Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1889-10-25
CONSOLIDATION.
ARTHUR J. MoxHAM, ESQ. INrKE-
VIEWED ON The sUHIScR.

MAchAefy ~ WHsh bns WnolS OSn-
munity CaA Ast-RAHstion Might be
Heavier, Bus We cannot Expect sOHns-
thing fos N.bAiss.
As announced in Wednesday mornings
DEMooRAT, we publish to-day ths first in
terview on consolidation. MIR. ]. Mox-
ham was seen BY our reporter nd in re-
fponse TO question. "What you to
say sonserning constellation .i'es for
publication the following
"You have asked me TO communicate to
you my We've or. .the question OF consoli-
dation. | can only do so at a disadvant-
age, because TO my mind the gain to this
eonAunity Of consolidation would be
soms,hiug SO great, aud the dissdVant-
ages of it so smAll, that am perhaps able
to take only n ons-sided view OF the prob
lem.
CAS- . matter OF common sense, il thirty
thousand people want to do "a thing, they
can hest do il by clubbing together and
acting as 3 unit, and just now they have
got something to do. They have got to
get this place on its feet.
Even the opponents OF consolidation
can only advance arguments against it on
what may be termed party lines. That is
10 say, one borough may claim that it
will not gain 81 much as the other bor-
ough by consolidation. This is undoubt-
edly true, but whsa the only question is
hew much will each gain, why should
any such consideration be permitted to
inRushcs the result?
"Ths richest of our boroughs as they
stand to-day Wosld be richer, not poorer
by consolidation.
"There is something In the life of city,
as in the life Of 9 man, which, wnlls il
cannot be measured with a foot rule, or
wheiShsd il psiF OF scales, tskes no
small part in adding to or interfering with
the happiness Of tie people.
Tangible results are affected by ones
mothed of life. 4 city with well paved
aue7ts, cleanly sidewalks, and buildings
which are pleasing to The eye citiss IL
which local tEensit 10 rapid and
good, in Vhieh police protection
and discipline are reliable, are
just % sure 10 hNssa plsAsautsr, healthier
and more progressive life, as q cleanly
and we'll regulated household is sure to
enjoy life more shaa che household ac-
eustemed to slovsnlinsss and dirt.
"Let us imagine shat may very probably
occur Sit..:. I.Ae nsGt lev yeas; sac TACT OF
q railroad surveyed to pass within twenty
or thirty milss of this place. With
compact city orgsniEation how quickly
would "a earnest effort be made to ap-
proaeh the projectors OF such road, and
to inducs them to divert their g. ltem-
plated line SO as se run through Johns
town instssd OF by it. With an aggrega.
tion of beroughs, how hopeless would
such an effort be. So hopeless that
l doubt whether it would be seriously at
tempted.
Let any public question arise (and
from public questions does city's pro-
gress develop how much quicker the
machinery of q city can be brought to
bear in influencing results for its own
good than that Of eleven puny little bor-
oughs.
Let your readers, Mr.. Editor, stop and
ask themselves this question.
"Would we have suffered the calamities
of the flood il we had had city organi-
zation here? | answer emphatically, No.
The facts which were known to all
were these A dangerous body of water
existed in our neighorhood, and grave
doubts were entertained on all sides as to
the security of the structure which
damned it in.
We have the strange spectacle of the
whole community, as community
not even taking the trouble to
investigate the possible danger.
The reason that nothing was
done is very evident, simply this That
there has never been in these valleys a
competent organization, representative of
the community as whole, There have
been bakers dozen of organizations,
representing each one homeopathic pro-
portion of the community. Twill venture
the assertion that if we had had a city or
ganization, and consequently had become
accustomed TO acting as unit, years ago
would this question of the South Fork
dam have been settled.
Well we have paid for our criminal
carlessness. Paid for it with tho lives of
those dear to us; paid for it with our
homes, and with our savings. And we
shall continue to pay for it the whole of the
sad winter before us with the bitter tears
that will be shed in secret, and with the
suffering and discomfort that is before us.
But we cannot deny that we brought it
on ourselves. If we do not show on the
9th OF next November that we have
learned the lesson there will be very little
hope in my judgment for our near future.
"You cannot build even house without
tools to work with, still less can you con-
troll and influence public results without
the proper machinery to do it with. Take
the history of affairs in Johnstown
since the flood. We have had many
committees. Please point out to me
among all these committees one COM
mittee, who, when it speaks on a general
public question, can speak as representa-
tive OF the whole community. There is
not one committee in existence that has
not done its work nobly and we'll There
is not one that has not earned the graft
tude of the people but there is also not
one, who, from the nature Of the case, is
to-day in position to speak for the
whole people.
"ManY public questions have arisen and
are arising from day to day, and they are
put back to slumber aud no action taken
upon them. Why? Because there is no
machinery with which to reach the
people excepting the cumbersome ma
chinery of lots of little boroughs, and
because life is too short and time is too
quick for any sensible man to undertake
the problem to try to get every little
borough to think alike on the same.ques-
tion.
with city organization our city would