The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1902-12-25
CHARTER TALK.

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IT seems to be the opinion Of the
business men of Princeton that it
would be a very unwise move to incor-
porate the village into city under the
charter act as has been proposed by the
village council. The UNION was of the
opinion at the time the council took the
initiative that the step was a hasty one
and should not have been taken until
after mature deliberation and consider
alton. The first snag struck was the
surrendering of half the valuation of
the school district under the charter
act, and this of itself is enough to kill
the proposition. No one in particular
should be blamed. for the hasty step
taken, as some. of the business men,
themselves were eager to have the
council act and act hurriedly. There
was no occasion for this at all. But
now that it has been done and the citi-
szens have been informed and posted in
the matter, there is no loss at all, as
the snapshot proceeding has proved of
some value to the citizens of Prince
ton, in that it has awakened the bust
ness men to realization of the needs
of the place. They have studied the
old and the proposed new charter, and
this is something they never did before.
In this particular they are better citi-
zens than before, and know more than
they ever did before. Now that the
air has been cleared and the people
have come out Of the fog of uncertainty
and have come to the conclusion that
the old charter has ample provisions
for improving the village it is to be
hoped that in the future the council
and the business men of Princeton will
work harmoniously and pull together
for the best interests of the place. It
goes without saying that this has not
been the case for some time. The mo-
tives of some people have been dis
credited, there have. been factional
fights, criticism, and a disinterested-
ness on the part of many, and all these
things have worked to the injury of the
village. 1t is not that more law is
needed so much as more public spirit
on the part of the citizens, and less of
selfish interest and more of that gener-
GUS public spirit that builds up and
beauties cities and villages. Prince
ton wants better streets and better
sidewalks and more sidewalks, and
wants more of her streets graded and
put in shape for traffic. A village with
a 1000 depot and doing the business
that Princeton is doing ought to have
more improvements than Princeton
has to-day. This goes without saying:
If the business men of Princeton are
ready and willing to turn over new
leaf and make up their minds to insist
on and work for some permanent vii
lage improvements and to help pay for
these improvements there will be no
need of any new charters. But, gen
tlemen, you can't have good streets
and sidewalks and sewers and such
necessary improvements without pay
ing for them. Temporary street i'm
provements from year to year will not
suffice. There must be a permanency
to these improvements. :"
It will soon be time to start a new
year for the village and it is to be
hoped that all will resolve in the future
to join hands with the council and try
and secure the many improvements
needed here in Princeton. A village
council is nothing but few men who
are willing to sacrifice their time for
the good of the community. They can
not do much without the hearty CO.
operation of the citizens, and this they
should seek. The people look to the
council to act. That is what the vii
lage officials are elected for, and they
should map out a plan of work and in
vite the citizens to join with them in
executing the same.
The True Idealism. -*5