Omaha daily bee., 1874-07-15

Is there a business man in " out
of the city council that when he
balances his books at the end of the
year and finds that he has not made
any money, or perhaps lost some,
would increase his expenses.-Tdr-
payer in omaha Herald.
That would depend entirely on
circumstances. If 4 wide-awake
and enterprising merchant should,
Mt the end of the year, discover that
his income had fallen off for the
want of a proper effort to extend
his business, he might very judic-
iously increase his expenses with a
view Of making up the lost foot
hold.
Let u Illustrate: suppose hat
Omaha had two dry goods mer-
chants, one of whom, "old fogy,"
was timi1 and parsImonious, and
the other, "wide awake" an ener-
getic and shrewd business man.
Suppose, furthermore, that beth
had invested the sane capital and
both pursued an economical aud
conservative policy during the first
year by renting cheap stores, hir-
ing cheap clerks, and keeping their
advertising bills very low.
Now suppose that at the end Of
the year both of these merchants
should discover a balance on the
wrong side of the ledger, what
would they do? "Old Fogy," the
timid, would naturally pursue the
policy intimated by the Herald tax
payer. He would decrease his ex-
penses by moving to a cheaper store,
discharging one or two clerks and
~cancelling his advertisements.
Wide Awake on the other hand
would follow his energetic impulse
and increase his expenses with a
view of extending his patronage.
He would either remove.to a better
and more expensive location or he
would put in plate glass show VIM
dows, sky-lights, and otherwise
embellish and improve his store to
render it more attractive. He would
also double or tbrible his adver
vertisements in the newspapers, and
distribute posters and show cards,
exert his ingenuity IN every direc-
ton that would promise more Gus
tom. Now which of these merchants
would at the end of the second year
come out ahead? Does anybody
doubt. that Old Fogy would come
out with even a greater balance
against him on the ledger, while
Wide Awake, with increased ex-
penses would have built up a profit
able trade with a handsome balance.
on the right side. 81
If the taxpayer who advocates
the do-nothing policy would for q
moment reflect he will discover the
analogy between that policy and
the course pursued by Old Fogy,
the supposed timid and parsimoni-
Gus dry goods merchant. 1t seems
to us that Omaha has pursued that
police long enough. Our rickety
sidewalks, rotten bridges, and
break-neck cross-walks are disgust
ing and driving away people who
come here TO invest. Our drainless,
muddy and unsightly thorough
fares are striking evidences of thrift
lessness and a general want of con-
fidence i'm Omaha's destiny as a
city. According 10 Taxpayer the
assessed valuation of Omaha proper
ty is Sc, 740, $40, or about Ss,0oo,0 900
below the valuation of 1870. Since
then over 81, 500, 900 in private and
public buildings and permanent
improvements have been added to
our property list.
This would indicate a shrinkage
of four millions and a half within
the past three years inns
shrinkage proceeds directly from
the want of confidence i'm con-
sequence of the do-nothing policy
pursued by our city government.
Had Omaha inaugurated a liberal
system of permanent public inn
proyements in ls1eher properly