San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-04-17

to a municipal corporation that
persists in such expedients. There
are means at, our command for
street improvement purposes,
which, IL adopted, will eventually
give us good streets without issuing
a dollar in bonds for such purposes.
What are they?
1st. Enforce the collection OF
your delinquent tax list by every
means known to the law. Many Of
those who most loudly cry for
street Improvements and bewail
the floating debt of the city, are the
very ones who are delinquent.
Make them pay, and use the money
for street improvements and the
cancellation of the debt.
End. Establish your own water
system. This will save fifty per
cent of the present water tax (for
| it is a tax and not a rate) to each
individual consumer, and will
leave them more means with which
| to pay their taxes. 1t will further
save $3l, 10000 year to the people
on the tax list for hydrants. The
amount thus saved can easily go
to the street improvement fund.
By establishing system of wa
terworks with proper pressure to
afford adequate fire protection
100000 a year can be easily
saved by making reductions in
the fire department and this with
out impairing its efficiency. This
amount can be added to the street
improvement fund.
Sd. Establish two commodius
market houses, one on the east
and one on the west side Of the
river and a union slaughter house.
This will give you an additional
net revenue of thirty thousand dol
lars a year, upon an outlay of one
hundred thousand dollars. This
additional revenue can also go to
the street improvement fund.
4th. Forty thousand dollars a
year can be taken from the general
fund for street improvement pur-
poses.
If these suggestions are adopted
and carried out the annual street
improvement fund would be as
follows:
From general fund saw
ing on water ...$ $1,000 20
From market house re-
ceipts .............. 10000 w
From general fund. 49,. 10000 90
Total for streets annu-
ally .........$ l01, 900 90
The present charter limits the
creation of a bonded debt for street
improvement purposes to $4,000
year. 1t will thus be seen that we
can create a much larger fnnd for
street improvement purposes with
out the necessity of issuing further
bonds for that purpose. The mar
ket house receipts alone are predi-
Gated upon known facts within the
history of this city. In 1877 the
! city received from the rent of stalls
in the two market houses on Ala
mo plaza and Market street the
sum of $l5,1390O. Since that time
the population has more than
doubled, which will double the re-
ceipts. The city 9outgrew those two
primitive institutions, and because
she did outgrOw them this source
of revenue was madly flung
away. Restore this source of
revenue to the city, follow
out the other suggestions,
and you will soon have streets as
we'll as cheap water and sanitary
sewerage. To illustrate that an
immense saving can be made to
this city by the ownership and
control of it's own water system.
l would call your attention the
fact that the city of st. Louis, Mo-,
which perhaps pays more in pro-
portion for its operating expenses
than any city in the United States
by reason Of it's enforce dsystem of
infiltratiQn, had a net saving or
surplus Of $S19,1O9.OO during its
last fiscal year, and the water
rates there are fully 500 less than
in San Antonio.
/ would further call your atten-
tion to the fact that in my opinion
the city is paying for fully two
hundred fire hydrants for which it
has no use, and which afford no
fire protection whatever. These un-
necessary fire hydrants grew up
under a contract which provided
that one of the same should be
placed at every five hundred feet,
whether there was any use for it or
not. 1 believe that four hundred
hydrants, properly located, would
: afford more protection than the six