Arizona republican., 1903-05-13
0ood Beginning of the Bonnet Admin
 istratlon.

The Bennett administration has De- e,n,, ,yslI F,xtravagant salaries have been chopped in two, and wholesome nolicy of retrenchment is begun. The people have good reason to congratu- late themselves that republican au- ninistration was elected week ago. and as time goes on they will have stlli more reason to be glad. Mayor Ben nett promised before election that ne would give the city a business admin istration. and We do not doubt that the republican members of the council VIII loyalty support him in his policy. It is equally certain that the entire city will uphold the mayor ir his deter imitation to handle public affairs as he would conduct his own business. His predecessor. Mayor Talbot, was earn estly desirous of freeing the city from graft. but was handicapped by an unfriendly council Mayor Bennett will have a free hand, and we look for nothing but the best results.
 The mayor will find. of course. that pruning of extravagant salaries is but the beginning of his task. It will re- uuire protracted study of the city en- tire, fiscal system to determine the limit of retrenchment. The city's ex- penditures must be made materially less than the city's income, in order that the funded debt may be paid on at the earliest possible moment The new administration finds, as a heritage from incompetent and corrupt demo- cratic management, through series of years, a great floating debt for which the city has received substantially nothing in return. The debt stands, however and it must be paid. At pres ent, this debt is drawing interest at the rate of $ per cent. There is no reason whatever why the city of Phoenix should pay such a high interest rate. If it is found advisable to fund any portion of the warrant indebtedness it will develop, we are confident, that I per cent interest instead of will sui flee.
 We expect to see Mayor Bennett devise a system of government which will save many thousands of dollars annually. While the population of the city has increased but slowly during the past three or four years. the ex- penses of government have been doubled. Careful examination of all details will undoubtedly disclose ways and means whereby these expenses can be cut down to a reasonable basis, and this without detriment to the public service. For one thing, it is certain, of course, that during the Bennett ad- ministration there will be no waste of thousands of dollars in political street work" The streets and alleys must be kept clean the streets must be kept sprinkled, and before the next rainy should be paved with disintegrated granite. But by following business methods all this can be done and still save large sums to the public treasury
 On the moral side the outlook is quite as good as on the financial side. Dur ing the Bennett administration there will be no blackmailing of policemen and firemen and city employees gener- ally out of a percentage of their sal aries. There will be no rake-off from salaries, from public contracts, or from padded payrolls, for the benefit of g political ring. There will be no build ing up of a republican ring to take tho place of the broken democratic ring To be sure, there are still in office twt councilmen who have been identified with the mismanagement and extrava' gance of the past, but Mayor Bonnet
 has taken hold of the reins in conf
 dent manner, and we expect to see hin do the driving. straight through to tn end of his administration.