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in other particulars by the mayor and members of the
city council since their election. It is not proposed to en-
large on this subject. It will suffice briefly to refer to
them.
First. The endorsement of the bonds of the Union
Railroad Company by the mayor and members of the city
council, to the amount of $500, 000, has greatly alarmed
those who have a desire to protect the credit of our city
and save our people from a terrible load of taxation.
The circumstances connected with this endorsement
demand a thorough investigation, which will ascertain
whence the authority to make it was derived, whether
the terms of that authority have been complied with,
who constitute this Union Railroad Company, what is its
capital, who are its stockholders, and what amounts of
stock have been subscribed, and by whom and to what
extent paid in, who are its officers and what compensation
is to be paid them ? These inquiries will enable the people
to see what use is being made of their money and credit
and what will be the probable result of the endorsement,
and, further, to determine if there be not some remedy
against the threatened loss of this large sum.
Second. The determination to build a new city hall at
this time, at a cost unknown, and which may amount to
one or two millions of dollars, requires investigation. It
is known to all that, looking to the cost of materials and
labor, a more unsuitable period than the present time for
this work could not easily have been selected. Con-
tracts, it is said, have been given out and parcelled, to
whom, at what rates, and under what circumstances,
ought to be investigated.
Third. The passage of an ordinance to open German
street, at an estimated cost of one million of dollars, calls
for investigation, and should receive it.
Fourth. The amount of city debt now existing, the
large amount of city expenditures now being made, the
appropriation of millions for this year by the city au-
thorities, estimated at upwards of five millions of dollars,
all demand investigation.
I have, as it will be seen, merely referred to the lead-
ing objects of investigation. I have refrained from no-
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