Daily Republican., 1881-05-21
The Road to the River.

When estimates are made ana pun III
the budget of next years expenses lol
opening public thoIoughtare to the
Delaware river, it begins to look IKE
business, but there is much to be done
vet before the undertaking is compIeteo'
The estimates have yet to be endorse"
by the City Council, by passing al oi-
d;nance 70 raise the required amount to
be expended in opening the propoSeu
road before the tax can be LEVIED ana
collected, $4,000 is the estimate OF the
cost of opening the road, and even thS
may possibly not be enough for the pur-
nose When such an undertaking is
commenced it is hard to tell exactly
how much more will be required, as
contingencies may arise which will re-
uuire greater outlay, There may be
more damages to pay for condemnnS
land, and it is possible that more plllnS
may be required than is now thought
necessary. 1t need not be thought strange
if the undertaking would cost the city
$4O, 900 or even more. 1t is always best
not to underrate the cost OF an UNDER
taking at the first. Should $4,000 DC
estimated as the highest figure TO
opening the road, and it afterwards
would cost $40, 900 there would be just
cause for complaint on the part of the
tax payers who would with some rea-
son argue that they had been deceived
and trihed with. There is hardly an
instance of any great public improve
ment having been made in our city III
which the cost did not Overreach the
first estimates. Widening King street,
and Water street, building the new
city basin, putting in the turbine wheel
and the building of new clubhouse are
all notable instances of this kinI and if
precedents have anything todo with it,
we may well suppose that the road to
the river will probably cost the city
more than S25, 900. Now what we want
to say is this: Even if the projected
road to the river should cost more than
$4,000 even $40, 900, it will be money
well expended provided proper economy
is used in the construction Of the road
Should the undertaking cost $40, 900 and
our citizens should feel the pressure in
increased taxes, no complaint should
be made on account of the great advan-
tages the road would be to the city.
These advantages are to be summed
up not only in the conveniences and
the increased traffic that would be
brought to the city, by the stopping OF
the river steamers at wharyes on the
Delaware, but in the addition Of great
scope of improved property which
would be made liable to city taxation.
The money required in constructing the
road and the wharves would be the out
lay, but the increase Of taxable property
"OllU De TIE lLtUlllt AL llIIIT. II N'hlb
probably be some two or three, perhaps
more years, before the income would be-
gin to be appreciatively felt but it
would be sure to come. a road to the
river must necessarily be followed by
an increased traffic from the river.
WharveS on the Delaware would be
followed by the river steamers stopping
regularly and loading and unloading
freight and passengers. This would
neCessitate the construction Of city
railway to the river front, and this
would soon be followed by the erection
of manufactures, not only on the Della
ware but on the Christiana and the
Brandywine. In short a road to the
river would be the opening wedge for
bringing all that scope of marsh terri
tory between Wilmington and Edge
moor under subsection and made as
available for manufacturing purposes
as it is now valuable for pasture and
raising corn and truck. The building
of manufactures would soon be followed
by the building of dwelling houses for
workmen and it is difficult to tell how
far the train of Improvements might be
carried from the simple opening up of a
road to the river front. As the city is
at least twenty years behind the times
now, in its neglect of these much needed
improvements, now that there is fair
prospect of them being made We hope
that they will not be abandoned by the
fear that the cry of high taxes will bt
raised. The road will be built anyhow
if not this year then in some other veal
in the very near future. Then why moi
this very summer? 1t is one of the trues
Of maxims: Nothing ventured, moth
ing wor."
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THE GAZETTE says we are hard t.