Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-03-11
DO YOU BELIEVE
The Dark Ages were better than
Modern Times2
n Edilssial thst neaas nseA. A Temporary
0slig as1 . pssnassat Eesasmy.

To q greater Of less extent il is Away
the lot Of city government to meet wit
criticism. Every community. and ever
political organization has its kickers, VIII
find fault, from one standpoint or anothe
with about everything that is done in th
Interests Of progress. Ii is easy to cri,icise
it is difficult to execute. Thoughtful
| citizens will bear this fact in mind
and when they hear reckless so.
demnaticn of the management, of mum
cipal affairs. from those who. nine ,ime
out of ten, know little or nothing abou
them, they will ask themselves csndiily
what consideration is due this class of crit
eism, AMI whether the course of action j
denounees. has not been, after all, for III,
welfare of the community. The city gov
erament of Augusta is, at the prvsen
time, composed almost wholly Of bust
ness men. The prosperity Of the cit.
is their prosperity. There is every reason
therefore, for believing that they have beer
actuated, in their every move, by a sincere
desire to advance in every possible wa, the
best interests of the city The past few
years have seen many and needed improve
ments in our city-improyements that
have been generally and cordially
endorsed by our citizens. Now, these i'm.
provemeuts have cost money, although We
believe that the expense of them has been
kept within an economical figure. There
is, we believe no resident of this city who
would vote today to dispense with a single
one of these improvements. Who would
want to have the old wooden bridge. with
its rottea timbcrs, and recking odors,
in place of the beautiful iron struc-
ture that today spans the Ken
nebec and brings the two sections
of our city into closer relationship than they
ever before enjoyed. Who would return
to the days when Water street perennial
mud fiat? Who begrudges the money that
has been expended in beginning a system
of sewerage that will be credit to the city
and = protection to the health of the entire
community? Who is opposed to the move
ment that has been inaugarated for better
roads, Where is there man within our
city limits incapable of approaching the
great benefits conferred by our fire alarm
system? Where, in short are the fogies,
who will stand before the car of
municipal progress and shout, "All
wrong. turn back again to the conditions
and the methods of antiquity We Ger
tainly hope that they may be looked for in
vain in our fair city.
We contend that every one of the i'm
provcments we have enumerated, although
they have called for quite large outlays,
have been permanent economies.
There is not candid citizen
who will not concede that money enough
has not been expended on Grove and Water
streets in the past fifteen years to have paved
or macadamized them several times over.
The action of the city government, therefore
in paving Water street and in macadamizing
Grove street, was in the interests of a pos
tive and a permanent economy from which
our citizens will not fail to derive large ben
eft The same is true of our new bridge
and, indeed, of every city improve
ment which has been made for
some years past The citizens de
manded these needed Improvements, and
we do not believe that they complain be
cause the tax rate has been placed at a point
which enabled us to secure them. Now
that we have these permanent additions
to our city, there seems to no
particular further need of special
outlay, so that there is every reason to be-
lieve that, during the next year. there will
be, in the natural course of events, a con-
siderable decrease in municipal taxation.
We know that, in times of political excite
ment, men are occasionally prone to pass
hasty and i'll considered judgments upon
public officials, but we believe that fair
minded men, who carefully and calmly CON
slider the condition of municipal affairs will
concede that they have been managed
wisely and for the best interests of our city.