Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-02-26

Hall Ring-EIection Aftermath.
There is weeping and wailing and
gnashing of teeth within the City Hall
ring, over the defeat of the refunding
ordinance. The literary bureau, the
small army of active workers, the
municipal officials and employees of de-
partments who hustled for the measure
at the polls-aH these did their work.
and did it well-but the combined
force was not sufficient to convince
three-fifths of the voters that the re-
funding scheme is good thing. There
were liberal drafts upon the resources
of the ring, and the ratification of the
measure was regarded as such a
"cinch" that there was not a little
Growing before the votes were counted.
But "the best laid schemes O. mice and
men," etc.
The ordinance failed, and there is
much display of ill temper thereat,
with very little attempt to conceal it.
The disgruntled friends of the measure
have taken a surprising stand. They
are predicting all sorts of dire calami-
ties. The bugaBoo of increased taxes
which did service for the refunding
people before the election, was paraded
yesterday morning in one of their or
gans in more hideous form. Taxpay-
ers are solemnly assured at the City
Hall that the levy will be increased
from so cents to one dollar, or just
&C 2-3 per cent, $50 the increase will
be substantial reminder of the fallacy
of voting down a good thing"
Such an assertion was begotten Of
Ignorance or a deliberate purpose to
mislead.
City Clerk O'Brien is quoted in the
News as saying:
"The city tax will now have to be
increased by probably 40 cents ON the
hundred dollar valuation. We must
pa ysomething like $4,000 on our
bonded debt this year. There is no
way out of it, and the levy will have
to be increased, and that without much
delay
"There is no way out of it," says the
City Clerk, when he knows, or should
know, that the very reverse is true.
There is way, and a very simple, bus
iness-like way. If it is possible to
refund the entire debt, it is certainly
possible to refund the portion of it
which is due and cannot be paid at
this time.
The talk of the necessity for an in
crease of 40 cents in the levy is pure
rot.
An analysis of the vote distinctly
disproves the claim made by the adj
vocates Of the ordinance that it was
supported by the wealth and intelli-
gence Of the city, or that "all the lead
ing business men" or 'the heavy tax
payers" were in favor of and voted for
the loan. Take the Second ward, for
instance 1t is comparatively small
ward. yet it cast 814 votes, being third
on the list, the big Sixth ward only
casting S31 votes, and the almost
equally large Eighth 827. Of the Sec
ond ward vote SCI men cast for the
ordinance and 240 against it. Two
things are we'll known of the Second
ward. One is that it contains larger
percentage of nOn-property owning
voters than any other ward in the city,
and the other is that it has a larger
percentage of voters who can be "han-
died" than any other ward. The or
ders were given to see that these vot-
ers went to the polls and voted right. :"
Men-even policemen-were on hands
to see that the order was carried out,
and the result was majority of 321
for the ordinance. Will any one pre-
tend for an instant that the majority
represents the material interests of the
Second ward? Does it not rather rep
resent the "rag-time" vote-the ex-
preston of men who, under pressure of
one sort or another from the City Hail.
simply went to the polls and carried
out instructions? 1t is safe to say that
two hundred such voters were polled
at the Market house precinct alone.
On the Island, and in the Third and
Eighth wards the same result was
achieved in another way. In these
wards, to a greater extent than else
where, there were careful prepara-
tons made to get out the vote of the
political friends of the present Off
Gals, and even one deaf, dumb and
blind knew before the polls opened
that these three wards could be de-
pended upon for loan majority. The
only question was, how large would it
be? Left to itself, the loan would
probably not have carried more than
two wards out of the eight, but with
the methods employed it carried four,
and one precinct of another, while in
four wards only did it get the required
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