The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1899-04-16
NEED OF RETRENCHMENT
Is PLAINLY APPARENT


ASTORIA. ApsA l5-Ea;or As,nrlae:
There has been disposition, Loo some
quarters 20 question the accuracy ~
my statements made in my commualga-
;ian of the S.h lnst. regarding our lu-
dsb,eduess, IN which . pll,tl ,hc total
Indebtedness at y,OU nuet I.l NOT pro-
tend. ln that communication. 90 give
sxac, figures, but 10 give about the Iu-
drbtcdnrss. in which { placed the gota;
cral public corporations mentioned, and
90 draw the attention or taxpayers tn
the enormous burden under which they
are staggering Notwithstanding ne
heavy tax leyirs made iu thls county
According TO the city auditors report
.of December gls, l>g>. the clty's total
Indebtedness al that time, including gem
'ral bonds. general warrants. street
bonds and street warrants, was seiS oi9 80.
According 90 the report OF the county
c.erk gpr the six months ending Deem
bsr 3ls,. Uses the outstanding county
warrants amounted 20 $50 $3.50 the es-
..ma,eI accrued interest was s. %
and The amount claimed by the state
IN account NJ taxes OF 1891 and l&e. was
81. UuH0. making total county .ndeot-
cdness ~ glliESOj The report NJ the
schoo, clerk showed the total indebted
ness ~ .ue d.sri.t to u". ou January n
l2a over and above cash on hand s>i-
Nl0a 90 this amount 5000 was bonded
debt and SoS.lo2 wa. hoaHng debit The
water bond. amount 6. {9o oU.co These
figures foot up a total Of $40 2Ssi,.
As against the above indebtedness the
city officials reports showed cash on
hand SlN.29li; bu. they made no estimate
ot accrued Interest. nor Of Indebtedness
Tor which warrants had not been issued.
Both county and city claim as Offsets
% the above Indebtedness large amoun's
Of delinquent taxes. Oor the most OK
which The county has purchased the land
and the city street assessments. These
are assets. but are not available with
which 10 pas indebtedness. They must
De collected. and It Is uncertain when
the county and ciiy may be- able 20 re-
allze on them. but boz the meantime
taxes 60 on.
lNt IFlbl ~ NIl' 80 iAFFt 't'.. n ait.. ~ .f
that Of the last years tax levy per
cent Of tha, 'ey.ed by The county and
10 per cent of the district levy, were not
collected This is bad showing and Is
probably due 90 the faDt that the county
Is carrying large percentage Of taxa
Die property in lts name having pur-
chased Il on account OF delinquent taxes.
thereby taking 70 out of ,ho list Of rev.
enue producing properties.
A large amount Of taXrs has just been
collected. and the application of the pro
ceeds 70 the aforesaid indebtedness may
have reduced IL to some extent; but when
4 Is remembered that the ieyIes were
made upon estimates Of expenses for the
ensuing year, It will be- seen that the in
debtedness Will have risen 10 the above
figures at the end Of the present year
The school law provides that In ten years
from the date OF issue OF school bonds
10 per cent OF the amount Of the face OF
the bonds must be annually deposited IN
sinking fund, 10 be used in the re-
demptlon OF the bonds, at maturity
Some OF the school bonds are now sly
years old and all but {ll0000 are Ave
years old. It win be seen, therefore,
that the school district viii be called
upon to make an additional levy before
many wears 70 meet the above require
menis Of the law
In your editorial Of the Ilth inst re-
ferring 10 my communication published
in your Issue Of that date you said:
There may be differences Of opinion a.
to the proper remedy TO be applied. but
there can be no dissent as 10 the i'm
portance Of the utmost economy possible
In all the departments OF the city AMI
county governments" Undoubtedly a
majority Of the taxpayers realize that
economy should be practiced; but, un-
fortunately, there are 80 many different
opinions az 10 HOW II should be prac-
ticed, that nothing Is accomplished; and
while the doctors are quarrelng over the
remedy the patient is dying. Some OPP
pose reduction Of lights because they
prefer light to darkness; others object to
reducing the police force because they
are gelf-suDportlng. and they ought 10
have all they can collect; and each de-
partment believes that all extravaganza
is in other departments Of the public in
sututons one writer suggests that the
way 10 reduce taxes is to reduce the
valuation OF property on the assessment
roll. He must have heard Of the man
who lifted himself over the fence by his
boot straps Unfortunately. the remedy
advocated by said writer was applied here
for a number Of years, and Is the source
Of much OF our present embarrassment.
We undertook to increase our wealth by
increasing the values Of our property
upon the assessment rolls, and succeeded,
for time In being content In the be-
lief that we were, in reality richer, and