, 1875-01-24

law than so are under our present charter,
and there would be no object in making the
change.
GEN. sHALERs IDEAS.
The class Of people in Chicago who are IN
favor of carrying out Gen. SHAEn's ideas re1a-
tive to enlarging the Fire Department and
protecting q the city against fires have sew:
eral times questioned tho statements Of T11
CHICAGO TRIBUNE in regard to the enormous
expense which his proposed reforms will en-
tail upon the taxpayers Of the city. The
recent detailed estimates Of the Fire Marshal
and Poica Commissioners, however, have
now fixed the expenses Of the SHA1EB ideas,
and they confirm the statements Of TIE
TRIBUNE, and show that the SHA1EB ideas, #
carried out, will prove oppressive to an In
supportable degree.
A glance ut the details will show the cor
1ectness of TEE TR1puNE's statement. Gen.
SHA1ER wants 6,6o0 telegraph poles, 6l5
miles OF wire, and tho necessary apparatus
to 20 with them, amounting to $18l, ,S65; he
also wants Is more steamers, 16 additional
hook and ladder trucks, 10 fuel wagons, 81
fire e1tinguishers, fuel depots, 81 brick
buildings, and 80 building lots, costing 4547, =
854. SIS; he also wants sufficient additional
men to the present force to eat
up s379,37o, machine shop to cost
$4,000, and . river boat TO cost
SEC, 600. The sum total Of the General $
wants reaches the modest figure Of $780,
COOL To this Of course must be added the
present expense Of the Department, which
will saddle upon the taz-ridden people Of Chi
cago about $2,ooo,ooo for this single
Department. II Gen 6HA1En had pro
posed this scheme ~ measure to plunge
the city into bankruptcy, 1t would prove emf
nently successful. As a matter Of financial
economy, it would be more profitable to burn
Chicago up ut once and have done with it.
The million and quarter extra to start
with is only the first step in the expenditures
that would be required We have now more
engines than water-supply. With the excep-
ton OF dozen or two Of blocks in the bust
ness heart Of the city, the present force Of
engines cannot be supplied at q large fire. It
would ba necessary TO double or treble the
size OF the present water-pipea to furnish
the Department when enlarged to Gen.
SHA1rn's ideas. The expense Of doing this
would be several millions Of dollars !;
and how Is the money to be obtained2 And
then with this enormous FRS Department
would come demand to double the police
force, to give the frenaen adequate aid and
protection, and to man all the multiplied fire.
alarm boxes. As ono department is in
creased, 50 all the others demand enlarged
appropriations, more pay, and highar sala~
r1ea
But supposing Gen SHA1zn's ideas were
carried out suppose the city should be able
to obtain couple Of million dollars annually
in some mysterious manner, and to
find the money to double the size
Of the water-pipes and pumping works,
and then proceed to buy up engines, hose
carts, hoss- pipe, and fire apparatus enough to
put ont big conaagration, what then2
What would be the results Of Gen SHA1En's
magnificent equipment? First, We should
possibly get cheaper insurance, most Of Which
in all probability would be worthless ins,,r-
ance. Second, having cheaper insurance,
people would get insured up to their eyes.
Third, relying upon their insurance as pre-
ventive against loss, men would become rock
less, and 60 to bed at night without thought
or caro- as to the safety Of their prop
erty. They would not protect their
buildings, they would expose their neigh
bo1s to danger with impunity. They
wou1d accumulate inflamnlab!e and un-
safe goods without proper protection. They
would pave the way for constant fires and
large eondagraions, as they would have no
incentive to carefulness or watchfulness.
Fourth, q new wave Of corruption would roll
over the City Government, which would be
irresistible. To buy al the iron for wafer
tnains, and Ill tho lots and steamers, to put
m these hundreds Of miles Of telegraph, to
erect au thesa buildings, must require the
making Of innumerable contracts, and the
public need not be told what The making Of
contracts implies in Chicago OF any otherlarge
city. It would open avenues Of frnnd, and
bribery, ard corrup. fayortism, and the city
would be swindled AZ it never has been be-
fore Dishonesty and extravagance would
spread into other municipal departments.
Fifth, the Fire Department would be increas-
Sd several hundred men, to be selected by the
bummers Of the wards and doggccies, aud
thus political machine already felt at the
>lections would be increased and rendered
more powerful and dangerous in the hands Of
he ta1-eAters-
There is another point 10 b. considered.
kfte< tn people havs been loaded down With |
!h1ea a1ozneas expenses and a6usted With |