The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1904-03-29
POLICE FORCE FREE FROM CRAFT"

John A. Shackleford gave an eloquent
and pithy address at the Republican rally
in the Fifth ward last night. Mr.. Shackle-
ford said he read a report in The Tacoma
Times of one of Mr.. George P. Wright's
speeches, in which that gentleman made
the statement that slot machines and the
various other forms of gambling were con-
trolled by the state law and the mayor
had nothing to do with them whatever.
Let us see about that" continued Mr..
Shackleford. Murder, robbery, and, in
fact, all other crimes, are under the state
law. Does Mr.. Wright mean that under
his administration, if by some calamity
he should be elected, he and his police
force will be blind to these things and
leave them to the state law? There has
been a good deal of shifting the RESPONSE
bility from the city to the county officers
and back again in times past. If a man
went to the county officers with COM
plant he was told, we have nothing to
do with that at all; you must see the city
officers When he went to the city Of
ficers, they would send him back to the
county officers.
81 want to tell you that every officer
county attorney, sheriff or policeman-has
q duty to perform. They are under obi
cations to see that all the laws are en-
forced. We don't want to see man in the
mayors chair who thinks that the depart
ments under him have nothing to do with
the enforcement of law.
''The city of Tacoma has one thing to be
proud of that not many cities can boast
of That is police force that is free from
graft The chief of police is honest-thor-
oughly incorruptible-and We don't want
to take the chance of letting Mr.. Wright
appoint anybody in his place.
'There was a time when Tacoma was
dominated by corporations. When the
Northern Pacific or any of the other cor
poratiOns wanted an ordinance or franchise
put through the council it was drawn up
in favor of the corporations entirely. You
haven't heard of anything like that in the
past four years. have you? Tacoma crawled
out from under the control of the corpora
tons when Mayor Campbell was elected"
In conclusion, Mr.. Shackleford said:
"We have many men in the Republican
party to be proud of, but there are none
more worthy of honor than l.. d. Camp
bell"
Charles D. Atkins, bristling with facts
and figures from the treasurer's Office
refuted the charges of extravaganza. He
said it was true that it cost more to run
the city today than it did in 1900. Then
the population was about $4,000. Now it
is about $4,000 Referring to some of the
expenditures, the speaker said that during
the last administration $2l4 900 had been
spent for water and light extensions, and,
besides that, the city had paid its running
expenses in cash and made substantial ad-
ditions to the interest and sinking funds.
He closed with the remark shat such a con-
dition did not SAVIOR much of bankruptcy.
L. G.. jackson, candidate for controller
threw a little light on the relation of
assessed valuation and the rate of assess
ment Mr.. jackson said that he had been
in the controllers office long enough to
know something about the city's financial
affairs, and continued:
"a few years ago the rate of assess
ment was II mills and the valuation of
property in the city was S43 100000 That
gave an income of $4,000 every year. In
1892 a man who owned home valued at
81 900. at a l2-mill rate on a total valua-
ton of 100000, paid taxes amounting
to $l2. At the present time the total
valuation is only 500 900, almost ore
half less, and the tax rate is IA mills.
Now, the man who owns $1,000 house
pays 81 a year instead of Sl2."
Mr.. jackson said that with the lower
assessed valuation and the tax rate only 2
mills higher than it was, the city was more
than holding its own and paying for the
extravagances of past administrations. He
said that a high valuation and low tax
rate did not make it any easier to pay
taxes, but that the higher the valuation
the more state tax the city had to pay.
He concluded with the following remarks:
"The city is in better financial condition
today than it has been for IA years. When
you talk about bankruptcy you are knock
ing your own home. There is no more
danger of the city becoming bankrupt than
there is that Mars will come down and
blot out the moon"
Fred A. Wright, candidate for city coun-
Gilman from the Fifth ward, made a few
pointed remarks defining what he thought
the duties of a councilman should be. He
promised, if elected, to serve his constitu-
IL Era,rbotynd hon