The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-11-17
I'D the Editor q the In~tellIgencer.

NA sNNA EhlNA 0AAh hhV AhNblakGAG
and as an old resident and citizen of
Wheeling and somewhat of a tax pay
er, / trust / am not imposing on your
space by asking you to insert the
Views that l have formulated after
carefully reviewing both sides of the
refunding matter.
am somewhat astonished az the I'D
monition the Register gives the Repub-
llcan council. and l have in my possess
sion its various writings on the sub
ject, telling council prior to the passage
of this ordinance how 1t would injure
the Republican party,
Being n Republican, and the matter
having taken, you might say, a polite
al turn on the part of some of the OPP
ponents OF the measure, instead OF 1t
being looked upon In a spirit of fairness
or business, It strikes me that no bet
ter argument can be made in favor OF
the ordinance than that the Register
must fear that some good must come OF
1t. and that the gentlemen now in
council will be better able 10 iegIslate
NAhAA many VI lutlI DIGutEtHHOis 81 ~ LIt
statement OF Mr.. Cruise Is true. I note
that Mr.. Cruise told the gentlemen of
the Trades Assembly last Sunday that
he believed In borrowing money at a
lesser rate of interest than we are
paying az present, and that he looks up
on the measure as a good one, carefully
prepared, and the city's interest well
guarded. but objected to II on the
grounds that We do not pay off 3 per
cent compromise bonds upon which the
city has defaulted for quite n number
OF years, Upon inquiry, / find that this
was for no other reason excepting that
there was no money on hand to paV
them with; and nov II you were to
ask for them they would be 6 per cent
under the statute Of U state.
which provides that paper matured
shall bear 9 per cent. Heretofore we
have paid the interest of 3 per cent per
annum, and In 1900. when there are nc
coupons attached, the city will have to
take them up.
1t would be useless to lay by the
$4,000 that Mr.. Cruise makes mention
of, in some banking institution at q les
ser rate than we are paying for the
compromise bond, and cripple the city's
departments to the extent that moth
Ing could he accomplished. / have
made considerable inquiry Of the gen.
tlemen who had this matter in hand,
and find I would prefer trusting the
opinion OF men who have been reason
ably successful with their own AFFAIRS
than TO take theories and politics into
consideration. In one of the Registers
Issues / find a card, or rather a com-
munlcation, published, In which the
writer INDUCES In abuse of our city en-
gineer for putting rounded curb stones
on the corners. asking how many re-
funding ordinances would he required
II this extravaganza was continued ON
yesterday I took occasion TO look at
these improvements and find, and 1
think the Register will concur with
me, that nothing neater could have been
accomplished than the self same adop-
ton of this particular system of round
ing the corners. The expense Is no
greater and not only does It embellish
the looks OF the street, but has n ten.
dency to widen and improve it. IT Is to
be regretted that council could not find
means enough to put a sewer there, but
I firmly believe. with the grade adopt
ed, II win now carry water sufficient to
relieve the pressure from the old W
enough for 1t to last for years to come.
By r~efundlng. mean can be gotten
for the improvements needed, such as
she sewer. for instance, now In the
Eighth ward. It Ia utterly useless I'M
less Il Is completed. Another Is need
ed in the First ward, and instead of a
strip OF paving being started In every
ward in the city, something can be ac-
cnmplished which will show results
in the next ten years. Would 1t not be
better for every citizen, regardless of
politics. to adopt this system, particu-
larly since the city's Indebtedness 10
not increased thereby
I notice in this mornings REGISTER
even the editor Of the paper dwells up
on the dangerous theory Of the posi-
bIllty OF something occurring IN the
next ten years, by which the city could
not, because OF her having already is-
sued a certain amount OF bonds. con-
tinue to Improve or issue more bonds.
This is either ignorance or a wiiful eff
fort TO mlslead some one. Our city's in
debtedness which exists now. does not
reach by $780, 900. the maximum amount
she can issue bonds for, and, as under
the new project you do not issue more
bonds. wherein does 1t change the condi-
lions at all?
There can certainly be no difference
between bills payable or n book nc-
count. The city owes thls money now.
and is paying G per cent to banks and
bankers and would only be permitted to
issue bonds for her liabilities inclusive
of every indebtedness OF every kind; SO
this misleading statement can be for
no other purpose than to defeat the
measure, which I look upon. after cnre-
full consideration, as one OF the best or
dlnnnces ever offered In council, n
having been once n member thereof l
know some little OF the city's affairs.
When the finance committee OF u
city makes the appropriations It first
ascertains the revenues and subsequent
~ makes the respective allotments for
the departments which must be main
tanned for the safety and welfare Of our
city, such az the fire, police. health de-
partmentg. markets. etc Ang emCr-
gency within the year. such as we have
had In the way Of smallpox, dostruc-
tlon by floods, fires, etc, may require
from the department a sum Of money
which can not he foreseen, and the
necessity arise that the money must
be raised from some channel The tax
payer IN hsscssed on the basis OF these
vnriouB appropriations I do not think
council or any Of It's members can be
blamed for n mlyhap In thp was OF cav
Ing Of scwcrs or the giving away Of n
bridge, and yet when the sum assessed
In the way Of taxes In inadequate and
these emergencies arise, az they have, n
howl goes ~ that gront extravaganza
exists. but no Of tho opposing side
hos yet been nblc to point out where
those wnHtnges Of money come IN.
Nv GTttrn lnpL pNgaHtoN Ia nae Vk0l