The record-union., 1899-02-09
At THE SUFFER- CLUB ROOMS.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE GIVES
A RECEPTION.
Instructive Remarks by Retiring
President Lind1ey and
Other Members.

President Lindley and
Other Members.
AT the reception given last night by
the Chamber Of Commerce to the City
Trustees, Board of Health, Board OF
Education and other citizens, at the
Sutter Club, retiring President Lindley
called the meeting to order and de-
livered his retiring address, as follows:
Members of the Chamber of Com
merce and invited guests, to whom we
extend the privilege of members to-
night:
We have had at the rooms of the
Chamber of Commerce the cold business
OF the annual meeting. We indulged
there in facts, not fancy.
We are now at the rooms of the Sut-
ter Club. This club is good thing
for Sacramento because it fills long
felt want-a place for the mingling OF
business and pleasure.
1t is therefore fitting that at this,
the Sutter Club end of our annual
meeting, the ideas advanced should not
be limited to the absolutely practical
but should admit of thoughts on the
be permitted here to build, as it were,
castles in the air, in the hopes that
some day Sacramento may become a
second heaven and that we, dwellers
in its fairy castles.
That the rest of you may feel at
home, I, your President for yet a few
moments, will set the example of build
ing at least one air castle, if air cas-
tie it is permitted to be.
Sacramento shas this year reached
that point in her career when she can
afford to reach out and take that posi-
which belongs to her.
The report of the Committee on I'm
migration has touched upon our relief
from the old debt. There seems 10
have been a certain contingent of our
population whose feeling against the
Funded Debt Commission has led them
TO feel we never would get out Of debt.
They have kept the city depressed with
doleful walls about its burdensome bonds
SO long that they have come to look
upon their mistaken prejudices as the
inspiration of truth. 1t remained for
them to be hit on the head with the
cancelled million dollars face value of
could appreciate simple financial
problem. You must either move a
monster State Capitol building (by an
Act of the Legislature or pay a mil
lion dollars of debt (by tearing up a
lot of worthless bonds) to arouse some
people from their stupor
The present attempt to abolish the
commission is the last faint struggle of
taken, for if there is anything wrong
1t is the Commissioners and not the
commission. 1t needs no Act of the
Legislature to correct that trouble. The
appointment of one proper Commission
er would correct the trouble
When it was attempted to abolish this
commission some thirteen years ago. a
committee from the old Board of Trade.
publication of whose report have in
my pocket. learned from the late H. o.
Beatty. the genius of this commission,
that the debt could be paid through
this commission in from twelve to fif-
teen years and so reported. How ac-
curate this prediction was can best be
judged from the operations of this COM
mission during this, the fourteenth
year after the prediction.
The commission has not only prac-
tically redeemed the old debt, but also
over $2000 of street, levee and sew
er bonds issued within the past ten
years.
Suffice it to say that since the crea-
tion of the Funded Debt Commission in
1872 there has been redeemed, mostly
through it, nearly two million face
value of old bonds and coupons past
due at the time. together with over
two millions of interest maturing sinca
1872 This is a grand total Of owe,
four millions of dollars in quarter of
century. Besides this, the city re-
deemed some other bonds and the
Funded Debt Commission has practi-
cally redeemed most of the three hun
dred thousand dollars new street, levee
and sewer bonds. That the commits
sion has made some mistakes goes
without saying So would any COM
mission handling four millions of secur-
titles with doubtful legal questions al
ways pending.
1 have but one new idea on the Geot
1t is that, Notwithstanding the adverse
decision of the Supreme Court, we
have profited by the contention that
the bonds did not bear interest. Had
We not raised the issue the bonds would
have been worth par and past due in
terest from the very moment, fifteen
or twenty years ago, the revenues OF
the city applicable to the payment OF
the debt began to exceed the annual
interest
With this record of four and a half
millions of dollars bonds and interest
paid since 1872, should we have ANY
fear of attempting to build up a city
founded upon such intrinsic worth?
The first and most pressing need OF
cur city is pure or purified clear water:
pure water. if we have it in nature
purified water If we have to resort to
filtration.
Professor Rising has been very much
abused by the blind friends of the
river Yet only last week he re-
marked to DR.. Henderson and myself
that with good river water (mind you
good river water) good well water and
good mountain water, Sacramento had