.
500 with an assistant at $75 per month,
which would bring it within the appro-
priation.
Miss Anne Swezey, Salem city libra
rian, was given chance to speak in
behalf of the library appropriation and
why it should not be cut down to $5,.
900 from $500. She said the library
was asking only what it got last year
and stated that if it got only $4,000 it
would cramp the work, cut down the
purchase of books, magazines, and i'm
provements.
Councilman Huddleston, after Council.
man Wilson had moved the item be in
creased to $500, declared that when
the city got the library from Carnegie
it agreed to pay 10 per cent of the ex-
penses but that now the city is paying
30 per cent. He said he believed the
people are demanding the taxes reduced
and he did not see how it was going to
be done if they kept appropriating more
money. He said the only way to reduce
taxes was to reduce and that $4,000 was
sufficient.
Councilman McClelland stated that he
was heartily in favor of the library but
that the idea Of the cut was to keep the
levy within Ii mills He said the lib
rarv was here for all time to come and
that the $1,000 used for buying books
could be reduced to $500 and hurt no
one, at least FOR this year, Council
man Roberts was also of the opinion
that the reduction would not impair the
efficiency of the library.
Paul Wallace, vice-president of the
board, said the library, on account of
its rapidly increasing business, had a
hard struggle TO keep down expenses.
He said the library board tried to cut
down to the bone in making out their
budget and stated that if the amount is
cut it would limit the library work of
Salem. The motion to increase was lost.
When the discussion came to the po.
lice matron at the Oregon Electric de-
pot. Councilman Huddleston wanted to
eliminate the item but n vote of four
to five lost the motion.
Police Matron Stays.
Councilman Cook moved to eliminate
the appropriation for q comfort station
as he believed the city was too poor to
build one this year. He was informed
that if the money was not used it would
revcrdt to the general fund and not be
lost. The motion lost.
As chairman of the bridge commit
tee, Councilman Cook stated that two
new bridges will have TO be built in
the city-one on North Winter stree,