Arizona republican., 1904-03-22
ALL FAVOR THE BONDS
Many Facts Brought Out Relating to
 the Tonto Road.

One hundred and fifty business men of the city gathered in the board of trade rooms last evening and talked, and urged the issuance of the $67,500 bonds for the construction of the Ton 10 road. AS far as was apparent theres was only one person i'll the audi ence who at any time opposed the bonds, and he, after hearing what others had to say, and learning the truth of the matter, changed his mind and liked the Salvationists, said he was glad he had found the light and shouted hallelujah with the rest of the crowd.
 The meeting was the first gathering of the augmented committee appointed by the board of trade to further the bonds. The meeting proved a stirring enc and brought out may facts of vii ial importance and cleared away many doubts. It was the first of a series of such meetir gs, but from now on the committee will hold daily meetings, every afternoon, in the board Of trade rooms.
 B. A. Fowler was the first speaker, and he opened his remarks by saying it was not "oratory that is desired, but cold storage facts" He rthcn be- gan to recite facts to refute the state ments that the government was not interested in the construction of the road and did not care whether it was built or not He read from a letter written by F. H. Newell. chief engineer of the department of the interior, wherein MT. Newell says: Ut is for the advantage of the people of Salt River Valley to have this road built as soon as possible, $ it will reduce the ultimate cost of the works which they must pay for and facilitate every step of the<proceedings = I under | stand from visits to the valley and conversation with our engineers and public spirited men, that your people are willing to take this matter up and push it forward. I hope in the interest of economy and early construction of | the reclamation works that you will do all in your power, to push this mat ter energetically and bring about the construction of the road at the earliest possible date" G
 In concluding his remarks MT. Fow- Ter said the construction of the road was of importance to the government but it was a mighty sight more i'm portant to the people of the Salt River Valley as it would mean the bringing of a great deal of money into Phoenix which would otherwise go to Globe and Tucson.
 Captain Alexander was the next speaker. He dealt with figures. "The | farmers" he said, "of the Salt River valley with property of the assessed valuation of $1O,0OO.000 are pledging themselves to pay s3,000,0 and yet some of the people of this city of Phoenix, which has an assessed valua- ton of $5,000.0 900, are objecting to pay ing s67,50O. To pay the interest on | those bonds will mean only about seven cents on the hundred dollars" | City Assessor w. s. Foster after wards emphasized what had been said by MT Alexander. by stating that the interest on the proposed bond issue could be met without increasing the present tax rate; that the present levy of 19 cents for the interest fund was more than enough to meet the interest on the present bonds and the proposed issue.
 The most interesting part of the meeting was furnished by L. c. Hill
 the chief engineer in charge of the construction of the, dam. He made a brief speech, and then announced that he was willing to answer any ques- tions that the committeeman might de sire to ask and after the ice was once broken. many questions were asked and much of importance brought cut As MT. Fowler expressed it, MT. Hill
 was full of information. only he needs
 to be pumped cut"
 MT. Hill stated that if the bonds
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