Arizona republican., 1901-10-10
A TAXPAYERS BURDEN
Some New Light on the Council {
 Shake Down" System.

The refusal of the council on Tuesday night to reinstate Henry Bloomhorst.. he engine company driver who had been removed for refusing to pay his assessment of S5 a month to, the Young Mems Democratic club. has throwna little more light on that "shake down" policy adopted by the council. It will ; be remembered that some time before much was heard of the assessments the council had a generous fit and rais- ed the salaries of the paid members Of
 the fire department 8 a month. The salaries of most of the other council
 appointees were raised at the same time. The fact that the increase of sal ary per month happened to equal the assessment gave rise to the not unnat- ural suspicion that the generosity "f the council was exercised only for giv- ing the Young Mems Democratic club
 access in a roundabout way to the city treasury. The council believed, no
 doubt that the taxpayers, especially the republican taxpayers and the members of the Jefferson Democratic club. would feel better if the Young Mans Democratic club derived its sustenance in this devious way. and particularly | if they knew nothing about it, than If q city warrant were drawn once
 month in favor of the club for an amount equal to the combined increase i of the salaries.
 A more direct way. and one whi n
 would have commended itself to tax peyers for its openness. would have been to have included Tn the city tax levy a levy of. say. "one-half mill for the maintenance of the Young Mems Democratic club" That would have raised about s15OO would still have left
 Al. the Harrison act and would have dis tributed the support of that admirable
 and necessary institution, the Young
 Mems Democratic club. equally over the taxable property of the city. The councils plan does in fact make an equal distribution of the burden. since the taxpayers have to pay those in
 creased salaries, of which a part is 6i
 verted into the Young Mems Demo cratic club, but it does it in a way
 which puts the council in a bad light.
 But that isn't what MT. Bloomhorst's comrades in the engine company are
 kicking about They object to the de- struction of the efficiency of the de
 partment by dragging it into politics.
 Discipline Is already gone. as Chief
 Fromm informed the council on Tue{- day night. The paid members, having
 come to regard the democratic council
 as the source of their livelihood. care for nothing except to keep on the good
 side Of the council. They know that
 however inefficient they may become the council will support them for polir- ical reasons.
 The petition for the reinstatement Of Bloomhorst was not intended so much for his reinstatement as for restora-
 tion of the company's right to appoint
 it's own officials. Bloomhorst would not
 perhaps have taken the place back.
 The petition was signed by twenty-four
 members of the company. of whom
 twenty are taxpayers. But in order r1
 punish Bloomhorst for failing to turn
 over to the Young Mems Democratic
 club s of the money paid him out of
 the city treasury. these petitioners
 were turned down and a dangerous
 thing was done to the fire department.
 Some Of the city councilmcn are in
 clined to look upon the ci.v's money
 as their own. They are accustomed 10
 speak of salaried appointees who have
 spoken against their course in the
 Bloomhorst matter as ungrateful per
 sons into whose mouths ''we have been
 putting bread" It is remembered that
 when the question of removing BloonI-
 horst was first called up one of the
 councilmen gave as his reason that
 ''he did not like to put bread in a man:
 mouth and have him going around
 talking about him."