The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1883-09-08
MUNICIPAL BANKRUPTCY, THE AR.
GUS GREAT BUGABOO WHAT
1T AMOUNTS TO.

/
war upon tae street-fIling project has been
a most imbecile one from beginning to end,
and in every minute particular as well as
in the Aggregate. 1t has been stupenhous
conglomeration OF the most s'upendons and
palpable errors, Errors of simple fact,
errors OF theory, errors as to premises, errors
IN conclusion; errors legal, errors methamat.
ical errors historical, logical, problematical
errors great and small, above and below, to
the right and 10 the left, horizontal, per
pondlcuIar, triangular and rectangular
Errors also of syntax, but worst of all, En-
rors as to another species Of tax.
In Thursdays issue the Argus quotes an
item from the New York Sun, which speaks
Of a little city OF Elizabeth, New Jersey, as
bein-, "the most hopelessly bankrupted city
in the world The assessment value of its
property is l2,5O0,OOO while its bonded
debts 100000, bearing percentinterc
The Argus has been persistently predicting
the financial ruin Of tins city, if the street
filling project is even attempted, and in the
absence Of A single fact justifying such
conclusion in the absence even OF any pos
sibiity of such result, we are compelled
to assume that the Argus wish is father to
the thought or else must charge the thought
to downright stupidity and Ignorance. But
lift did not wish Cairo's financial ruin be-
fore its prediction, it will wish 50 now, for
q prophet, even though he be an evil pro-
phet never enjoys being proven an unruth-
tul prophet,
The Argus evidently grasped at the item
quoted as a mirror in which Cairo might
see herself should the street filing project
be commenced, for on the local page it
makes the following satirical comment
"They had men OF broad views and enter
prslng down in Elizabeth, n. j. The prop
erty owners there generally now wish they
had not been blessed with so many broad
view men,
And again;
1--WE call attention to An article on fourth
page from the New York Sun, headed "A
Bankrupt Town Every Cairo property
owner and taxpayer should read it thought
fully. Itbeautfuly illustrates the situation
Of town that its creditors have cornered,'
Ignoring the complete perversion Of our
meaning when speaking of the manner of
men it took to build a city, and that were
admired by the world, we insist that there
is not now, and there NEVER CAN BE, any
comparison between the city of Cairo and
Elizabeth, in so far as the financial condl-
ton Of the two places is concerned, Eliza
both's debt is nearly two.thrds of its assess
ed valuation, Calro's bonded debt Is consd.
erably less than one.ffth OF the assessed
value Of her property this year. We insist
that Cairo is to-day IN an excellent financial
condition, ina better financial condition
than she has been for twenty years back;
that the man who have brought about this
favorable state through years Of wise man.
agemcnt, and who have just reason TO be
proud of their success, would not if they
could mar the monument Of their wisdom
and COULD NOT IF THEY WOULD add ONE
1OTA TO THE BONDED DEBT
or THE CITY OF CAIRO.
II the Argus publisher will borrow copy
Of the constitution and laws adopted by the
people Of Illinois in 1870 (Which by the
way, are still in force and turn TO
section / 2 of article TX, he will find that all
in the great state of Illinois
are prohibited from mourning a bonded
debt including the debt existing at the
time of the adoption Of the constitution, OF
more than five per centum Of the total as
sessed value Of the real and personal prop.
eriy such municipality, At the time of
the adoption Of this provision, Caro's debt
was already in excess Of this constitutional
limit, and since 1870 no bonds for any sum
or any purpose could have been issued by
the city OF Cairo; nor can any be issued, not
even by unanimous vote OF the people
until this constitutional provision shall have
been repealed, or until the city's bonded
debt shall have been reduced below the
maximum amount fixed by the constitution.
We assure the Argus that the gentlemen
who are at the head of this movement to
build a city here, have not shared in ITS
Ignorance of this state of things and have |
neither ignorantly nor purposely planned to |
override this insurmOun'ablr constitutional |
obstacle lying in the way to municipal
bankruptcy. They were aware Of its ex-
istence and would not have It removed if |
any could. But the constitution and laws
provide a different means for making public
Improvements the special assessment plan.
BY this plan no bonds will need To be js.