The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-08-16
Free trade, one of The greatest BILE
iBtnos which, government can confer
o. people,, Is Il, almost every country
BI.jnnob,Ila r. Ri S. Ma aulay.S s
i, The Coul11 CHS Re ord.

81 ,,he old Council Il has closed its work.
Thc nov Council will not assemble until
September, ana in the mean time It { i i I
well to look at tho record Of the out 70ltt
going body. III u i'..s
i since 1904, when the Council assembled II
/. = number Of most Important questions
have been passed upon by tha IS body
Though ii did not innugurate.$ the late 1l'
Council carried out to practical compile PIC,
4 ton the important work Of clearing 1tlchl7
B 1nond's water by constructing q setting
basin OF sufficient magnitude to ?; s "
the city for twcnty-slx days. s s ssi yl5
OF even more Importance was the &C. nFc',
sttlon In regard to- expansion. Just one rle
year ago the final vote was taken upon pom
u this question, and though the lines J h lel'E
adopted were not as wide as they should
+ have been, they were q sufficient i'm
provcment to be- OF great help to to the
fsarfully congested conditions existent IN in
4 Richmond Tho action Of the Council incl
4 added some three thousand acres to our
~ municipal urea, but the lines we're not
made vide enought to protect the already
rapidly growing suburbs. and despite the he
\ lengthy negotiations nothing was &c COM
plished in the matter Of conso lidating
Manchester and Richmond. This Is 4 so
s obviously a course of action that should
B appeal i to the good sense Of both COM
4 munties that It IS difficult to see why
It should already have been SO long de- de-
Slayed.
q AS a part Of the movement for expalinl-s
sion the Council has acted very wisely
4 ana forcefully5 In widening Franklin sin
a street to tile Boulevard and in laying
~ 81 dcwalks and sewers In the populousst
Il and rapidly enlarglng Lee District.
4,Ss Even apart from the growing popula--3
ton the city had already exhausted the
capacity Of its Gas Works, and the re- e.
! habilitation Of that plant became an Inn
mediate necessity. Tho Council Of 190i-'6
Investigated and passed upon this ques-s
lion, and when tile true condition of the
II Gas Works was first made knownSto the
II people there was q natural and deserved
a criticism OF the management OF that in
stitution, both as 1t concerned Its Su-t
perintcndent and the City Council but
the past could not be undone, and the
sole problem was how to protect the fu-
ture An offer to lease the Gas Works
b was made and promptly declined by the
Il Council, which undertook to rehabilltate
the works itself. After q long and seem
+ ingly useless wrangler the whole matter
& OF rehabilitatioA was finally loft eft for the
4 incoming CoxncM ,585s3
Is new gas holder was ordered and Is
I now completed. What Its effect will be
n on the gas situation can not yet be
stated, but it seems inevitable that new
gas works must be built, and The Times
Dispatch hopes that a spirit Of wisdom
e and courage may characterize the deal
lngs Of tho now Council with this I'M
portant measure.
An essential work was done by the out
going Council In changing the metho etl
&.of administering the health OF Richmond.
The public is thoroughly familiar with
the arguments ON this question, and The
Times Dispatch congrntuIutes the Council
upon its action In giving Rlctmond q sys-
\ tom of administration that has been
X proved by the experience Of all modern
K cities, to be the best means for pre-
venting and Graduating Diseases, In the
ef matter OF street paving tho Council has
& continued the work OF paving Franklin
and Grace Streets with smooth asphalt
brick. While still holding to the principle
Of dividing all appropriations for streets
between several wards. the Council has
made a valuable and notable departure
& Ii, the matter OF paving Grnce ard Frank
In Streets. This principle should be app
piled to other parts Of the city, and the
result OF s,lch an action would be to give
81 the whole city very much better streets
than 1t has at present. Throughout tho
eniire session an active fight was made
Tor municipal light plant. but the mat
ter has been deferred for tho new Coun-
III.
The new High School, which, perhaps
awakened deeper anterest among al
the people than any measure before ths
Council during tho past year. the new
alni,house for Che colonfd people N
place OF the nre trap previously occupied
and the public baths donated by Mr.. JOIN
r. Branch are the most important build
n ing operations to which the outgoinl
Council has committed the city OF Rich
mend.
IN the matter OF finance the income Q
Richmond has steadily grown, and tn
sinking fund hes been carefully and full
X protected, with the result that Il I'll
present methods are kept IN force IL
entire city debt win DO extngpished,
In the main the outgoing Council ha
\ deserved tho COMMUNICATION and THANK
ofs,his community. II has accomplishe
number o. important works; II ht'
acted with wisdom. even Is soinetlme