Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-06-10
OUR CITY FsNAECEs-

I
reform. A complete understanding of
our financial condition is an essential
prerequisite to any intelligent effort
toward remedying it, and frequent
repetition Of the facts and figures viii
serve to keep the public interest from
tagging.
Nashville's present predicament,
arising from the suspension in collect
ing last years taxes, is rather awk-
ward, but only temporary. The mis-
fortune about such stay laws is, chat
they benefit most the very class who
stand In least need. Small taxpayers
on whose homestead the levy is only
thirty dollars to sixty dollars, generally
find it easier as well as cheaper to pay
before costs or interest accrue. The
temptation to retain the money and
place it out at interest is hardly felt
when the amount is so small. But the
wealthy man, whose taxes mount into
the thousands, and who is familiar with
the corners Of the money market, can
make large margin byplacing his tax
money at ten to twenty per cent, being
responsible to the State and city for
only six per cent, at the end of the
"stay" term or the end of the law.
Beyond the temporary embarrassment
Oocasioned by the stay of collections,
our people should begin to mature
some general policy TO be pursued
steadily in the future as to our finances.
According to the Mayors message, the
entire Indebtedness of the city at pres
ent is Sl,623,656. The deficiencies
arising before the close of. the year and
the January interest then due. viii
inevitably run it up to SI,70O,OOO be-
fore tax payments are resumed. This
Is SOS Per capita for every man, woman
and child within the corporate limits.
The annual interest on the bonded
debt amounts to about SIS, O0) per
annum-say one-flftn Of our annual
expenses. This much is a dead loss,
year after year. By drawing on the
future for a million and quarter OF
dollars, we lose every year, il the way
of interest, an amount that would GO
far toward gradually improving the
city.
We have had enough experience, both
IN extravaganza and in economy, TO
prove how easy is the one and how diff
fcult is the other. Plausible excuses
for contracting debt are always plenti- |
full. Nashville has listened to enough |
Of them to know by this time that pub |
lie spirit is often a cloak for private |
profit; that Wholesale improvements,
ostensibly intended 10 make the city |
attractive, are liable 10 be made the
means forrecruiting political retainers;
and that the sacred name Of charity is
sometimes made to cover mere political
soup-houses. On a small scale, Nash
vile has experienced all the phases Of
public corruption that prevail in larger
cities.
Bitter experience shows that to
draw on the future" is a practical
fallacy. Thus far in the worlds his.
tory, debt and taxes have increased
more rapidly than population. Our
city forms no exception. If We 90
back to the day when our population
was only half what it is at present,
we find our taxes were only about
one-fourth. This increase of burdens
in a geometrical ratio must stop some
where, because human endurance has /
It's limits, and if we do not wish to
s5und the darkest depths of experience,
the sooner we turn the tide the better
1t is full time 10 begin thinking Of
decreasing our debt, instead Of increas-
ing it. A popular determination
ought to be formed and fostered, to
live within our income, and decrease
or interest burden to some extent,
however trihing, each year. Like an
honest individual, the city should de-
termine to dc without what it has
not the money to pay for. We know
the temptations to expenditure IN
Nashville are peculiarly great, as being
the leading city of the State and It's
capital, facts which induce a DISPOSE
ton to initiate the ways and habits Of
cities ten times as large. We had a
class in power a few years ago, whose
theory it was that public
improvements on the scale of
Partisan boulevards and Central
Parks, with "lake' accomplishments,
would attract immigrants. and "build
up" the town. They had their viii,
unrestrained-with what result? Hun
dreds Of our own citizens were duped
by the mirage, and paid dearly for
their whistle IN the subsequent depre.
citation Of real estate bought at exag-
gerated values. "BalloOning" can
never benefit Nashville. 1t is not
mushroom town. Our natural growth,
like tb of all healthful communities,
is slow and steady. 1t is folly to fig
ure on a coming population who are
not here, or coming manufactures yet
in embryo. When these things
do come, they Will inevitably increase
the need for taxes as well as the tax
Our motto, therefore, should be, to
ourselves to existing cir
and leave the future more
free to seize whatever advantages may,J
offer, by not saddling our expenses up
on it. This IS the true way to give the
city a chance to grow. 1t is the only
way TO ensure a national and heaIthful
growth. Our civic policy should be,
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