Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1895-08-01

1t is vain TO set snare in the sight of
any bird, for having seen the snare set
he will know enough to keep his foot
out of it. The snare which the Republic
ran majority in the last City Council
set, was of the obvious, plain-to-be-seen
kind. They reduced the city tax rate
IN the eve of the city election for the
purpose of influencing the election, or
failing In that of embarrassing the in
coming Council by creating deficiency
In revenue.
The whole performance was so trans
parent that II was seen through as soon
as it was proposed. THE GAZETTE
on May 2eth, the day after the project
was first exploited, and several days be-
fore the tax rate was actually reduced,
made the following comment:
Is it possible that the proposed rcduc-
ton of the city tax rate comes from con-
viction of the present Republican Council
that the next Council will be Democratic?
By reducing the tax rate now. they may
expect TO force a deficiency next year and
then blame it on the incoming Democratic
Council.
The whole scheme was exposed then
and there, and the little fellows who set
this little snare have not had patience
to wait for the bird to come along, but
are already dancing in glee at their
fancied snlartness. They are talking
even now about "next years deficit in
the city treasury" and are accusing the
Democrats of ''incapacity or dishonesty
or both"
How do they know that there will be
a deficiency in the city treasury next
year? Surely not from anything the
new Council has done or failed to do.
They know there will be a deficiency
because they know that they arranged
for one when they lowered the tax rate
from $3.50 to $1.4o in the last Council.
To make assurance of a deficiency
aoubly sure, unpaid bills from last year
are coming in to the new Council.
The whole scheme is SO ridiculously
silly that the people can afford to laugh
at the little politicians dancing around
their little political snare. OF course,
there is very likely to be deficiency in
the city treasury at the end of the cur
rent fiscal year. Yet, after all, it may
depend good deal upon the Board Of
Water Commissioners.
Last year, with tax rate of $3.50, the
Republican majority in Council received
S00,700.50 from that board. If this
years Democratic majority gets an
equal amount from the same source, it
may get along on the $1.40 tax rate
without deficiency.
Be that as it may, all attempts to make
political capital out Of the deficiency
which the Republican politicians ar
ranged for and are now anticipating,
will prove Improbable; for the snare
was set in plain sight Of the public.
When you get at the bottom of the
single tax proposition, it is a scheme
TO take away the property which land
owners have in their land Assuming
that the men who own the land in this
State have an honest right to own it, the
proposition made by the single takers is
acool proposition that the State of Della
ware shall, by statute and under the
guise of tax, steal it ALL Not only
would all the value Of the land be taken
away from the landowners, but the
security on which all mortgages rest
would be absorbed by the State. The
men who have lent money on real estate
security would have nothing left to do
but suck their fingers and admire the
Justice Of the single tax" Della
wareans are several degrees too old.
fashioned in their faith in the ten com.
mandments to give much consideration
to Henry Georges land confiscation
scheme.