Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1891-08-28
pEMooRAr ON pEr1r1oNs.
He Commends the Action of the City
Council in the Bridge Matter.
EdItors Tobaceo Leat.chronIeIe.

Let me call your attention, Mr..
Editor, to an editorial on petitions"
in recent number o. the Nashville
Banner, and in view of a petition
that was recently fred at our city
council and the amount of abuse
that they have since received from
certain sources, ask you TO give it
place in your columns. |, for one,
commend the action of the council,
though / am as much free bridge
man as any one, for / believe that
the members of the board acted hon.
nestly and as they conceived it, for
the best interests of the city. Not
that we do not need free bridges, but
the scheme proposed was impractical,
BILE and costly-the $4,000 asked to
build the bridge being small sum
compared to what would tie necessary
to construct the approaches to it, and
undoubtedly the burden of this ex.
pense would fall on the city.
Why not take the $4,000 and buy
and free the upper bridge outright
with approaches already constructed
and roads leading to the most thickly
settled part of the county? 1t is GER
tainly much cheaper and would ben
eft much larger per cent. of our
people than the accomplishment of
the other scheme.
Let me suggest, however, that the
county buy and free the upper bridge
and then let the city make arrange
ments for placing elsewhere the $780,
900 mortgage that she has on the
lower bridge and let her free that
structure also. This would indeed
make hole in the "Chinese wall"
through which the clear rays OF a
day of deliverance from tolls could
enter. Then we could turn our at
tention to the ferries.
1t is noteWorty fact that of the
many able financicrs who signed that
petition not one OF them has yet sug
gested plan to meet the expense of
the appropriation without additional
taxation, and every property owner
knows that our taxes are as high
now as we can stand.
Let them suggest way out of the
dilemma before they condemn others
who cannot see through this mill
stone. But here is the editorial re
ferred to. Yours for the greatest
good to the greatest number.
DEMOCRAT.
at is a well recognized fact that
you can get signatures to almost any
kind of petition. Peo-
pie sign petitions very frequently
without the slightest consideration,
and give the weight of their approval
to projects and propositions which,
with little thought, they would ut
terly repudiate and condemn. Men
are often guilty of the folly of sign
ing petitions to get rid of the peti
toner or to avoid mourning his dis
pleasure.
"Let us illustrate: In IA business
house in this city the other day sew
eral gentlemen were speaking of the
vacant judgeship, and in the course
of their conversation they agreed in
the expressed opinion that certain
candidate for the office was untitled
for the place and should not be APP
pointed. The words had scarcely
been spoken before the candidate
came in with the petition asking the
Governor to appoint him, and the
men who had just declared that he
ought not to have the appointment
good humorcdly signed his petition.
Men of standing and responsible
ity should be more careful about
signing petitions. The ease with
which one can get any sort of petit
ton signed makes such alleged rec
concentrations misleading and value.
less. An mdiscriminate petition is
worthless, in the light of the present
system of inconsiderate signing.
'The right of petition is inherent
and constitutional, but the petition
has been abominably abused. In
many instances it is made sham
and a moCkery."