The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1876-01-06

other sum to the Blast Furnace
Company but the city council, a
ajority of whose members at the
time, had q direct or indirect pecuni
airy interest in that company, con.
Guided that it would be good plan
to vote themselves, 1. e. their com
panv, $4,000 of the peoples
money and so they did SO, vi hou,
any shadow of authority Of law.
No vote was ever taken by the
city upon the question of voting
| $4,000, or any other sum, to the
L. S. d M. road for "harbor i'm
provements," or any other purpose.
That matter was clean steal, and
perpetrated without even the sem
blance of legal authority. The leg
islature of this state in the spring
of 1870 granted charter to the
city, bu, strange to say, did not
give our people an opportunity OF
| voting for or against its ratification.
Why that privilege was denied us
will be very apparent when we state
that that charter, hich certain
"jobbers" had helped to get up,
contained a provision requiring the
city to give the road above n: med,
$4,000 in bonds. That the legis-
lature had no power to fasten upon
An nwllllng people such a greivous
and outrageous burden, is PROPOSE
ton which we think no sound law
'er will undertake to deny. IF the
legislature had the authority to levy
bIackmail, as it were, upon this city,
to the tune of $5O,uOO for the bene.
hit of the above road, that body had
he same authority to levy tribute
upon us OF ten Or a hundred times
that sum, which would have amount
ed to The practical confscation of
every dollars worth of property IL
Duluth-a power which that angus,
body evidently did not possess
LII view OF the above decisions. il
'splain hat all there is TO do, to have
the city released from the above
'lalamS, mourtingto$ 100, 900 besides
the interest, is to have the matter
brought, III some way, into the u.
,. sc"urt; but AS to whether the time
has come to have this matter dis
posed OF, we are not prepared to
say. ) are at present, inclined
to think that it would be Just aS
well to swat bit" Even aside
from the specified bonds, amounting
TO slOO,Ot0, the city still owes m
han there is any use Of her ever
irving to pay. Sooner or later, she
will ave to do just as insolven
railroad companies, and insolven,
or bankrupt commercial firms do,
and compromise with her creditors,
and she could doubtless effect "A
more favorable compromise wib
her leg innate creditors before being
declared iudlciaIly released from the
bogus claims against her, than after
wards; and, perhaps the time for
he city to attempt to make such a
compromise BIAS not Yet come, bur
20 all human appearances, it will
come Undue time, and we anticipate
that the day is not many years dis
tant hen every legitimate creditor
OF the city will deem It to his inter
est to make such compromise.
AS matters now stand, the city can't
even pay the interest on her indebt-
edness and it is folly to suppose
that the place can grow much, or
that capitalists will come here and
invest their money, while this heavy
Indebtedness hangs over her.
WIN our present indebtedness
and taxation in the same proper
ton, mandatory would soon be
taxed into bankruptcy.
But If the city can, in the course
OF year or So, effect compromise
with her legitimate creditors, at,
say twenty or twenty-five cents on
the dollar, aud then issue new
twenty year bonds, at low rate OF
interest, everybody would then teel
encouraged again, ana our city
would then take fresh start ;
and by avoiding the mistakes and
tnd'scretions of her early history,
would then have u steady aud per-
manent growth, and, with the
growing years, would surely make
rapid advances towards that high