The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1902-03-25
The Bulletin mas much TO say about

/ The Bulletin has much to say abou
the city's Indebtedness. While it i:
always unfortunate TO be in debt, still
it is often necessary and often in the
case OF c0uoty OF municipality it j:
the faircst and best way to equalize the
burdens of taxation. Crawford county
is amply able to build new court
house. 1t is amply able to pay for 6
new court house in one year, but nc
snch proposition has been made. I,
has been under stood that those who
would receive the benefits for the mex,
twenty years should be the ones to pay
and not alone those who happen to be
tax payers the year the court house is
| built.
The above may be laid down as the
general principle upon which large
public Improvements are made
At the close of Mr. Romans admin.
stration. and we mention this date
without any reflection upon Mr.. Ro.
mans but simply as a starting point
dividing the old debt from the new,
the city was about $4,000 in debt.
| This included waterworks bonds. city
| hall bonds, etc. At this time the
revenues of the city We're about suffi-
cient for running expenses and the
interest on Outstanding Indebtedness.
AT this time it became apparent that if
Denison was to become city it must
depart from the old plan of patching
and make permanent Improvements.
The first and most criticised improve
ment was that on Washington Ave 1t
cost about $4,000. 1t was warmly urged
by democratic mayor and was sup
ported by democratic alderman. We
say this too without criticism, for no
one can see the impetus which this
one good street has given Denison and
not feel that after all the money was
we'll expended.
The next extensive improvement
was the opening of the road west of
town This was demanded by
the farmers who declared that they
would boycott Denison if they were
obliged to travel IN the so called
death trap" between the railroads.
The business men demanded this road
as protection to their trade. The
road was built, it cost about $4,000.
Soon after it became imperative that
q new we'll be dug for the city water
works This was not matter of choice
but of necessity. 1t was supposed that
the supply was sufficient, but it was
not and the $1,000 spent for this would
have been spent had the council been
unanimously democratic or populist.
Another large improvement was the
gravel roadway on the hill toward the
l. G. station The gravel for this was
donated but nevertheless the expense
was considerable, the whole work of
grading hauling etc. costing in the
neighborhood OF $4,000. We have thus
accounted for s13, 900 of the increased
indebtedness.
This is not all: the last few years
have been prosperous ones. Very
/ many new houses have been built and
where property owners have spent
| Thousands of dollars TO upbuild the city
they have, with justice, demanded that
| the city make the streets passa BILE.
These Improvements have cost money
which the city could i'll afford from one
standpoint but which it could not afford
| to go without. Had Denison stood still,
as it did during the democratic hard
times: had the Illinois Central not
come to Denison, had the Boyer Valley
line not oeen built, had the we'll not
gone dry. the debt OF Denison would
not have increased and the city would
be known as dead. dull place instead
of as one Of the best and most thriving
towns in western Iowa.
Another thing to be borne in mind is
that nearly every cent of this money was
| Spent dU NOME, Uucu IL NdS pdlQ "
laboring men who paid it out again
into the channels of trade for the sup
port of themselves and families.
We agree with the Bulletin that it is
well to be out OF debt, we agree that
economy should be practiced in public
as we'll as private affair but we ask the
| Bulletin to put.its finger on the causes
of our indebtedness and say which i'm
provement should not have been made.
We want conservative, economical men
on the council but one who would have
voted against these Improvements, who
would have throttled the prosperity OF
Denison because the money was not in
the treasury is not fit to be public
official. We declare that there has
been more true economyin the valuable
| permanent improvements which have
been made than in all the patching anc
temporizing which could have beer
/ done