The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1902-08-01

CdIIleu OUT MS pledgeS 10 the Gill
zens of his home city? His admin
istration has increased the valuation
of property for taxation purpose.
and raised the rate for operating
expenses of the city. He sough
to deceive the citizens by neglec''
ing to levy for the sinking fund and
judgment fund, thus leaving large
Indebtedness bearing a high rate oi
interest, unprovided for.
That is after the kind of economy
of the Leedy administration, which
refused to make the necessary ap.
propriations for maintenance and
repairs of our public institutions,
thereby very much injuring their
usefulness.
Mr.. Craddock has not given a
very good report of himself by his
public service as mayor of Kansas
City, in the line of reformation and
economy. Notwithstanding the rev.
enues of the city during the first
year of his mayorship were SIS, 900
more than the preceding year, the
reform mayor succeeded in using it
all up and in increasing the floating
Indebtedness of the city over S22 )
900. One of his acts of economy
looking to the decrease of taxation,
which he had promised, was to have
his salary as mayor raised from
$1,000 to 81, 900. He increased
the licensed joints and increased
the police force to look after them,
incidentally making few more
places for his hungry followers. He
promised the people of the city that
he would raise the assessment of the
big corporations. He promised the
corporations that the rate should be
lowered, so they would have no ad-
dltional taxes to pay. He had the
valuation raised and kept his word
with the corporations by not levying
the tax required for sinking fund and
judgments. The mayor simply car
ried the indebtedness over for his
successor to meet, but did not fool
the people by his hollow pretences
of economy.
Since the success of that great
Democratic "reformer," Cleveland,
the Democrats have been great on
"reform" candidates and "reform"
campaigns. 1t is the easiest thing
in the world for a Democratic can
didate in Kansas to make any kind
of an impossible promise, conting.
ent on his electlon-he never ex-
poets to be in a position when he
will be called upon to fulfill them.
Mr.. Craddock, however, was taken
at his word and elected mayor of
Kansas City, Kan, on a platform
of promised economy and reform.
He has greatly increased the city's
expenditures, plunged the city into
debt, failed to make the levies nee
essary to meet her Obligations, and
doubled his own salary.
Such a reformer and economist
as Mayor Craddock at the head of
the great state of Kansas would have
a broadly extended field for the ex-
ercise of his peculiar talent for
economy. But the people of Kan
sas are pretty well satisfied with the
kind of economy administered by a
administration; an econ
omy that provides for the needs and
betterments of our great state insti-
and carefully looks after
the economical distribution of the
funds raised, as well as all other fl,
nancial interests of the state; an
that does not go into
A campaign with any impossible
promises or inordinate display of
immaculate purity, but when in
power administers the affairs of the
state in a careful, economical, wise
md business-like way, and claims
10 special credit for the same-only
hat it has done the right.