The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-04-19
which is entitled "The Truth About the

Taxes:
An attempt is now being made-the
joint product of ignorance and dishonesty
to deceive the Taxpayers of st. Paul for
the purpose Of getting control of the city
offices. The cry is raised that the taxes
are unreasonably and unwarrantably high;
and the people are, by indirection. asked
to believe that the existing city admins
tratlon is eXtraVagdnt, if not corrupt.
If the good, name of the city and the
welfare of it's business interests were
not involved this shameless falsehood
might be passed over as a mere incident of
an unprincipled political campaign. Since
however, it has received the sanction of
the Republican candidate for mayor, if.
indeed, 1t did not originate with him, it
may be proper to devote some attention
to it,
The cutlery thus raised about high taxes
Is made to rest entirely on the tax levieS
for the years 1902 and 1908, which are
fixed, respectively, at 81 mills and 29.10
mills. There Is nothing whatever said
in maintaining this cutlery as to the as
sessed valuation; nothing as to the per
capita rate of taxation; nothing as to the
actual amount spent each year to defray
the running expenses of the city govern
ment; nothing as to the nature or extent
of the permanent improvements made un-
der the present administration, the cost
VI nAlAOA 10 lIiCtuQ6U Ill In0 LAX 1GNy.
SAME CRY TWO YEARS AGO.
When the campaign against Mayor
Smiths reelection opened two years ago
the same attempt was made to deceive
the voters. There was no thought be-
slowed then and there is none bestowed
now by the canpafgn opponents of the
present city administration on the in
jury such falsehdod, must inevitably in
f1ict on the business interests of the city.
But thanks to the intelligence and pub
lie spirit displayed by the editor of the
Pioneer Press. and to the good sense of
the mass of the non partisan voters of
the city at that time, the scheme failed
miserably
The editorial columns of the Pioneer
Press in its issues of April 9, 10 and II.
1902. exposed the raid then attempted
against the city's welfare for the like
purpose of getting control of the offices,
sequences. --1W u
BosH AND. swAsH.
Under the title. %BARKING UP THE
WRONG TREE, > or. April 9, 1902, an edi-
torial appeared IN the Pioneer Press from
which the following extracts are made:
THE Pioneer Press has not been taken
into the confidence Of the managers of
the Republican city campaign, if it has
any, and is therefore at liberty, to assume
that they are not responsible for the
BOSH AND SMASH IN WHICH SOME
OF THE REPUBLICAN SPEAKERS
AND. WRITER'S HAVE BEEN INDULG-
Then the article proceeds as follows:
TT is not true that the Democratic city
administration is responsible, except to
a limited extent for the large increase in
purpOses-such as are included in the
annual budget-within the last two years.
The chief item Of expense was aS,oo in
which had been crippled for lack
consequence Of certain restrictive pro-
visions of the old charter Under these
old charter limits there was not money
enough to pay teachers; none to build
new school houses or even to repair old
ones. The charter was amended by
non-partisan commission. in which both
parties were about equally represented, in
response to a universal popular demand,
fed by the vote of all parties. The rep
reSentatiyeS of both parties in the confer
ence committee and in the city council
joined in appropriating an addition to the
the years 1901 and 1902. The Republic
ans were even more forward than the
Democrats in urging and assuming the re-
sponsibility for those increased school
expenditures. They both joined with
equal alacrfty in 1901 in voting nearly
$4,000 to pay off the debt incurred by the
market house, although the Democrats
wanted to incur large additional ex-
pendituTeS for that purpose. The new
charter added $40, 900 to the tax levy for
street sprinkling, by requiring It to be
paid for by the. city instead of by as
sessment.
creased city expenditures. Nothing is to
be gained by charging them to the Demo
cratic administration. There was no party
division or issue on any of these ques-
TONS" RS
The attempt thus made to deceive the
voters in 1902 IS being repeated in 1904.
Its exposure and defeat now is even
more urgent duty than 1t was then.
NO PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS.
What are the facts as to the actual
burden of taxation now resting on the
people of st. Paul?
Are the ordinary expenses of maintain
Ing the city government under the pres
ent administration any higher than they
have been under former administrations
within ten or twelve years?
If more money, is collected from the
ministTation, what has become of the adj
ditional sums, and what is there to show
for them? fHf
To all intents and purposes there were
no permanent q improvements whatever.
made between the years 1892 and 1901
a. period Of nine years. Indeed during
those years the available revenues of the
city, as pointed out repeatedly by the Pho
neer Press, were inadequate to meet the
current expenses of city government. The
city remained at standstill during that
time.
AS stated editorially by the Pioneer
Press on June %, 1908: 1.-THE plant of the
city was not only not increased rapidly
enough to care for the growing population
and needs of the community, but was
even allowed to deteriorate."
Before considering the expenditure of
the additional moneys raised by taxation
for permanent public Improvements I'M
der the present city administration let
us see how the expense Of running the
city government under Mayor Smith In
1903 compares with the expenses of 1893
under ex-Mayor Wright.
WHAT Mr.. WRIGHT DOESN'T KNOW.
That gentleman will not be allowed to
escape through the vapid outcry which he
raises about the present high tax levy.
ent administration as "eXtravagant' and
profigate." In attempting to make good
his foolish explosion Of pretended indig
nation he has told the people in q pub
Tic address that the present city admin
1Stration Is responsible for all the odium
which attaches the construction of the
county jail. The expenditure of about
1857 $40 so Of the taxpayers money for
that building he gives as an example of
Mayor Smith and his official friends in
running the city government.
Every intelligent schoolboy knows, or
ought to know, that no city administra-
ton could have had anything whatever to
do with the building of the county Jail.
II eX-Mayor Wright did not know even
that much, he ought at least to have
learned from reading the newspapers that
1t was his own political friends who are
chargeable with whatever of "extrava-
gance" or "pro6igacy'' was pTacticed in
the construction of the county iaf