Arizona republican., 1899-03-19
p~~~~~~~N~~~~~o~~
THE FAULT FINDER


VN~ NN/%NN~N ~N&~NSN~&~e
 I'm making this kick on behalf oi
 another man, who says: If the peo-
 pie ot Phoenix are wise they will after
 this see that the members of the board | Of supervisors are elected from the city. The city can easily control this l matter because the bulk of population is E6rc. If we want to make conces- siOns to the rural districts let them | have the sheriff, the recorder, the pro- bate judge and almost anything else they want, but let us insist on the beard of supervisors. I've been driv- .ug around the country for a month. 1hiS morning I came i'll from Tempe.
 Last Thursday I drove in from O. H. Christy's ranch on the Yuma road.
 Both the Tempe and Yuma roads were
 hard end smooth. I knew when l
 struck the city limits bH the chuck
 holes flied with dust. I inquired why tLe streets were not kept in better con-
 dition and was told that inside the city
 limits where real estate is valued by the front foot the authorities could not
 afford to improve the streets. But these rural supervisors blow them
 selves on good roads outside the city lmiis. It seems that they can afford
 it, at any rate I haven't heard any
 body making complaint about the Tempe and Yuma roads. Even the people of the town seem to be pleased
 with and even proud of those thor oug hiares. That shoiws they are short sighted. They do n0t realize that everybody who drives into town and 1lounCers around in dust CT mud makes aG inyidious comparison between the -G,. I, r. o1, furnishes the anti-exransionists with ar argument What we want more tl.an anything else is board of super vi3Ors that will hold the country down SC that it won't get ahead of the town. The Tempe and Yuma roads have got too tlossy compared with the streets of the corporation"
 ''Too many of your citizens are indif ferent to the appearance of their homes," said an eastern visitor to me a few days ago. ''It would not only add very much 10 the looks of the town, but to the money value of prop erty if more people would clean up their premises and grow grass and flowers about their houses. Many of the vacant lots would also attract buy CTS if they were covered with nice lawns and had trees or rose bushes on them And here in this country, where vegetation is so profuse, 1 cannot un- derstand why more attention is not paid to beautifying property. Why, the other day I took a ride over the entire length of the street ca~ line and the places with nice lawns and clean, bright surroundings were so few as to attract special attention. It gave me bad impression of your people and I concluded that either they are shift less, no-account lot, or else a lot of spectators who are simply holding property for unreasonable prices and don't care whether the town is bene- fited in a gene4 al way or not so thev can reap something at the expense of their neighbors. Even in the Seger tract, Bennett addition and Central Place only about three in five of the homes have nice clean yards thal. are a credit to them. I tel you your people must wake up on this matter if you want to make Phoenix attractive and make it popular resort. People with means want something else besides climate. They want pleasant sur roundings and if your people don't af- ford them the most desirable visitors will leave you aE1 go to southern Cal ifornia."
 ****
 Now that the immigration Dill has become law I hope that the board of supervisors will adept the suggestion made last summer by the business men who were contemplating the OrganiZa- tiOn of a Commercial club and appoint as immigration commissioner some one who will be connected with the pIO- posed club and will be willing to have the funds provided by the board em ployed by the club in advertising the city and county in the east. I under stand that the projectors of the Com mercial club will try soon to get action on their original proposition The idea is an excellent one, and this is the year of years to dc some effective ad vertising. If the supervisors ignore the suggestion made to them last sum- mer in connection with this immigra- tiOn mattel7 it cannot be expected that the new law will be of much benefit to the county There is a demand here for first-class commercial OrganiZa- tion which shall advance the interests of Phoenix and the valley. The trouble in the past has been a lack of funds to keep such an organization alive. It was a case of tdig up all the time by a few public spirited merchants and they naturally grew tired of the pro- gramme. With fund such as the new law provides for, first-class advert Using matter could be circulated in the states of the east and middle west, | where Phoenix and the Salt River val ley are scarcely known. The business men Of this town would hasten to join a Commercial club that had fund of this character to depend upon, and their contributions would aid material | ly in placing this favored region in the proper light before the investing and | the home seeking public If I remem- Der correctly, the supervisors expressed | their sympathy with the plSf f1 when it |