The Portland daily press., 1898-01-11

the tax rate. the dou btIu expedient OF
borrowing from the sinking yund was re-
sorted to, and the sum or ISL, 0Oo taheu
therefrom, and Is now due that 1uhu.
Other liabilities he mentioned are u LUZ
bills of new Armory $l2,34S line Dohu-
ed interest account has been drawn oh
from time to time for current expenses
which must BIO replaced to the amount VI
Sl3,29l. For several years an 1nsuIlclen'
sum has been allowed for tax aphtemeh.set
This deficit has now reached the sum Oh
| S26, 900. - Amounts due on land pur
chased for contemplated parG system OF
His Honor, ex-Mayor Baxter, SIC, 71s-ln
all amounting to $l49, 415. This in CITY
which on its books reduced Its oep1
S32, 900 during the last fiscal year, anu Dy
following out a similar course may pc
lieye itself from all burdens of the past
in ten years.
According to Mayor Randall, there are
actual liabilities for which no offsets are
even claimed, and so it would seem
should properly be added to that met
debt, making it amount to 81, 449, loi,
which gives the rate per cent as .oooo.
What other liabilities of q similar nature
there maybe, not SO urgent as to require
immediate attention in the opinion OF his
Honor, we have no means of knowing,
as the reports would not have shown
these, but for the Mayors mention OF
them in his address.
We are told that Deering has begun I'M
proyements which when completed, Will
raise her rate per cent. nearly to the i've
per cent limit, and far above that OF
Portland. In this connection 1T may pc
! we'll to note that Mayor Randalls estl-
mate of extraordinary expenditures Tor
the present year for Tukey's bridge, new
sohoolhouse in Ward One, and increase IN
State tax, was $l40, 00o, ana Wnlie Iuls-
land, by raising her tax rate, selllng
ponds at premium and raldlng the das
Company's treasury, has provided In par55
for this, yet If reports ale true, there VIII
be something left to require extraordln-
airy appropriations for the coming year.
Now let us see about the enormous IN
crease in behring's debt, about which we
have heard SO much of late. A scnooi-
house, estimated to cost $36, GOO, will prop
ably cost $4,000, over $l1, 600 Of which
was included in behring's debt, as ABOVE
stated. To complete contemplated Inn
provements on Forest Avenue, $15 000 Is
estimated to be amply sufficient, but TO
allow margin, let US add 56,0UO to our
present debt, and it will then amount to
S206, 900, and with proportional increase
in valuation to that of the past two years,
our valuation will at the end of the COM
ing year amount to SIS, 255, 900, which
would make our rate per cent. .0S92. NOT
such startling difference between that
and POrtland's present rate based on her
"net dobt'' plus the additional liabilities
pointed out by His Honor, and even II
some other liabilities are not found re-
curing immediate attention next year,
with her heavy extraordinary expenses
this year, an actual decrease in her debt,
is hardly probable, though what her sys-
tenn of bookkeeping may show is mat
ter of conjecture.
But it is said in the last ton years Port
land has paid off 81 200, 900 of her debt,
and accordingly in ten years more "she
may be free from the burden OF the
past Well, it may be within the range
of possibilities, but as q probability 1t Is
about as likely to take place as, In case OF
annexation, Portland is likely to spend
one half of her appropriations for streets,
or. $50, 600 on the streets now within the
limits of Deeriug.
Tt is very simple to pay off debts with
paper and pencil; for instance, Deering
viii undoubtedly be at the end of the
coming year $780, O0 in debt. Suppose
instead of being annexed we maintain
our separate government and raise our
tax rate from SIT to $50 per thousand
which with our annual increase in valu-
alton would raise an additional sum OF
twenty to twenty-five thousand dollars
per year, over our income from taxes dur
ing the present year. Then allowing
for our annual increase in current expen-
; ditures apply $4,000 a year of that in
crease to our debt and the farmers of
Ward One, Two and Three, not to men
ton those of Ward Seven, would be re-
; lieved from the burdens of the past al
most as soon as If u resident of Greater
Portland.
; Investigation will show that it is not
; true that Deering has not paid her run
ming expenses. The records show that
the only increase in debt from that left
by the old town has been for sewers, b Or
est Avenue, and the new High School.
lOorn of
above was unexpected for this years ex-
penditure, and will readily be taken care
of under next years appropriations, and
should not really be added to the debt. es-
pecally in the estimate of the debt for
the end of next year, as it will undoubt-
edly be taken care of before that time.
The question has many phases yet to
be discussed, but to our mind the whole
; question broadly stated will resolve itself
into this: Shall we, if annexed, actually
receive ns many improvements us we
should by raising the same amount OF
money on our property, and spending 1t
ourselves. There certainly will not be
cities than when separate, the tax rate
! remaining the same. Annexation will
. not create any valuation where it does
not now exist. Then the question comes
right home, will q city government, a
large majority of which resides in the
| GcnSCIF pUPuitttou pnTuJ tHhO d PoI oioi. VI
the money raised on the property in that
part and spend it in the less thickly
settled territory? 1t would seem to us
that the needs Of smaller Portland are
enough to require all the money that 1t
; can raise by taxation on its own property
for some years to come. You cannot
spend more in one territory without ia
king from the other. If you spend fifty
or sixty thousand dollars on Deering s
streets Portland's would suffer There
would be the additional twenty or TWEEN.
ty-five thousand dollars coming from the
increase in Deering 8 taxation with which
she might be policed, and be furnished
} with better fire protection perhaps, but
we are not obliged to 6e annexed to Port
land to get our tax rate raised. We can &c
that ourselves and hire police, and BUY
fire engine if we wish. The question
whether with the same amount of money
to spend. q city government, a very large
majority of which live in the densely pop
ulated part could more iudiciously spend
the money and meet the needs of the sub
urban districts better than government
composed entirely of men living In those
) Consumption Positively