El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-12-06
The Bond Election Ag lin.

the propose d bond issues should be
defeat ID. With your indulgence l
will now state a few of he specific
reasons why each of the issues should
be voted down.
Beginning with the PROPOSE ion to
issue $50, coo in bonds for building a
city hall. TIE amount the ople ar
to be called upon to pay on this &C
count, rrinc pal and int rest, is sS4 ,OOO
all told; or $1,000 a year for sinklp g
fund and $500 per year for interest,
making an expense of $500 per year
for The next tbir y years. The prese
city hail costs $500 q year for rent,
and as good a building can be rentsd
or 5000 a year. Almost any of the
great moneyed corporations will put
US up building to suit our eve'y want
if the city viii guarantee six per cent
interest on the investment for ten
years, a-d will besides give the city
the option of buying the building at
cost price at the end o. the ten years.
[ maintain that $4,000 will construct
as good city hall as Ell PasO needs,
and six per cent upon $40, 600 would
make the rent of such building cos.
but 5000.
1t is the statement of architects and
builders in E Pa5O that the present
city hall building can be now erected
for $4,000. Accept ng this as true.
would like to know whe~e we could put
$1,000 more expense upon thai bui ding
to adapt it 10 the wants of the city, eX-
cept to make stronger and bet e.
building of it. Eve"y city official is
comfortably housed in it. The city
council chamber affords room for ten
times the average audience that cares
to watch its proceedings. The fire de-
partment headqu artera are all that can
be desired and superior to those of
any city of is size in the Union.
And, even if the force of the fire de-
partment were to be decreased, i.
at one point THAI is now accommodated
at the central station. The jail meets
all demands upon it. What then is
the need of larger build ng? A bet
ter one we mi: hit very properly have.
aud an eXoeud ture of $4,000 would
give US a better building and a larger
one at toe same time: and, as L have
said, any numb of C rrOratiOns would
be glad to put up ,0QO building for
the city, upon guaranteed rem a! OF
5000 a ear for ten years, thus reducing
the payments for rent to 5000 year,
iuste I'd of the $500 year We are now
paying or the $500 a year we are ask
ed to load ourselves WITH by the bond
advocates. Tea years hence, by prac-
ticing the rigid economy outlined in
the mayors interview in yesterdays
Times, the city may be in ps s:t!on to
indulge in the extravaganza of $50
600 hall. but times are too hard ju
now to think of it. Let's get out of
debt, or to a pint where our receipts
at least equal our expenditures, before
attem ptlng to put on airs. What we
need now is economy, rather than
show. Ihe mayor admits the city gov
eminent can be run much cheaper than
IT, is being run. Let Us take him at his
word and give him u tirs.-rate chance
to try it.
the city hall on the park in front of the
court house is all id lie to TX. If the city
has any title to that site, which is
doubtful, 70 city hall can be erected
thereon. All the conveyance of title
to the city that ever has ben made
was for the purp~ ses of a C ty park:
and no otter use can be made of it.
But there is really no il tention on the
part of those in the secrets of the
bond advocates to erect the city hall
there. Somebody will have Just the
city when the time comes, we may be
sure: and that is the kernel of the nut.
And thus the best r TT Of the $500 in
bonds would have TO be paid for site
on which to erect the building.
AS to the school bonds, it can hardly
be said that the second ward peOp'e
asked for bread and are to be given
store. On the contrary. theV asked
for single loaf and are Offered an
en- ire bakery. Professor Putt am End
the school board agreed that $4,000 was
about the sum required to me t the
de- mands of the second ward A plan
drawn by Professor Putoam himself
was presented to contractors and tn Y
deci ed that the building could be
erected fer $4,000, the school board to
pay for the site and furnish the build
ing after it was finish, d. The bO5 I'd
had on hand $24OO. one-half of which
would pay for the land and the othe
half furnish the building. This was
agreed upon, two sites were selected
aud prices arranged: ard then the city
was asked to give the $4,000 necessary
to erect the bui ding, who was so
any time more room shou be found
to be necessary. Tcis wa, all that the
school board ard Professor Putnam
thought was needed, ard there was no
necessity to is ue bonds to raise that
small sum of $4,000. But. NJ. TIL ,se
who wanted bonds issued found TT at
there w,,uld be no objection to airy
re2s Onahle demand Tor UHe improve
nent of the sch ools so We are t Id we
can have not only the $4,000 ue asked
for in the S econd =" a d. but 81 900 more
hat we did not ask for, and an sddi-
il 7pa' $4,000 in the third ward just to
prevent thu people up in the hig alands
from getting jealous of the bloody
second'' and, fuciden tally, to tch
few votes for other boz d issues with
which it wss proposed to burden the
city snd load down our poor-l!ttle-
second ward-84000-j ckass. Well the
courts of Texa1 have Knocked that
little scheme into a cooked ha', and
here is left no second ward jackass to
IS rry the city hall and the ulding bill |
through:
a d that funding bill. Why, funding
Nils are getting to be quite common |
n Ell Paso. About nine years ago the
,ou ty scrip was funded, uuder pie a of