Show MUNICIPAL CURIOSITY ro Io the average business man the of ef rort ort of the tho city council to get Street Su Raleigh to itemize his is a queer example of municipal hods In the particular instance in the council last week the amounted to Al AI AlthoUgh thoUgh the council had instructed Bit Ral cIg to itemize his accounts lie he refused or to do it until he was brought uP on the tho carpet In a business cor tho bare effrontery of a subordinates assumption that he could spend money noney without specIfying the details and purposes purpose for which each amount V va to be used would would result in his s Im Immediate Immediate mediate discharge and it is n a striking commentary on the system in vogue that any question about it was over ever raised It only should ever every item of city bo be specified in advance but It should be approved in advance of the expenditure by the tho proper council committee whether in a general esti estimate mate or in itemIzed requisitions Mr Raleigh seems to have acted on th thu the u teory that as head of o a department Xio could do as he pleased with city funds and In this theory ho he has been partiallY sustained by the administration tion which has persisted In keeping him in office e long alter after ie had demon his unfitness for that or any other executive position In the muni His management of the street has been the wo worst t the city UlC as ever seen and his attitude toward towar lla iio superiors has been enough of itself to o indicate that he has no apprecIation tf the 1110 that Is necessary In In V bof corpora I 1 tion affairs I If the Thompson adminis administration is to reform Its wa ways s as it has promIsed to do It cannot make n a bet bettel better tel ter start than by separating Raleigh from his job about Monday morning i Another department of the adminis more than at and that is the city engineers Only a short hor time since Mr Kelsey re recommended recommended commended the payment of over to Pat Moran for completing the con conI conduit I dult duit before the contract time The sum was contested by the board of t pUblic and finally cut down to one fourth the engineers estimate Now comes the same official and recommends recommends mends the payment of to the same contractor for tor extra excavation on the same job What with the plas extras the bonus and this extra excavation extra Mr Moran stands to add to the contract n a very comfortable fortune Then with the ex extras extras tras for repairing the reservoir at the mouth of Parleys canyon where the conduit discharges Into the cIt city system tern tem t the c conduit bids fair to aU all alland and more or of the bond Issue voted by bythe bythe the people The city engIneers recommendations may be entirely honest and legal legaJ and the work may have hav been needed hut on jObs or of the size sizo shown by the sums asked n a proper protection or of the public Interest ought to have been een afforded by bys s such l h bids and other as at att t nd any other other con COll contractors tractors When comp comp is barred in public work as it has been by this administration the appearance of sue suc successive extras and anel Incidental emoluments emoluments ments for the favored contractor naturally naturally ally give rise to suspicions that justify a close scrutiny of appropriations If th tb s are t to b a continuous per performance as they bid fall fair to bo be the public would like to know how much longer the perform performance nce is going to con continue continue and what the total cost will be |