The Greeley tribune., 1906-05-24

vidual tax payers should make these
improvements and pay for them out
of their own pockets instead Of hav-
ing the work done for the general
tax fund, then certainly the city
could afford, as representing all the
tax payers, to have neatly paved the
sidewalk on the city property.
That, at least. is the way it looks to
man who is accustomed to climb
tree now and then and take general
survey of things outside his own lit
tie environment.
But that reminds me of another
matter in connection with this same
subject. The city, I am given to
understand, made a contract with
the owners Of these gravel beds for
gravel for city use, and it..can not, or
will not, haul load of it for any
private party; and this is resulting
in small species of graft or mono
poly which should not be tolerated
for moment In Greeley. When an
unsuspecting citizen sees good sized
loads Of this gravel going daily by
his door to some one Of the city
streets being graded, and asks for
load or two, or half dozen, for the
purpose Of patching up his sidewalk,
mainly for the benefit of the public,
he is told that the city can't haul
any Of 1t for private parties, its con-
tract only permitting its use for city
purposes. Then the unreasonable
citizen naturally wonders how the
distinction can be made between
streets and alleys and sidewalks all
of which are distinctly city, instead
of private property, and by law en-
tirely under city control. Be that
as it may, however, being in every
instance referred to some private
party who may or may not have
cinch on the traffic in all the gravel
used for sidewalks, he finds he must
pay dollar and quarter where he
should and would pay from seventy
five cents to dollar for full load,
If the city also had that part of the
business in its charge, and moreover
gets about two-thirds the quantity
for load that the city compels all
the teamsterS to haul when in its
employ. l have among my ac-
quaintances a gentleman who from
time to time since this gravel came
into vogue for such purposes has used
fifty or more loads of it on his side
walks and in and about his premises;
and he informs me that for the first
twenty loads or thereabouts he paid
seventy-tive cents, and for good
heaped up loads at that. Then when
he next wanted some he round that
the price had unaccountably risen to
a dollar and the loads had a piuched
sway-back appearance indicative of
great scarcity of material or consti.
tutional apathy in the use of shovel
and pick; while at the third stage
in his proceedings he was charged
the present price or dollar and a
quarter, accompanied with still
further diminution in sideboard
capacity.
Now let me make suggestion. l
have already made it privately to
our city authorities, and now make
1t publicly, and I hope more effect
lively. The sidewalks and alleys are
as justly, as legally, and fully as i'm
peratively the concern of the city as
are its streets. The city should as
sumo entire management and control
OF the gravel used for all purposes of
public improvement. 1t should
crush 1t, sort it, or sift it, as to the
requiremets, and haul 1t and deliver
1T to whoever may wish to use 1t on
| sidewalk or alley, and as being the
principal party I'm interest in the
proceedings should do 1t at actual