Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1905-05-15

EVERY YEAR, SAYS DANIEL 7.
Pierce, In PUPLIC OPINION.
Claims That Americans Pay More for
Local Government Than ANY 9th
People in the World. Much of
the Waste Night be PrOfitably
Utilized.

Utilized.
Among Americans self-congratulation
is habit. confirmed and deep seated.
The United States is 1.-The greatest coun-
try in the world" 1t is popu ated by
the smartest people and its resources are
limi'le 8. We like to think of ourselves
AZ richer and more fortunate than the
people OF any ether country. Thus habit
has some good results. 1t has made US
tackle unde! takings which would, per.
haps, have daunted other peoples; it lis
stimulant. But the habit has had
some bad consequences. 1t has made us
as nation the most spendthrift and ex.
ttavagan' people on the face of the
globe We have SO much. and it has
come to ns so suddenly, that anything
like economy in broad sense has no
part in our thoughts. We do not like to
hear abont the necessity for economy.
When government extravaganza is
mentioned our thought, if not our ex.
preston, is apt to be, "What does it
matter ?'-so lon: as we are not affected
as individuals in way that brings sui.
fering Immediately home to us. If beef
goes up few cents pound there is a
storm OF indignation. But if the govern
ment of the city in which Wa live is go
extravagantly carried on. that our tax
rate goes up several doll l:rs, it concerns
us only vaguely. If our building laws
are badly administered, or if we have no
adequate claws at all, and as a conse.
qnence there is, periodically, the de-
struction of millions of dollars worth of
property by fire and our insurance rates
are tremendously high, there are few of
us who stop to realize that this means so
many dollars ont of our own pockets.
1t ought not to be necessary, seventy.
five years after John Stuart Mill, to EN-
phasize the fact that all waste is so much
actual, tangible loss to community.
But it is necessary. Three-quarters of
century ago Great Britain passed through
one OF the strangest agitations in history.
An impression got abroad that the ma
tions troubles We're due to over.produc.
ton. There were too many mills, too
many dwellings, everything had gone
beyond existing demand. At the same
time the people did not have enough to
wear, and we're without food and shelter.
II a t.,S
| presented that the proper measure OF
relief would be to destroy, create scarci.
| ty, and thus give rise to demand which
would make employment more easy to
obtain. 1t was not only the ignorant
and unthinklng who accepted this
theory; "many wise heads of the COM
mercial world were convinced. 1t was
then that John Stuart Mill explained to
his countrymen that any product OF
| labor, or of labor and capital combined,
which was destroyed before filling its
utilitarian purpose was dead loss. He
told them that what required labor to
produce, and capital, the accum ulation
OF labor. to maintain, and which could
be utilized by mankind for comfort, lux.
ury, or betterment, must continue to ex-
ist If society was to receive the full fruits
of labor and the full value of natural and
artificial resources.
There are so many instances of the
way in which we ignore this teaching
so many examples OF our wastefulness-
that it is hard to choose among them
when one is limited as to space within
which to make the exhibit. But some
OF our extravagances and dissipations are
more striking than others, and it is these
instances that are here presented with a
view to emphasizing our faults in such
way that they can not fail to make
definite impression upon the most waste.
tul American in wasteful America.
To start with, we pay more for our
local governments than any other people
in the world, and more than need be
paid our national government. 1t is
surely worth consideration that city of
given size in the United States which
spends $500 900 year for administra-
ton could be governed for 100000. We
know that 1t is 50. because European
cities OF the same size are governed for a
third of what it costs us, and the foreign
CITY is just AS well policed it's streets are
just as clean, its fire department is just
as efficient, and its parks and other pub.
lie institutions are probably better man.
aged than they would be here.
New York is just now wondering what
it will do when the existing contract ex.
pires for the disposition OF the 9 1000 tons
OF waste material which the department
OF street cleaning collects daily. 1t pays
private corporation $l92 900 year to
dispose OF this waste, while in two hun.
dred towns and cities in Great Britain
waste products are not only disposed of
without cost, but utilized in such way
as to produce handsome profit.