The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1893-05-19
ROOM FOR REF0RM.

RO9N FOR lsiBBe03l3f.
Certainly 10 town II this state, and
ysry Tow in the uniou possesses greater
pstaral advantages than does Lake
Charles, 1t woald take more time and
spaae and greater ability than ours to
eaamerate these and az the subject
iustieo and we will only briefly notice
q few 10 Tie drst place, Lake Charles
I IS near tbs center Of a scope Of country
containing nearly fofty tbouaanGl square
miles. aud is from the nature Of things
destined ID b. tie metropolis Of this
area Of territory. Travel the country
over and there will not be found any
equal area IN which there Is not city
several times the size Of the Lake City
At the present time, aud We heve every
assnrsnoe that By proper ezeition on
onr part oar destiny Is not uncertain;
IN fact. It wond be hard to uver-esti-
mate tile possibilities In the case, pro-
vided we do oHr duty in the premises
Itis equally certain that II the time
and opportunities are frittered away
wo shall miserably fail, and a rival
town without near the number Of nat
ural advantages, int with more ener-
gstic and sntsrprising population, will
step in and gather the fruit that might
otherwise Do ours.
On several occasions we have tried 10
paint out the path to certain success
and q realization 81 all our hopes. We
have tried to show the aanaer in which
both immigration Of the most desirable
kind and eapital may be attracted to
our town. In continuation Of the same
line Of argument we will mention some
of tlle grave mistakes Of the past and
a line Of policy to be pursued IN the
future IL we would akeasonementnnd
recover orr lost ground Year after
year the revenues of tho city have been
increasing unit the sum last year
, reached total of more than SIG O00,
mud this. too, with a most liberal con
strnotion Of the license law, fayoriuP
those charged with the payment Of the
5 same. Notwithstanding this fact we
do not knoW ola town in this state or
! any other state, with ons-half the re-
+ sources. where the streets present SO
dilapidated an appearance, sans sewers.
saRs sidewalks. and with general ap.
! gearapce Of disorder In addition t.
! this, as we have before had occasion t.
] remark, the streets are not only toe
. marrow bnt in many cases only extend
/ a Jew blocks, and shUnld have beer
/ extended to the city limits long ago, in
: view Of the fact that property is COZ
E ,stantly increasing in value, and The
! longer tho delay the greater the sx
) pense,
s Heretofore, whenever the question
: was asked why these much needed i'm
3 provements we're entirely neglected, j
/ has eiicitel the prompt response tina
8 the city treasury was empty. We con
! Tess our inability to see why llAi,
! shanld be the case when the priucipa
expense attending the city government
3 aside from the school appropriation, i
i the payment Of foRr or Eve palieemei
/. al the rate o. only ELK or seven hundret
! dollars a year each. il is true that tb,
p annual reports Of the city treasurer nc
g count Tor every cent Of the revenue co
lecsed, and we have no charges of fran,
se or crookedDess to make nevertheless
n seems almost Incredible that thesu q
b $4,000 should accomplish SO little.
s, During the past three years th
/ amounts paid into the city ,tFeasur
le have aggregated between S36. 900 an.
$40 900, and yet there is not a decor
i street crossing in the city, not a sings
+ paved street, no long lines Of shad
d trees border our streets, We have y
u public park, although the most mag
i niaesnt locations for such, at a eomppl
81 aiiVely small cost abound on every sidt
D. we haYe no market bonse and lac
many other things that smaIler bu
H more enterprising towns haYe.
s We are on the eve OF another cit
se a eeiion, and the same apathy that b.
q characterized our people in the psl
i. sill seems 10 exist In Tie few weel
# that remsin we sincerely trust that d
D active and enierprising elemeat n II
q community viii get together and 81
!, tina q ticket is put in the field con
Il posed d nen WHO have the reatintersI
1e Of the city at heart, aud who are ns
q only competent bat willing to civ
!. their time and attention 10 The city,