The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-04-14
THE ELECTRIC PLANT.

vhu., ,bs Dispatch sticks to the electric
plant 90 will TIE TINES Also IHE liMES ,h-
| ,enda 70 Pat those sturdy veterans Oh 'ne
| co,,c,l and Board of Aldermen on
a. haoL who are opposing this worse than
useless waste of the ctg's money as long AZ
! ,bev continue their successful night, ana II
! ,hev Get outnumbered and overpowered' OF
which there is not the remotest proDaDli'y'
| Tar TIMES will take the fight up at the point
whore they leave it, and continue tho goou
work. even if it has to do it alone.
The Dispatch asks yesterday what sort
% . city ia that which can afford to appro-
priate between a million and million ana
half of dollars to city ball and cannot ma
anv money to devote to such an object as the
establishment OF a city electric plant
Does our noghbor mean to MAINTAIN that
this city. burdened as It's finances are OPP
pressed by taxation as It's property -owhers are
was in any condition to spend Sl.5OO.OoO on
CITY hall We thought the Dispatch joined
in that concourse OF voices which has gone up
from Richmond's taxpayers declaring thH1
the city was in no condition TO make
suoh an expenditure as this on
a city hall. tit does. what is the pertnency
OF its question? Ii 1t does not we think II
owes TO the public and itself to state openly
that il approves Of the city having spent this
immense sum on the hall.
The Dispatch justifes the proposed expen-
diture of sl25 900 to commence the erection
of an electric plant upon the ground that the
interest on this sum is only $4,000 year, ana
il predicts that the Council will. within the
next SIX months. appropriate that much to
some object not half so meritorious.
If our contemporary has ever played
poker" the possibility of which we would
of course not suggest it has no doubt been
asked many times by some party to the game
How mucn does it take to come in Z" and 1t
has many times, no doubt, answered 1t
takes g to come in, but will take you 80 TO
get out" This is just what will happen to
the city in building an electric plant as nap
pened to her in building her City Hall. She
went into that 10 cost less than S4OJ.OOO she
came out with it costing her Sl.5OO'OJo. 30
she will 20 into the electric plant business on
tho basis of Sl25, 600 and will come out on
the basis of 100000.
A word now as to that $4,000 that the
Council is going to appropriate to some object
less mertorous than an electric plant. If
there is really any danger of this. it seems to
us that the true course is for the Dispatch to
Join with TIE TINES in an effort to dissuade
the Council from doing anything so absurd.
But the Dispatches idea is that as the Council
is going TO waste this $4,000 in spite of
the protest Of TaE TINES, it should
rush in and get it to waste
another 5000 ayear, neither of which expen-
ditures can be afforded. Logic and common
sense would seem to dictate that as the Coun-
Gil will have already weakened our impaired
resources by wasting $4,000, we should do all
in our power to prevent it from fastening an
animal waste of $4,000 more on US. In other
words we are not justified in making al I'M
necessary expenditure of money because we
have made another unnecessary expenditure.
The argument lies wholly IL the other drec-