The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-12-01

rectly opposed to the view of Mr.. Farr
and hundreds OF others. 1t will be
noticed that Mr.. Olsen's chief argument
is the immensely of the power plant en-
! terprise and it's Importance. The
and its great wealth. 1t has time and
again set these facts before the people;
/ and by the way. it is because the COM
/ pany is rich. powerful and fully able
TO care for itself, that the project of
| the building a $4,000 road for it by the
county meets with such opposition:
Editor Herald:
From $4,000 to 100000 have been
given as bonuses and inducements to
various promoters in cash and land,
notably the Southern Pacific shops. the
ice plant (now removed to the easD,
and many others, a few of which the
/ ueoDle would have been better off if
they gave d bonus to leave town and
never come near with their fire traps.
They do not have a dollar to start
/ with. but plenty of gall, and are seek
| ing to take in the people on some
/ scheme that gives to them start at
I the expense of their duDes. Now that
an enterprise of some worth and pride
which has spent close to $3.50, 900 if not
u
] over q year, has materialized into
plant of over 100000 pounds of steel
/ piping, $500, 600 pounds of steel bands,
: Loot, 900 feet of lumber, which form the
1 five mile wooden pipe and nearly 5000
/ feet of steel piping, being part of the
second largest enterprise of its kind
! in the United States, which viii cost
when completed about 600 and
who pay their bills as they go, some
I thing that cannot be said of all the
! bonus boom companies that have come
here. Such in brief is the immensely
! of the enterprise asking the citizens OF
! Weber county TO build the new roads
made necessary by their operations in
preparing the 10000 horse power plant.
Do the people realize what it means
for Weber county,?
It is true all the power is not in
/ tended for Weber county, but l am
sure the company would be only too
glad to use it all here in ogden City,
/ were il possible to do so. If all the
concerns of every kind in Weber county
I who use steam power were TO run
steady every day, it would show us
to be in a very prosperous condition
and would mean a nice pay roll every
month. Yet with all this we cannot
find / do not think, enough steam
power in the county, outside of loco
motives, to make 500 horse power. Still
what a great Improvement it would
/ he in the county'S business were it in
constant use daily. Think then what
30, 900 horse power means. when people
VIII not take any more than they. have
use for, as is now being done with
steam power We can we'll afford to
consent for 1000 or even 10000 going to
Salt Lake CT elsewhere, but because
this is an actual affair in existence
some people are objecting TO meet
them on half the expense necessary on
the new road, which would only he
most willingly acquieSced in were it
some promoters bonus scheme. Policy
dictates that what there is here in the
shape of enterprise viii take care of
itself and exc out a misera bic exist
ence for want of assistance, like our
leather tannery, canning faStory, soap
factory and many others; but bonus
and give to any new concern that
comes and gets for the asking. The
DIRECTORS say, that if it is coming to
that point when a few rich people can
petition for anything to be done and
it goes, without asking the rest of the
poorer taxpayers, then it is time TO
call a halt. I say to those people that
such has always been the case and
will continue until we get the initiative
and referendum put into our OPERA
tions. Vote your own class of people
into the legislative halls. instead of
the rich class of whom you now COM
plain. Study w the cause OF these
conditions, why they exist, why it is
that the few rich have always pre-
dominated in the affairs that concern
the whole people. Study the question
fairly and squarely and see if you
cannot find some way out of this pc
culiar system under which We are liV-
ing. Kick at and object to every cor
pOration in existence and not single out
this particular company because it is
a home concern, who have progressed
so far without a bonus, after another
company had seriously considered the
building of a plant on a much less
scale, provided Ogden City would fur
nish a bonus, but backed out.
I am opposed as much as anybody to
corporations, or the spending of pub
lie funds for private enterprise but ]
believe that Weber county makes the
best investment ii has ever made when
it aids this enterprise by assuming
part of the expense in building these
roads. When We consider that the
company expects TO spend 81 $50, 900,
it will be a very dishonest assessor
who viii not value the whole plant in
Weber county at $780, 900, which, at
this years rate, would give US $4,000
in taxes, a very neat sum to help pay
the county's Indebtedness, to say moth
ing of the concerns which it will be
the sure cause of bringing here
Taking it all il all, l think We make
very serious mistake when we OBJ
ject to aid a concern of such inesti-
mable value. especially when fake COM
panies, teeming with suspicious inten-
tons and nothing but fraud from the
beginning, have been so eagerly sup
ported The action may not be legal |
but such have been granted before !
(see S. p. shops cOntracD, and will no
doubt be done again. The tax per
capita of taxpayers viii not exceed 80
cents, a very safe investment The
cry of all the power going elsewhere. is
all bosh; it costs money to transfer
that power. I am informed il cost the
company 100000 TO take 1000 horse
power to Salt Lake. What would co.
600 horse power cost?
It is cheaper to use it right here in
ogden, and the comrany is rot COM
posed of men with the calibre that be-
lieve the power can be transported 40
miles and used cheaper than at its
producing point; so if the majority of
people are willing that the county
should grant the petition. provided the
Power company agrees to retain so !
much power for Weber county, they can
rest perfectly easy, because loss of |
about Is to Is per cent is incurred |
by transporting energy, which no man
ager would consent to lose, if it could |
possibly be overcome.
Argue which ever way you will, We |
Der county is the gamer in the long
run These are my reasons for endors- |
ing the request of the petitioners