San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-03-22
"A BANKRUPT CITY"

h!llleH lOT the LlGHI,l
Such is the head line to an assoc
lated press dispatch appearing in a
Boston paper, giving an account of
the financial fracos that has occurred
between our city administration and
the ). A. National bank. The bank
refused to advance any more money
to the city on its current rev.
enue, having advanced $306,C10. The
current revenue will exceed $500, 900.
But the bank does not care to lend
all its money to one customer and
calls halt.
A bankrupt citym indeed. Our
assessment rolls show over S33, 000,-
600 of property. Our bond
ed debt is one million and
q quarter dollars. Our income
from all sources, this year will be
over 100000. A pretty tale to be told
abroad. There is not sounder COM
munity corporation in the United
States than the city of San Antonio.
Its merchants, its banks, it's solid
people are not to De discounted in any
particular. But we have had q reck-
less, Incompetent city admininistra-
ton in office; they have been
spending money and running
the credit of the city for all they
could lay hold of, and not willing to
wait for the taxes to come in, deter
mined to keep up the same reckless
management, they actually want the
people to vote them S250,000 In bonds
to give them a surplus. A handy
sort of thing to have on hand as
election time approach.
Nnw who q ennncihIa for fhia
telegraphic information to the world
that our city is bankrupt? The
blame Will be laid to the. dollar a dis
patch CORES pondent, but our
7 people who have had their
ears open know just who is RESPONSE.
BILE for it. Ever since the brilliant
financial proposition was made to
issue bonds to pay current expenses,
1t mas been industriously circulated
by the pie-eaters of the city hall that
unless these bonds were voted for the
city's credit would be ruined; that
everything would be storped-the
policemen would not be paid; the gas
and water would be turned off; the
gay scavenger cart would cease to
make Its daily round, and the street
sprinkler would be dried up
memento of the past. These
kinds OF arguments did not
go and as final res 0rt-desperate as
1t was-why the story about our city
being bankrupt is circulated abroad
this will make the taxpayer come
down, it is believed.
OF course these Geographic sensa-
fInna n IS
our banks, stores, etc., is too we'll
known; our bonded Indebtedness is
far within our taxable ability,-our
revenues from taxes, etc., more than
ample to meet every debt and expense
arising during the yesr.
B 1t the people are tired of an ad-
mi .,istration that has demonstrated
its utter untitness to administer
the affairs of the city, and
are not going 70 be bulldozed or
frightened with putting largs eiec-
sioneering. fund into the hands of
that administration, becsuse some in
terested party gets statements pub
lished in distant newspapers, calling
us penniless, bankrupt city. Our
present condition is all the result of
Mr.. Callaghan's mis- Management. 1t
is not the peoples FAULT. If the bank
won't back him any longer, if lie time
the taxpayers called halt also.
There Is not a single symptom OF
bankruptcy about our city, but there
is every evidence of poor manage
ment on the part of our city adminis-
tration, and this is something that
cannot be remedied until the
next city election. In the
mean while, the people do not
propose TO vote supplies to
this band of political tricks
tiers, to be squsndered and used
to feed a hungry hoard of alien vot-
ers. Any capitalist desiring to be
posted upon the financial standing OF
San Antonio can soon ascertain that
we have only severe case of pollti.
cal smallpox on hand, and we have
got to house it.