Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-10-20
NINTH STREET As A TYPE.

Richmond, Va, October 10, 1897.
! To the Editor OF the Dispatch:
/ have noted your efforts to have TN
pavement of north Ninth street repaired
and l note, also, that II has not yet beer
attended to. Committeeman may say tina
no money is available. but when the sale
committeeman order the road-bed oil
Marshall street between Eighth ano
Ninth streets TO be paved with granite
spalls, II looks as II the city has money
to burn" Send one of your reporters 10
the square named and see II 1t is not
almost in perfect order, yet II is to be
torn up and paved just because the com
mitteeman from this ward has not spent
his portion of the street appropriation and
is looking for some place to put 1t.
The pavement from Mozart Hall TO
| Grace street is disgrace to Richmond.
More persons pass over il than over any
similar area of pavement in the city, yet
no paving money" can be found while
good streets such as Broad between
Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth and Mar
shall between Eighth and Ninth streets.
are disturbed and repaved when no neces-
sity exists for It,
Where are the GOOD Government
members Of the Street Committee?
4A.O4>ER."
The fact that Ninth street, and many
other thoroughfares (of which Ninth
street is a type have been allowed to re-
main in disgraceful condition for years
is as much a reproach to the public as TO
the City Council. II the people had be-
gun to "kick" long ago. instead of appear
ing Indifferent to the matter. the neces-
sary work would have been done months
and months ago.
According to the Richmond system"
II is not the duty of the city, but of abut- |
ting property-owners, TO pave sidewalks. |
1t is, however, unquestionably the duty |
of our city government to see to it that |
such property-owners do what is required |
OF them by law.
That there has been little or no effort |
to enforce the paving assessment law has
been due, we suppose, to the various con-
hicting decisions upon the subject and the
unwilingness of the Council to lay any
additional burdens upon property-owners
during these hard times. But the right OF
/ city to assess abutting property-owners
for local improvements" was clearly es-
ablished by the Supreme Court of APP
,eals last year provided such owners be
leard when the assessments are made.
md at the last session of the General
assembly Of Virginia a law was passed
citing forth the manner in which said
assessments shall be levied So 1t would
eem that our City Council may now give
ue notice to the owners Of property abut-
ng upon Ninth street and assess them
" a sum sufficient to put that pavement
order.
Unquestlonably II is the duty Of the
ouncil either to make the property-own-
s mend this piece of pavement or else u
I'VE the work done at the expense OF II
e city Longer inaction is not to be II
lerated. The sidewalk there will soon u
in an unsafe condition. Even now the q
Is in the bricks are so deep in places u
at by misstep man might easily s'
list or sprain his ankle. IN
rhe truth would seem to be that the az
uncil has not given this subject proper or
Iention-it has not been impressed by III
Importance. For this the public is to 10
me, in part: we are too patient and IN
g-suffering at times Now let us be nj
and doing.
the assessment system is to be con- m;
ued here the City Council ought to set ma
work at once to give notices of con- ha
lplated Improvements. If il is not to be rec
orced, then we should cease ripping sid
n perfectly good, smooth, and sub val
ntial streets and use that money TO the
air or rebuild such sidewalks as that qui
Ninth street. sui
he time has come for us to take a new ma
arturo. In this day and generation VIII
IN asphaltum road-beds and grano- wit
ic sidewalks are so common elsewhere, his
I must strangers think of us when they
e to pick their way over such side II
ks as that on Ninth street? 1t won't trit
we must change our ways. We must ten
more attention to appearances, or the
be content to have Richmond set wa,
n as "A finished-badly fnished-city. the
against the entering of such an op- que
rious judgment hundreds are already cor
esting, and will refuse to be Quoted
the City Council either enforces the A
ssment law or does the work now so eau
y needed at the expense of the city pro-
(. dist
e thing or the other ought to be
/, and quickly. IL