Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1875-03-23
COMMUNICATED.
Our City's Debt and Taxation.


From various communications which have re-
Gently appeared on the above subject it is evil
dent that this important question is agitsting
the public mind and that strong disposition
exists TO make struggle with the monster
which should have been grapped with in 1865.
1t is beyond dispute and we might rs well deal
frankly with the question: that this Corporation
cannot longer endure even the present rate Of
taxation say nothing about an increase 81 pre-
dicted by the Finance Committee Of the City
Council. Our business is PROSTATE, our people
arc becoming poorer every day, and their ab.li.
ty to meet demands upon them correspondingly
diminished Now, what is to be done? The
solution of this important matter 10 a PROPOSE
ton which deeply interests the tax payers, and
should demand the earnest consideration OF
Council.
K, flecting and thoughtful men know that the
property of this town, under existing circum-
stances, cannot st .nd an annual Tax sufficient to
raise $40, 0O9, about the amount required for
the payment of interest and Tor carrying on the
machinery Of government, without inpoVerlsh
ing the people, and as etiectaally excluding
capital which would otherwise be brought here
for Investment. A town struggling against ad
>ersity, rs we are, will b.. cr.shed out altogeth-
er If these burdens, which would be compara-
are continued.
The first thing physician does when called
in to see a patient Is 10 properly diagnose his
case, and then apply the most certain remedies.
Now our csse financially considered, IS more
easily diagnosed than cured. Vsrcu; remedies
have been suggested which might properly DO
termed Homeopathic OF mild cures. They per-
adventure W, uld, if rigidly adhered to and en-
orgetically carried out, succeed during the next
hundred years, but our case demands more
speedy treatment. To come to the point we
cannot pay six per cent interest on our debt,
and run the Corporation machinery. | deny
that cur Corporation officers are paid too much
for their services. Thee may be, and doubtless
are, too many of them. If such be the case,
consolidate the duties and have fewer 9th 'ers;
but to require men to perform work without
equitable compensation would be wrong IN
principle and destructive of the Corporation in
terests Judcious leg islatlon in the direction
indicated might save few thousand dollars
year. but would not reach the seat OF the disease.
To do this we must scale our debt or reduce the
rate of interest. Holders OF Corporation bonds,
many Of which were purchased as low as 70
will say that it is contract, and less than per
cent would not be lawful.
No government under the sun heavily lnvol-
we'd in debt as We Are can pay = per cent inter
est. European governments have undertaken
it and failed the United STATE government un.
dertook it, and though it held the purse strings
of the nation, WAS compelled to reduce its inter-
est rates OF. much of its indebtedness. Our own
State has pron ised per cent and cannot pay
four. Then how can q poor Corporation like
ours be expected to accomplish more2 At
time when it was thought advantageous toinvest
in canal and railroad stocks, our city, like
reckless specuator, went in" and though
these burdens were placed upon us by mlgra-
tory class of voters, having no substantial inter
ests y, stake. our very vitals are now being
extracted to meet obligations then incurred,
and nj time too when tie very corporations
which we assisted in building up are turned
against u..
In 1865 bill providing for the scaling of our
public debt, introduced by Jno. b. Smoot, esq,
passed the Common Council, but 'a'led III the
Board of Aldermen. At that time, when all
Interests in the South lay PROSTATE, compromise
was the order of the day, and there would have
been bat little difficulty in carrying out the
provisions of the bill Now there Will be moro
sftor the act OF consolidation IN the issuing OF
new bonds, process now going on.
Let the City Council inaugurate ludlclous
system of reform in all the departu. ents not by
paying starvation salaries, but by dispensing
with some Of the officers and giving others more
To- do and watching closely all expenditures
Then let it reduce the interest on our public
debt and risk the consequences. Then, and not
until then, will prosperity return and the ex-
pectatrons INDUCED in by our people for the
past fifty years be in some degree realize,.
Another matter pertinent to the subject and
deserving thr attention OF Council is the ques.
ton of the release by the City Council OF the
cty's interest in the Manassas Gap r 4. stock
Although not versed in the law, it appears to
me to be- common sense proposition that if it
required direct vote OF the people TO give val
id,ty to these bonds, the City Council, by &
simple resolution, could not release our owner
ship therein, and leave aperpetusl claim against
Us for interest thereon
The above hints are simply thrown cut IS the
result Of much reflection on the subject in the
hope that more experienced minds will take
hold and assist in its proper solution. b.