The oasis., 1896-03-21
MAYORS MESSAGE
Tothe citizeus aud Taxpayers of Noaaies, Reviewing the Operations Df their
 Mnnicipai Government.

With the closely approaching end Of
 the official term of the City Council it
 becomes the duty Of the Mayor to pro
 mitigate a statement showing the com
 plete workings of the town govern
 ment, its revenues and expenditures,
 and the obstacles 1t has had to sur
 mount in maintaining a corporate gov
 ernment in FACT as well as in name.
 As all know. for year or two the
 aim of the council was tO lie dormant,
 raising no revenue, expending no mo-
 ney, receiving no benefits, having in fact
 a corporation it name only. During this time it was found that our bridges needed repairs which were made and left unpaid a number of cases of small
 pox appeared and had to be isolated, the patients cared for, furnished medi- cines, etc. .-all of which created ex- pense without funds to meet it. There were also other small items uf expense which kept piling up the town debt until 1t reached several hundred dol lars. Continued failure or neglect to pay always terminates credit, and the town of Nogales proved no exception to the rule. Nothing could be bought for the town without personal guar anty from some member Of the coun- ell But the needs and demands for expenditure continued to arise. In this critical juncture some of our most enterprising citizens stepped forward and advised the council to proceed 10 raise revenue to meet the require ments of the town from licenses and a property tax. This advice was accept ed and the council adopted and en- forced ordinances to provide revenue from the two sources provided by law. The plan adopted had in view the policy of paying up the indebtedness, getting the town government working on a cash basis, and then amend the ordinances to compass reduction of li- censes and taxes to minimum, suffi- cient to meet the actual, economic and NECESSARY expenses of the town,
 Immediately upon the commence ment of the work of raising revenue the council was obstructed by few dissatisfied license payers, who put the town to heavy legal expense in defending against injunction proceed Ings and enforcing collection of licen- ses. In all this litigation the town has been uniformly successful, and those who are responsible therefor find in the end that they must pay, and have succeeded only in adding to their own burdens and those of their fellow taxpayers as well. Taxpayers should not forget that of the sixteen hundred and odd dollars the town government has cost, more than five hundred dol lars would have been saved but for the senseless and costly litigation pre- by the "klckers." Under normal conditions this would be near ly sufficient to pay all the town ex- pense for an entire year.
 Berond this, at the instigatlon of the same "kickerS," two of our best citizens were maliciously arrested un- der a criminal prosecution, for their patriotism in selling the road com mittee their wares at actual cost. Att the same time the town clerk was also arrested for performing his sworn du- ty in collecting license tax from China men, notifying them that unless they paid they would be arrested for viola tion of a town ordinance. These cases