Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-15

lighting contracts which will not permit us
to do that" returned President Bingham.
Councilman Burkley stated that he was
satisfied with the aggregate levy, but did not
think 1t properly distributed among the va
rious funds.
Upon the roll call on the question whether
the veto should be sustained or not, the vote
stood TO in the negative when President
Bingham's name was reached
II know that this levy is insufficient, but
the responsibility for 1t rests on the finance
committee and not on me; therefore l vote
no" said President Bingham when his name
was called and the vsto became a law. A
crowd of the heavier taxpayers who formed
a part Of the audience applauded Bingham's
statement.
Yenr of Great Prosperity.
The annual message of Mayor Moores was
presented and. in discussing the affairs OF
! the city, he said:
Owing to the fact that the reports Of a
number of the different departments have
been considerably delayed In their preserta-
/ ton TO the mayor, it has been necessary for
me to defer sending in the customary an
nual message In order that I might have
before me more comprehensive details from
which to prepare q summary of the last
years work.
There have been years, at the close of
which the citizens of Omaha have taken TO
great pleasure in a retrospect of the record
of the previous twelve months, but the year
1898 is not Of this class. This has been an
eventful year in the history of Omaha and
even the most pessimistic citizens among
us have been compelled to admit that the
city has taken a giant stride forward Stree
January /, 1898.
Every line of business has felt the effects
of the general prosperity. Our cleariags
reached 1920 600 600 during the year, placing
us on level with Detroit and above Mil
waukee, Minneapolis, st. Paul and Buffalo.
The output of our tobbers showed an in
crease of IA per cent over the large business
done in 1897, while our factories showed an
Increase of % per cent Our packing houses
killed 100000 head of live stock during
the year, a gain of more than 1000, 900 over
any previous year. To meet new demands
our packers expended more than 600
in packing house improvements. Omaha
real estate values have undergone steady
rise Rents have increased owing to the
fact that every available house and store
building Is occupied. New railroads have
come into the city and several more viii be
| constructed this year among them the ILL
nois Central, which is pushing its grading
and tracklaying with aal possible speed. a
| splendid new depot costing 100000 was
erected by the Burlington railway and work
| is progressing rapidly on the new depot of
the union racine TGMWay, WHICH VIII COSl
about an equal amount. Many miles of
! pavement and of permanent sidewalks were
| laid during the year, adding greatly to the
| appearance of the city. Many new resi-
dences We're erected during the year i'll all
| parts of the city. These evidences Of pros
perity and thrift favorably impressed the
hundreds of thousands OF visitors to our city
during the last year and they have gone to
| their homes in every part of the world
| singing the praises of Omaha.
On the Financial Question.
| The mayor then discussed the exposition
| and the many benefits derived therefrom
| after which he reviewed the financial situa-
| tion saying:
study of the financial record Of the last
| year is a source of qualification in some
| respects and of disappointment in others.
| At the beginning of the year we were con-
| fronted by conditions which called for a
generous levy. The Transmississippi and
| International Exposition was to open its
| gates June 1 and continue open until No
! vember l. An increase in funds was neces-
| sary for street cleaning, street lighting,
| curbing, guttering and paving; for fire, police
| and health protection, and in fact for every
| department of the city government. How
ever the demands by certain taxpayers for
| low levy were SO strong that instead of
| making levy to provide for these special
needs the council passed one of the lowest
levies made in recent years, In fact the
levies Of 1891 and 1885 are the only levies
made In the last ten years which were not
higher than the levy of 1898. 1t has been
| stated frequently that the regular taxes in
| Omaha during the last few years have in
| creased alarmingly, while the per cent OF
| delinquent taxes has largely increased.
| In order that no false impression may ex-
ist, 1 give the following table, showing the
total tax levy and collections for the last
ten years.