The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-01-13

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the two evils choose ye the lesser"
Deering will necessarily be the grow
icg, progressive section, hence the expen-
sive section, of the greater city; this fact,
together with the prestige of her business
men, and her very liberal representa-
zion in the City Council and on the
Scohol Board of the greater Guy, can
not fail to assure to her liberal atgehGlon,
and large portion OF the city budget.
We must reme,nber that Portland is al
ready nearly covered with permanent i'm
provements, which will need but little
attention for years to come, ana tnls is
so much the better for Deering.
| You must vote upon the question r, IN
March. You should study 1t nrst' Inc
annexation sentiment is increasing, a,u
| the union is sure to come; the condltlohs
are ripe and exceptionally favorable, anu
| have been most fairly and lmpartlaily
| adjusted. Let US not delay the DAY, on
| ~ to find less favorable compact here-
after. Once more, as bearing upon the
| tax question, allow me to ask why IL Is,
that nearly all OF our largest tax payers
are in favor of annexation, If, as you
are said to fear, it is to increase taxes
lhese gentlemen, who have succeeded In
nguT1ng out fortunes for themselves, evil
IDENTIFY do not figure to allow their taxes
10 increase. Again. I FAY, do not think
tha6 because annexation will benefit.
OLOia ~ III uCU also D6OeIlG DSef1uSs
Inc business men of Portland are the
residents of Deering, and their interests
cannot be opposed, for they are one and
the same. You should have a part in
Portland's municipal affairs, as well as
her business, otherwise you are at dis
advantage among the Portland citizens in
business. They have more influence than
yon in all matters of general interest and
public welfare. because they are citizens.
and you are not.
Our friend, Gam To whose well and
ingeniously written letter appeared in
the PRESS of Tuesday, has certainly
made the most of the arguments avail
able to him. l am glad to SEQ so frank
statement of the facts in relation to
behring's finances, as far as it goes. He
undoubtedly has had exceptional oppor-
unities to learn them. II we add to his
total figures Of $l51 ,150, given as Deer
ings' debt, the balance of the cost of the
new scoolhouse, an item perhaps not yet
due, but which will be due in two or
three month at the most, and which we
cannot in any reason escape, amounting
to about SIS, 500 ut least (possibly SIC, O00
more) we shall have $l7S, 300, which Is
slightly in excess of my estimate. This
adm ission is fair to the annexau1onlstS;
but it explodes his figures of per centage
of debt, and corroborates mine. lt IS
necessary to comment upon but one or
UWO OIL tue JULIET etdtCLiClto oAA ga 3 -
ments Of our friend.
1t is true that Portland borrowed
small amount from her sinking fund;
but the facts disclosed before the annexa-
tIon commission show that more than
half Of this amount is already paid by tne
current years taxes. feat which would
have considerably disturbed the Deer1ng
tax rate; and the balance is too insignia
cant in amount to affect averages or
percentages, or to bear any apprec1abie
relation to the main question. The other
items mentioned by Mayor Randall and
our friend were also nearly all provided
for by this year S taxes; and 1t may be
said generally that the report of the com
mission is bnsed upon figr-es revised to
date, which fix Portland's net debt per-
eentage at 3.4. The proposition OF our
friend to prevent further Increase of Deer
ing's dobt, is to raise our tax rate to $SO,
thereby raising an extra sum of from
twenty to twenty five thousand dollars.
This should have been done years ago;
but how about the boosted difference in
the tax rates of the two cities, ii Deer
ing does this, as she surely must in the
near future?
Once more our friend is afraid that
we shall not be able to send representa-
tives to the greater city O ouncil, who can
make our wants known; that our needs
cannot then be appreciated by the larger
city government My friend surely can
not think that it would require an excep-
tionally discerning eye or ear to learn of
defects in our streets, particularly in our
sidewalks, our police and fire depart
ments. Some things, unlike the hesita-
ting John Alden, speak for themselves,
PROGRESS.