Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1897-05-14
RIDICULOUS INCONSISTENCY.

AdSU Wooh - I1cTdAI OvcIlllu lUSolI
completely along the lines of agitating
something or somebody. Agitation is
often good thing if one strikes the
right key. Perhaps the Herald did-it
ought to have struck it somewhere in
all of its rambling discussion of per-
picking and important questions.
The Herald begins very sensibly a
discussion of the question of economy
thusly:
"a most rigid system of retrench-
ment in our county and city affairs
should be inaugurated and every pos
sible effort made to finally get our
money matters in shape"
That was very nice thought and
would have been all right if our es-
teemed contemporary had not pro-
ceeded in the very following sentence
to knock his own text clear out of
sight. For he proceeded with his "re-
trenchment" argument by advocating
great of money as follows:
"In city affairs, there is a very ap-
parent need of money to be used in
city adornment. We need trees along
the public streets and water to keep
them alive. The streets all need ma
cadamizing. We should have pleas
ant drives started and carried forward
to completion as speedily as possible.
Parks should be established and cool
and shady retreats constructed. Does
any man in our town know of any
process by which a lake bed could be
constructed? A good race course
should be laid out and races inaugur-
ated. Our band should be encouraged
until we could truthfully say there is
none better in the Hills. Our guests
look for some means of pleasantly
passing time and every effort should
be put forth that none can find fault
with their treatment while here. Tour
lists do not journey to desert to while
away time. They are seeking an oasis.
We can in time establish our claim to
being the garden spot, the ideal health
resort. Nothing can be accomplished
by idling away the seed time for the
harvest will surely be nothing. AS we
SOW, so shall we reap"
And those suggestions were also
very fine ones, but they hardly have
the the right kind OF jingle along
with the first sentence advocating
ssrigid retrcnchment.'
Again. the Herald says, truthfully:
''There are active, far seeing men
enough in our city to succeed in en-
listing capital in several enterprises
that will pay we'll in the Southern
Hills" and then scarcely lets an issue
of the paper escape without trying to
drive away the capitalists who have be-
come interested in the water and light
franchise in this clty-and who
have contemplated spending much
more money in the improvement of
their property. In bold headlines the
Herald explains "why our warrants
are low,"-simply because "the people
of this county are being robbed right
and left by an organized gang"-com-
prising ''a prominent banker, lawyer
or two and several men of doubtful
occupation who swere continually
striving to impress on the minds of
outside buyers that our warrants are
illegal; repudiation will eventually fol-
low and as result there was no out
side demand" And then the Herald de-
clares, after roasting the warrant buyers
because they don't pay par for war
rants, that "many county or town, in
far worse condition financially, sells
warrants for far more than our paper
is worth"
Well, that's pretty rich. The county
or town that is in "far worse condition
financially" than this and then works
off warrants for star more than our
paper is WORTH" must have a string to
some pretty good suckers. And does
the Herald pretend to blame some
"gang" for not paying "far more than
our warrants are WORTH?
Those statements might have left
our city and county blaming the
"gang" entirely. and taxpayers would
have felt that they weren't responsible
if the Herald hadn't changed its mind
and relieved itself of the following, ad-
dressed "to the citizens of Hot
Springs" 1t had evidently forgotten
about the ''gang" being responsible
when it said:
"Our city government is costing
more than can possibly be raised byour
revenue laws strictly enforced. IS
x As the city is now jogging along the
day will never come when warrants
will reach par and our town be on
cash basis.'
Which, of course, isn't true, because
our city last year reduced its indebted
ness from s61, ,412. II to s59,39o.4s, or a
reduction of s2,o22 23-and it should
go still lower another year.
X II X
Hardly satisfied with it's plea for
Economy" the Herald crowds into the
next column this statement:
"Every man who served in the late
war should draw a pension, and if not
now receiving tho nromicad pov,nop<s