Arizona republican., 1905-07-07

giving widespread publicity to the fol- 1 lowing matters that l now voice my sentiments.
 l have noticed the history of the ac-
 tiOn of the city council in appointing
 a waterwOrks commission, resembling ! that action, and the reappointment of
 another commission. as set out in the
 editorials in your paper, and I most i heartily endorse the position that you
 have taken in this matter
 The first commission appointed and
 confirmed by the city council seems to
 me to be the best commission ever ap-
 pointed by any city council to handle ] d business proposition. Every one of i them is a well known man of sev- eral years residence in the city, and
 whose integrity is beyond question, and the taxpayers of this city knew that if they served upon that com
 mission every dollar expended would not only be honestly expended, but would be wisely spent.
 l So far as I am able to learn, II
 seems to me that few people wished
 to have a band in the expending Of | $500, 1000 of the taxpayers money, the
 manipulation of the waterworks ques- ] tion. the letting of many fat contracts.
 and the selling of $3O0,OOO worth of ] bonds and therefore proceeded to kick
 up a row.
 The extreme haste with which the
 matter of selling these bonds was
 urged by eighteen men at a called meeting of the citizens committee would rather indicate to an observer
 that there must be a fat commission coming, at present, from this hurried | sale of the bonds, and that several ! people wanted to be in on the deal. | The amazing fact has been brought i out that no man can be public spirited ] and take an interest to any great eX- ' tent in public matters for the good of the taxpayers and citizens and escape ! being the victim of the most vicious , attacks from a few people who under ] the guise of acting for the good of the citizens, misrepresent the views and | vilify such man, no matter who he may
 be.
 II Within the last few months the citi- \ zens of Phoenix elected a man as its mayor by the largest majority ever + given for candidate for mayor. This ! man for years has been made the tar Y get of unscrupulous people. and yet
 when il came to finding out the senti- Y ments of the people they overwheIra-
 ingly, and in no uncertain manner de- clared that they hac confidence in his ability and integrity.
 MT. Adams has made it possible for the city of Phoenix to have municipal ! waterworks; this is only one of the many things that he has done for the city of Phoenix As a pubIic-spirited i citizen, ready at all times to head any ! subscription list on any enterprise for
 the public good. devoting much of hIs l time to matters that increase the value: ! of our property and the prosperity of our city, he stands, beyond question, ! recognized by all the citizens here as
 the most public-s spirited citizen of our city. and it is an insult to every prop ! erty owner in the city to attack the
 integrity of MT. Adams and the five
 men who were appointed by the city council as a waterworks commission. 1 There is no way to too strongly e1- press the indignation and disgust Of
 the citizens and taxpayers at the ac- ! tiOn that the city council has taken in ! removing these honOra ble men who were appointed commissioners. before | by any act of theirs they had indicated l that they were not fully entitled to the trust and esteem with which they are held by our city. and no seIf-respecJ- 1 ing man can blame MT. Adams for ab- ] solutely and unqualifedly resenting such insult as that by rendering his ] resign tiop-
 The ac,ion of the city counci; in ac- cepting par for these bonds when they could have waited until January and sold them for $10,000 above par means an absolute loss of $1O.0OO to the city.
 From the time that the bonds are sold they commence to draw interest at the rate of $1,250 per month. This money cannot be loaned, cannot be used for any other purpose, excepting to pur- chase and add to the present water ] E.-vrg- present water system is to be pur- chased, it will undoubtedly take q con siderable time for negotiations and appraisement to be made and con cluded, and until then the city will have to continue to pay Nose Sher- man the entire hydrant rental and any other contracts they may have with the company, and everyone who uses city water will have to continue to pay the same rates they are now pay ing. r. satisfactory arrangeInents for the purchase of the present plant can not be made it will take many months to get up plans and to erect and equip and lay pipes for the supplying of the city, and until this is done not one cent of revenue will come to the city of Phoenix. and all this time the in terest on these bonds, to the extent of $1.2jO per month. has got to be- met right straight along
 Our taxes are heavy enough now. The invitation has gone forth to the world that this is a good place to come to, to invest in, but as every business man knows, the first question a busi- ness man asks is "Wh9C is your tax rate?" Any increase in the tax rate adds burdens to the taxpayers and is a Encouragement to those who might be induced to invest.
 There never was time in the his tory of Phoenix when a man of large business experience was more re- quired than at this present moment. Three hundred thousand dollars is a considerable sum of money. and it must certainly be used wisely and to the interest of the city. As above stated. to force the bonds on the mar ket now means a loss of $10.OO0 in nEaLliIIL.l. it 11,,-.-,.- I..-.