The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-11-27
"a W%ORKINGMAN"


Pays HIS Respects to "Buster JIm,n
Whose Ignorance Has Found Express
sion In the Publlc Prints Rccenuy-The
Hsfund as 1t Appeals TO the small Prop
erty Owner.
10 the Editor OF tho fn~telllgencer.
SlR:-In the issue OF the Ohio Valley
Workman of November 10, there ap-
peared m article over the signature Of
Buster jim" from which l quote the
following: Does n Intelligent per-
son suppose that capitalists who now
hold the G per cent interest-bearlng
bonds will surrender them and take the
four and one-half per cent interest
bearing bond In their placer" Buster"
a this crude production conceived in
Ignorance of our citv's laws, or was 1t a
brazen attempt to defend our bond-hol-
ders to retain their grip on the Q per
cent they have been taking from the
tax payer for years? Jim" the city OF
Wheeling has some rights that bond
holders must respect, and II It had not
this right, council would not undertake
the passage Of a refundtng ordinance 20
be submitted 20 the people for their
ratification or rejection. Friend BUS
ter Jim" 1t seems that what you do not
know about our clty's laws, II put to-
gether, would make a large volume, but
nothing in comparison to your ignor-
ance OF u state laws. In last weeks
Issue Of the Workman he said that in
thirty years the state and county
would lose s127,S67 bv not having the
knew bonds taxable. Every school boy
of ten years of age In Wheeling knows
that II the statutes of West Virginia
impose a tax OF n per cent on all
bonds issued within 'the state, that the
council or the people of this city could
not enact or ratlfy any law or measure
that would override the acts OF our leg
lslature. The last three lines OF the
first section of the refundlng ordinance
say clearly and distinctly that, Meth
er the said bonds nor the coupons
thereto attached shall be subject to tax.
alton under the authority of the city Of
Wheeling"
Jim" is 1t possible that a fabulous
lightning calculator of your calibra
would construe these simple lines to
mean that the state and county could
not tax our bonds. You may be an err
ratio expert in fighting other matters
pertaining to the clty's interest. but the
ignorance you display In fighting the
refundlng ordinance Is a fair sample OF
the kind OF ~malcontents that r OPP
posing the new loan. Your perverslon of
facts Is so brazen and audacious that
the intelligent reader can see at a
glance the stupidity of your venomous
profusion. When you assume the i'm
pudence OF instructing the readers Of
the Workman on any other public ques-
tlon, be sure you understand what you
are writing about and not make n bra
zen clown out Of yourself. Your imagi-
nary array Of figures on what the new
bonds will cost the tax payers In the
next ten years was rs erroneous and
misleading as It was silly and inconsls-
tent. ANY school child knows that the
city will gain more in the next ten
years on new bonds at 4 per cent than
continue paying 6 per cent on the old
bonds.
To illustrate this fact in as few fig
ures as possible, l will say for instance,
that the citv's debt for the last ten
years was S65O,00O This amount at 6
per cent would cost the tax payers
$500. 900. Now take this s650,OOO for the
next ten years at 4 per cent, and 1t Will
only cost the city $3.50, 600. or a saving to
our tax payers Of $4,000 in ten years.
The interest on bonds is the main fac
tor and the less interest paid the better
1t is for the city. The principal will
take care Of itself.
IF "BUsTER JIM" BORROWED
$1,000 FROM ME AT 6 PER CENT
AND ATtTHE END OF THE YEAR
PAYS ME- 500 INTEREST. WOULD
NOT HE BE FOOLISH TO CON-
TIN1IE PAYING THAT AMOUNT OF
INTEREST WHEN HE COULD GET
TT FROM THE EDITOR OF THE
WORKMAN AT 4 PER CENT, saw
ING THEREBY $50 EACH YEAR? The
most interesting phase Of the new loan
to the small property owners Is how 1t
will be used In street improvements.
The ten cent levy collected yearly for
new paving, Misunderstanding and new
sewers. hardly exceeds sci, 900, and by
dividing this amount equally, each ward
receives only $500. 1T THE SIXTH
AND EIGHTH WARDS GET NO
MORO APPROPRIATIONS THAN
THIS MISERABLE SUM FOR NEW
IMPROVEMENTS, IT WILL BE FGF-
TY YEARS BEFORE THEY WILL
HAVE RESPECTABLE THOROUGH
FAIRS. 1t Is not the people OF these
wards alone that need new improve
ments. There ure streets in other parts
of our city that are n disgrace to civil
llzatlon, aud this is what u citizens In
general want the new loan for. Each
ward would get n respectable uppro-
pratlon annually to make our streets
firm and solid for all our citizens and
taxpayers, ~
"BUsTER JIM" THINKS IT Will
he ROBBERY TO PASS THE NEW
LOAN, BUT NOBODY SAW HIM OP-
POSE THE CITY AUTHORITIES NY
THREAT OR INJUNCTION WHEN
THEY PAVED THE STREET ALONG
ms PROPERTY. EVERY PATRIOT
10 CITIZEN SHOULD CAST HIS
VOTE FOR THE RBFUNDGNd Or
DtNANCE BECAUSE TO GET A NEW
LOAN Al LESS INTEREST IS \
BUSINESS PROPOSITION THAT
SHOULD INTEREST THE TAN
PAYER,
IA ~ not Il scheme of rings ANA poll