The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-12-18

weighed Endorsement of the ordinance in
question. But let us hear from the supreme
court. Speaking by Judge Stiles, in the
decision on the Metcalfe case, the court
says: 1.-THE limitation declared By. the
constitution is. that whenever the indebt-
edness has reached per cent. il must stop,
unless more money Is needed for water or
light works or sewers" The court was
there passing upon the contention OF the
plaintiff in the case, that the indebtedness
permitted by the constitution for the
three special purposes named twater.
exceed per cent. of the assessed
valuation; in other words, that the constr
tutional limitation of municipal indebted
ness IS "compartment-built' III two sec
tons, and that Indebtedness for the three
special purposes must fall wholly within
the second 5 per cent equally as m
debtedness for all other purposes must
fall wholly within the hrst per
cent. The court repudiated TINS
notion, and necessarily did so IN
reaching the judgment in the Metcalfe
ease sustaining the bonds, for they were
for the three special purposes and they ex-
ceeded in amount per cent. of the then
that decision regarded the three special
purposes named as strictly municipal
purposes" aud treated indebtedness IN
cured for those purposes as counted along
with that incurred for all other municlpal
purposes in arriving at the question
whether the per cent limit IS reached,
and as merely enjoying by itself the spe-
cial proviso that for these purposes "a
larger amount bat not exceeding D per
cent. additional may be incurred.
| respectfully submit that the supreme
court is the safer authority to follow Ill
this matter, and that in view of the Ian
guage and reasoning of the court IN the
Metcalfe case, as well as upon every
rational and logical view of the language
and spirit of the constitutional provision
in question, when the total indebtedness
of city for all purposes, including that
for the three special purposes of water,
light and sewers, has reached 5 per cent,
no more debt for any purpose whatever
can lawfully be incurred, except that there
is nm additional margin of per cent.
within which further Indebtedness for the,
three special purposes may, IT desired, be
incurred. In other words, as between in
debtedntss for the three special purposes
and Indebtedness for all other purposes, if
a city would utilize the full 5 per cent.
limit in the incurring of debt for ordinary
purposes, the order of time in which debts
of the two classes respectively shall be in
CURED is very material. The city should
not haze incurred debt for the special
purposes till it had made all the use of its
debt creating power for other purposes
that it Desired when it bonded for the
special purposes, it exhausted its debt
making power for all purposes to that ex-
tent.
The only road open, then, for the pay
ment of these just obligations for the land
taken to widen streets and to establish a
public square (which certainly should and
must be paid, is to wait until another
years assessment roll can be made and
adopted. and in that assessment roll to
raise very substantially the general yalua-
ton of property within the city. The plan
OF increasing the percentage of actual sell
ling prices used as the basis for assessed
valuation, now the ridiculously low figure
of 40 per cent, has many considerations in
favor of it, which have from time TO time
been ably urged by your paper. ProIni-
nent among those considerations is the
one above indicated, that we require lar
ger total assessed valuation in order to
enable us, within the constitutional limit,
to contract Indebtedness wherewith to dis
charge the urgent moral obligations of the
city.
1t is of the gravest importance to the
city OF Seattle, and to its every citizen,
that no mistake shall be made in this juno
ture OF our financial affairs. We must Law
the basis Tor an unquestionably legal bond
or we cannot hope to sell t at any figure
whatever. If, after attempting to author
ize large issue of bonds we fail to place
them by reason of any legal defect. the
city will stand discredited as to both It's
financial strength and its capacity for
self-government, in the general Judgment
both here and elsewhere, and the warrants
which so futile an effort will have been
made to fund, now at heavy discount.
VIII sink still lower in the money market