The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-04-26
A Rare Ordinance.

municipal election. We shouid not like to
Inc the councilman whose duty il had been
made TO face popular gathering in Clay,
Marshall, jefferson. or Jackson ward, aud
Justify its passage. The title of the ordi'
nance is q taking one. 1t is az attractivey
wordcd az a circus poster, and, like this lat
ter. is a large advertisement Of small per-
Torrance. The title is can ordinance as
scssing private property for speciai oe"c'
fits or advantages conferred by wafer
"Works and Gas-Works." Upon reading
this, one would naturally imagine, as the wa
tcr-Works arc supposed to save annuahs
millions O: dollars worth of buildings on
| Main amp Cary streets, and the Gas-W orks
10 save many thousands OF dollars By lighting
up the stree,-lamps in those and other SINH
lar localities, and as the State Constitution re-
ouires all taxes to be dd rdloren,, that this was
i scheme for making persons who derive the
greatest advantage from the works named
pay in proportion to the advantage derived
But he would be very much mistaken. In
stead of making Maiu.strcet house, worth
thirty thousand dollars, and protected by
policemen, water, and gas, pay ten times as
much Of this new tax as house Oh Church
Hill, or in Sidney, or indeed anywhere else
in the city, worth only three thousand dol
lars, the ordinance taxes man in proportion
to the length Of the pipe in front of his
house! The pipe, once down, costs nothing,
and the houses in the suburbs or elsewhere
which have long stretches of pipe in front Of
them are almost always totally unprotected by
ga, or water, or policemen, and, indeed, are
generally in no danger; yet they are selected
to bear the burden of lighting street-!amp5,
six on u square, in those parts Of the city
where the houses and their contents arc most
valuable! The Especial advantages " are
conferred upon the wealthy, and the especial
tax levied upon the poor fellow who call
hardly pay his gas-hill. Tho Dispatch print
ing-hou-c pays two dollars per annum on a
house and lot worth twenty thousand dollars
or more, whilst T. C. ErPS, the ex council
man in Jackson Ward, pays about twenty
five dollars per annum upon a house worth
not half so much. That is an od rdlorem
tax for you.
But, worse than this, the ordinance Is one
TO encourage the building of tenement
houses on small lots; and consequently to
induce squalor, filth, epdemicS, and all their
consequent evils. There is little excuse for
tcnements and small lots at this day, when
street railways are ready 10 bear a man FIVE
miles from his place Of business In few
minutes, without fatigue to himself. Men
ought to be rewarded, not fined, for leaving
Il little space at the sides of their houses for
the fresh air to pass through.
Still worse, it is an ordinance to encourage
the use Of explosive oils and the production
of fires. 1t taxes the man who uses the gas
and the one who does not use ii in the same
unequal manner, and without reference TO
whether either Uses it or not. 1t ought 10
have encouraged the Use OF water by exempt
iug all persons paying the watcr-;aS from the
new tax. aud thus have done something 10
promote cleanliness, bathing, and good
health. Aud it ought to have encouraged
the use of gas by eXempt!Dg persons who use
SaS from The new tax. and thus have aided
in doing away With fires, deaths, aud burn
ing>, caused by the explosive oils which So
many persons now consume.
We would not wish TO say hard word Of
the Council, and we have written this article
i'm the best Of humors. Let them reconsider
the ordinance in question at their next meet
ing. and make it apply only TO persons who
contribute nothing to the Lighting Ct the
streets and the support Of The WaIer-Work>,
It's we understand was the intention Of the
Council In tie lir>! place.