The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1906-06-05
THE EMPIRE STATE
ONE YEARS EXPENSES DOUBLE
THE VALUE OF couNTRWs
GOLD OUTPUT.
Salaries IncreasIng-Money Spent fer
Civic Purposes Would Pay for
Many Federal DEPARTING nts.

the value of all the fine gold pro-
duced in the country. It Is sufi-
Client to build all the projected forti-
fications, maintain the enlarged
army, support the legislative, judi
cial and executive departments of
the federal establishment and have
enough left to buy the Danish West
Indies, says s. d. North, director OF
American census, in the New York
Herald.
It costs to run this city nearly
three times what 1t costs to run Lon
don, Notwithstanding that London
has third more people. No city In
this country is SO expensive to oper-
ate, per capita, except Boston.
In yaring statistics of Ameri-
can cities, he remarked that the per
capita cost of government was
greater in larger than in small cit
les. IL that were true, comparison of
per capita cost would have no value.
His own calculations show that It
Is only in the case of New York that
there prevails such paradox or
that the more people a community
has the more each member must pay
for living in it.
On the one hand there Is Boston.
With about sixth of New York's
population Boston people pay for.
certain services twice what a New
York citizen does. On the other,
hand, there are Chicago, London,
Philadelphia and Toxic. All are
cities of the first class, and every,
one operates its departments atlcon-
siderably less for each inhabitantI
than New York does. The excuse
that New York is new does not ac-
| count for the difference. 1t is not
much newer than Toxic and great
| deal older than Chicago.
New York salaries generally were
about five-eighths Of the budget be-
fore they were lacked up in 1905 as
a campaign preliminary. Now they
| must be three-quarters, notwith-
| standing that the budget has been
meantime increased $8,000,000. 1t
takes no more money to govern Lon
don than New York pays In salaries,
| yet London Is fully one-third larger.
Me- York would make only two
| Chical 5, but our total expenses are
four times greater. Chicago's public
| safety service costs a mere $93,723,
to our $1,10S,873. Her highways
and sanitation are maintained for
| $2,S57, ,625, while we,- with V only
twice her population and a smaller
territory, expend on these depart
ments $11, 1,547,335. l'.
There are suspicious differences in
the relative cost of policemen, fire.
| men and executive offices. What con-
stitutes the mayoralty Office in the
two first cities of America Is put
down as costing:- !
/ New York, $213,0S9, of which
| $171, ,146 is for salaries; Chicago,
| $87S46. of which the salary part is
$61,319. /
| New York would make only Ave,
| Glasgows, but that city, which has!
been studied as a model by all recent!
municipal rciormers, gets along
with what we pay Commissioned
Woodbury. just for cleaning streets.
In other words, municipality one,
fifth our size so conducts itself as to-
| be regarded as criterion without
4 ,
/ Interest ON the city debt Is mo-
small part of the city expenses
Nearly one-seventh of the direct in
come Of the city in 1906 or S15,296,-
SIS, are for the payment of interest.
For the payment of interest on bonds
issued during the year and for the
| payment of the principal and inter-
est of short term revenue bonds
which the city is compelled to issue
in anticipation of the receipt of taxes
| $500, 100 more is required. The
redemption Of small bond Issues
made in the outlying districts of the
city before consolidation will bring
this total up to $7,4S0,992. For the
payment of instalments on the other
bonds the sum of $5,226,199 is set
aside. So there is an expenditure aof
about $28,000,000 for the payment
of interest and instalments on the
principal of the city debt, to be
raised from taxation.
On population basis the cost of
government in 1909 was s28.71 each
person. In 1905 II was s29.09 each
person. These calculations do not
take In the interest on bond issues
for public improvements or for an
ticipating the collection of taxes,
which would swell the figures a lot.
Taking longer period, 1t is found
that in the first year of consolidation
the per capita cost was $22.S9, while
for 1906 the allowed per capita ap-
preparation was $500: otherwise.
an increase for each person of $500
for this current year over what It
was for eight years ago. -