The evening times., 1900-01-22
CHICAGO'S INCOME WANING.
on In the item OF Licenses
Puzzles Einanciers.

! CHICAGO. Jan. 22.-ChicagO. with less
/ than oue-half the population Of New YORK,
| expends in a year, approximately for mu-
nicipal expenses $40 coo 900, the item OF in
| terest on the city debt. which is less than
ST.. 600 O00, being a small one. and the di-
| rect contribution of Chicago to the State
! administration of Illinois at Springfield
| being likewise, modest one.
| Chicago is Just now in the throes of some
forced fnanciering" 10 make its muhl-
cipal revenues meet the required dlsDuFSe-
ments. and il has been asccrtalned ac-
cording 10 the report Of the city collectors,
that there has been a heavy falling of
of the city's receipts from licenses, aver
aging 10 per cent in over twenty classes.
discovered at time when the city IS
confronted by deficit in its general tund,
the shortage OF license receipts is an occa-
sion for surprise. Chicago collects license
fees from peddlers, owners OF vehicles.
plubers butchers, brewers, and theatre
managers as well as from auctioneers, ba-
kers boatmeH, druggists, keepers OF table
d'hote restaurants. gunpowder stores. ard
hospitals, from hackmen, junk dealers.
produce veRdeTs. runners, public scales,
soap factories, street cars, wagons, and
workshops.
The dininution in the revenues from
these. $500 900 in 1889 has been $4,000.
the largest item CT falling of being in the
case of the plumbers, although the muni-
cipaI reformers OF Chicago. a less numeT-
Gus class than in New York. discern no
humorous significance to this: neitheT co
they offer any explanation OF the fact that
the number of licensed wagons in the city
has decreased 700 compared with year
ago, withstanding the fact that all re-
tail as well as wholesale business has IN
Chicago, as elsewhere, been largely ln-
creasing.
Although twenty items of license
revenue in Chicago have decreased during
the year, other items of license revenue
have either remained stationary or grown
larger and the statement of the number
of these shows the extent to which
municipal license is carried on in Chica-
CO. That city received last year SS2 600
from the license on dogs, s2s 600 from the
license on cigarettes, So, 600 from milk
peddlers. S25. 900 from brokers. $4,000
from second hand clothing dealers, 900
from pawnbrokers, and $4,000 from milk
dealers in stores.
THE largest separate item of license
receipts in Chicago is. of course, the one
derived from saloons of which there are
no dearth. The revenue from this source
last year was s., 127 600, trifiing increase
over the year before. but the other
licenses named fell of in the aggregate,
SO that despite its increase in wealth, en-
largement Of business and alleged in
crease in population, Chicago's revenue
from licenses was less last year than the
year before. though there has been no
corresponding reduction in the rates
charged.
What is regarded by some Chicago men
as an unaccountable decline in public
license revenue is under the heading OF
boats" There is a s25 fee for steam
boats. 81 for rowboats. 81 for sailboats.
and s27 for junkboats. Assuming that
there was but one steamboat one rowboat,
enc sailboat and one junkboat in the city
a strict enforcement of the law would
bring S59. AS it was, the city got S11.
Ten years ago the city derived $1,4O0
revenue from boat licenses.