Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-10-26

heSiSteF I0uSlL that proposed l0dH,1
and backed by the taxpayers won the
fight. 1t was won in the interests Of
the people. and won by the people, af-
ter thorough discussion of the issue.
The Register is fully aware of the
means and steps taken to bring about
! the desired result, and no holders of
/ any bond of the city Of Wheeling had
anything to do with it. from first to
last. No bondholder was present at
! any meeting held. either in person or
by proxy. On the contrary. with a
/ single exception, all who took part in
the campaign were poor men, most of
them working men, and not all of them
Democrats. The gentleman who con-
stituted the exception owned no city
bonds, nor did he represent any one
who did. At that time the Intelligence
er and the City Hall crowd asserted
that stockholders of the Register own
ing city bonds were behind the move
ment, the same charge has since been
! made, and the Intelligencer of yester-
! day repeated it. In the first place the
charge is silly and in the second it is
untrue.
! AS to this matter it might as well be
/ specifically stated that .he controlling
interests in the Register own no bonds
Of the city of Wheeling, and further
/ the Register has no information, and
never had, that any one financially in
| terested in this paper, owns a dollar
Of city bonds, or ever did. The pri-
vate business investments Of gentle
men who may be possessed of share
or so of stock in the Register has new
er been enquired into by this paper,
and if such bonds be held by them
they have certainly never divulged the
fact nor made any suggestion as
to the course to be pursued
on city loan questions. The Intel
ligencer statement in this regard is
false, and made knowing it to be false.
That paper cannot produce one fact i'll
proof of its assertions that city bond
holders either influenced the Registers
opposition to the former loan, or have
any influence upon any position it may
take upon the later proposition now
pending before Council. The PROPOSE
ton to be placed before the people is
business one. and the Register, in the
future as in the past, will be influenced
by the best interests Of the people.
The Intelligencer's false statement
that holders Of existing city bonds in
fluenced the Register to prevent a re-
fund disproves itself. The Register
has steadfastly advocated the payment
of the city debt as rapidly as possible,
and has pointed out that Wheeling is
about the only city of its size in the
country that is paying off its debt as
| it natures Certainly, this line of ar
gument is not in the interest of the
bondholders, for the man who owns
city bond this year may have it
taken up next as those who owned
them last year had them liquidated
this. Suppose, for example, that a
stakeholder of the Register owned the
$4,000 Of outstanding electric light
bonds. Half this amount will be paid
/ in 1900, and the rest in 1901. AS a
| permanent investment this wouldn't
amount to a row of pins; whereas, if
the refund would go through the holder
of these bonds would be sure of say
four per cent. for ten years, before any
principal would become due, and would
thus get $4,000 of interest, with pos
sibility of much more. Surely opposi-
! ton to a refund would not be to the,
! interest of the bondholder in this ex-
ample.
The fact is, the refund proposition is
! in the interests of the owners OF idle
money, now difficult to invest at re-
munerative rates, and is not in the in
terests of the taxpayers, who will in
! evitably have to pay increased taxes
! for decade, and at the end of that
/ time will owe as much as ever al
+! though $4,000 will have been paid on
interest account which might have
gone to the payment of principal.
At the present rate of debt payment
the city, at the end of ten years, will
only owe litlle over 100000. Under
the proposed refund, at the end of ten
/ years, it will owe at least $425, 900, and
! taxation will have been increased.
| Which is the better proposition for
! the people? It's business question.
Editor ]. B. Clifford, of the Martins
burg Pioneer Press. the only paper in
the State published by a colored man,
announces his withdrawal from the
Republican party. In doing SO he
says:
And | herewith announce. and pledge
/ my honor to God and man, that am done
with the Republican party and i, shall
never be recalled this side OF eternity. And
way? Because they have paid me in
d.nns-not dimss-for my devotion"
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