The Press., 1894-01-04
PENDEeRAsT, the murderer of Mayo

MCLAUGHLIN & SON. PUBLISHERS
 s1 50 year. If paid strictly in advance ,s1.25 PENDEGRAsT, the murderer of Mayor Harrison of Chicago, has been found guilty and sentenced to hang. He broke down like an abiect craven when the end came. As expected, the maudlin sympa- thy usual in certain quarters is freely ex- pressed and all efforts will be made to save the murderer. His escape would be premium paid to like crimes. Pende- grast's act was undoubtedly the work of man hungry for notoriety. who fully ex- pected safe deliverance from merited pun ishment.
 IT seems fair to criticise the action of Controller Staub in not making public the report of his own chosen auditor of the accounts of Commissioner Olney. MT. Staub had questioned the accuracy of the school fund accounts. These were audit ed by the state auditors, one member of which is taken from each political party, who approved the accounts as kept. The controller set a man of his own appoint ment on the work, which was finished weeks ago. The state pays the bills, and the people of the state have been vainly calling for the publication of the work of the expert of MT. Staub's choosing. School Commissioner Olney has a right to con- plain also at the delay.
 ONE of the largest hat shops in Dan bury, that of Bellaire, Lurch Co.,, has started up, the management conceeding to open as a union shop, and the help &C., cepting a cut of ten per cent in wages. The other shops will hold out. The citi- zen's committee have given up the effort to conciliate the opposing employers and employees, and will instead try to induce new industries to locate in town. They will need to give assurance to parties in- terested that strikers will not hereafter vote sums from the towns treasury for their own support while on strike. And o-l the other hand the manufacturers are contemplating the abandonment of their shops in Danbury in favor of new local ities.
 HELP the poor. And first on the list put the deserving poor who will most ap preciate aid in the form of employment that will enable them to help themselves. The town and borough should stretch a point to do as much as possible now in the way of highway and other public !m provements. Better have a big outlay for such things and thereby keep down the pauper expenses. Better for the req son that this will help the poor man and enable him to retain his self respect. And individuals who don't have to econ- omize by reducing the list of those they employ transiently shouldn't do so. There are poor women needing laundry work; :; poor men needing odd jobs of saving wood or other needed work. You may Dhave job that will employ several men k6r two or three days; you have some time since decided that it must be done before long but.there is no hurry about it. Have it done noao. A little aid goes a great way among the really suffering. The anticipation of hunger and cold is ir itself terrible experience. Don't begin economizing by withdrawing work from anyone, unless you are driven to do so by your own necessities,
 IN his inaugural address this week May or Henry of Rockville referred strongly to ''the present unjust, illegal, impolitic inequitabie assessment of taxes in Rock vile and the town of Vernon; manifes public evil as we'll as individual injustice that is result of perversion of both tht letter and spirit of the general statutes O Connecticut which has prevailed for man, years; of false and illegal construction o the laws relating to the assement of taxe by successive boards of assessors, wht apparently have been influenced by com mon desire to evade county and sta4e tax ation."
 His honor then proceeded to make com parisons of the actual with the apparen valuations. Although the population an' industrial interests of Rockville have nor than doubled in the last twenty years, tn grand lists remain about the same. Thi necessitates high mill tax, making tn apparent taxations in the city greater tha they really are, and preventing industrie and business men from locating here The bonded indebtedness of the town i $235, 900, or per cent. of the assesse valuation. Thus the public credit suffer because of an impolitic system of assess ment. When the time shall come, as surely must, the wonder will be that W have waited so long, for it is safe to sa that of many things needful for the wel being of Rockville, none are of more i'm portance than tax reform.
 The remarks are particularly applicabl also to Stafford. It may be argued tha it makes very little difference what tn rate of valuation is so long as it is un form. This is not true. It does make difference. On proper basis of valus tion the tax rate would be about half wha 1t now is. It scares one who proposes t become 8 resident of Stafford to tell hil that our town tax rate is 15 mills, an our borough and school tax each five mill more. Especially if he comes from lt cality where assessors valuations mol nearly approximate real values than the do in most Connecticut towns.
 The law in relation to the placing c fire escapes in hotels and lodging houses passed by the last Connecticut legislatul has gone into effect. According to tn act every owner, lessee, proprietor ( manager of hotel or lodging eouse in Cor necticut, shall, on or before January Is 1894, place knotted rope or other bette appliance for use as fire escape in ever room of said hotel or lodging house use as lodging room except rooms on u ground floor.
 The rope must be not be less than on
 half inch in diameter, and long enough