Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1890-02-15
A FEW PERTINENT QUERIES.

Now that the council war has some
what subsid ID and IL will not be con-
sidered that / wish TO enter into II, !
will venture to present a few facts and
ask few questions not that expect
to be able or attempt to fully present
these facts or that some ono Will rise
up and satisfactorily answer the ques-
tions, but that others who, perhaps,
have not had Us good an opportunity
of knowing what has been done, may
be better able to see things as they
exist. 1t is hard for me TO understand
why some of our citizens have taken
the stand they have it they fully UNI
derstand the situation.
Having served as councilman four
years of the past five, and having OBJ
served very closely the many mistakes
that have been made during that time,
I think we should improve from this
on by learning q lesson from past ex-
perience. While / can see many mis-
takes that I have been party to, new
ertheless / tried to act from principle
and consented 10 many things because
it seemed the thing TO do in that the
people almost unanimously desired 1t.
Others consented to because / stood
alone aud did not feel like insisting on
my Judgment being adhered to, while
all the others were against me. For
instance, 1 insisted that The time to
have settled all matters at the river
was when we had the $1,000 OF
county scrip. Ny experience has been
the easiest time to buy anything is
when we have the money to pay for it,
and inasmuch as that money was vot-
ed by the people for that purpose it
seemed to me it should be used for
that purpose and so l insisted ut the
time, but it availed nothing.
Now, why shouldn't we have settled
all claims against the city at the river
ut that time? Why should we spend
the money for other purposes and then
issue another $4,000 to meet the ex-
penses? Why should we not nave re-
spected the rights of Others and set
tied with them without all attempt to
harrass them by telling them they had
no rights there. which they now seem
10 have more than we are able 10 meet,
having spent our money for other pur-
poses? why should we ask for $lO,-
GOO funding bonds when we had only
$4,000 in debts? Why should the full
amount be issued and sold and the
surplus be placed in the banks for
their speculation while we are paying
interest on the same? Why should
we appropriate a portion of it illegally
to assist in building railroad to the
property of those who refuse 10 be in
corporated in the city aud thus help
pay the interest on the same? Why
should these matters all be settled
before the people are asked to vote OH
the question? Why should q man
who buys property, settles down
among US to make his home and be a
citizen with us be jumped onto and
called crank and belittled and boy
cotted because he regards his oath and
the law and proposes TO be governed
by it? Why shouldn't such men be
encouraged and respected seeing they
can be depended upon, and in the face
of existing affairs caused by past neg
lect, why should not such men he pro-
tected? I, for one, have taken this
stand and propose to stand by any
others who d0. Whenever we
disregard the law in one instance it
only makes a breach for other things.
p. II. SLATER.