Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-08-24
Local Comment

Observation-Disclosures
The city council is getting into the
ways of congress. When the visitors
galleries are crowded the oratory be-
gins.
The travelling men are to be COM
mended for their purpose in organic
ing a boosters club. One of the first
things they might do is to set day for
inspection of the city. Take their
wives along and call on every factory
and every public institution. How
many travelling men have ever seen
| meat manufactured in the packing
| house? HOW many have ever seen
buggies made at the rate of sixteen
| complete vehicles a day? How many
have ever visited the city pumping sta :
ton to see the water pumped and learn
how the city obtains its pure supply
Have any Of them ever seen iron
poured into the molds at any of our
| foundrieS? How many have ever seen
railways cars and engines being made
! in the shops, or pickles manufactured
| in factory, or engines built for gaso-
| line power, or furnaces made for use
all over the United States, or drop
hammers at work which are said to
jar the world, or water governors built
for Egypt. or trowels made for most
actually seen how to buck the Stand
ard, or the roasting of coffees? The
Des Moines boosters club started out
by touring the sights of their own city
The idea is an excellent one every
where.
DR.. Devine, as chairman of the
finance committee of the city council,
feels it his duty to caution the council
publicly to beware of its interest
charges and to pay off its debts Be-
cause he had failed to take the mayor
into his confidence in the matter of
tax levies, the latter official hears in
the councilman's voice note of crit
icism for himself, so he uses the veto
power to lop off chunk from the
finance committeeman's levy. Because
his proposed settlement of q case In
court was not accepted without delay,
the chairman of the judiciary commit
tee exclaims that he is done with the
job and then the member in the next
seat cries in stentorian tones that the
gentleman should resign. 1t is feared
that the newspapers are to blame.
With less publicity to council proceed
ings, not so much attention would be
given to personal records and more to
calm business consultation. Council
men ought to permit others to disagree
from them without feeling that they
have been charged with insincerity or
incompetence. They ought also to
consult more, one with another, even
tho their policies may conflict.
-
While the mayor makes SO fine a le-
gal distinction between levying a tax
for paying bonds and one for paying
interest on bonds that the average per-
son will be unable to see the point, he
is correct in demanding that the water
department. pay it's own debts. Inter-
est is like coal and should be paid out
OF the receipts from water rents before
any extensions are made. A reason
able sinking fund should be paid also.
DR.. Devine can probably show that
there was nothing illegal in the
levy as made, but, If the coun-
effect that il will pay water bonds
and interest out Of water funds, he
should be willing to put the one mill
into some other fund where needed.
AS chairman of the finance committee
DR.. Devine has discovered that bond
company will not accept the citiy's
sewer bonds because the city's indebt-
edness is above the constitutional limit
by some $12,5o0. He should be sus-
tanned in demanding that the debt be
reduced and levies should be made
for the purpose. People who use city
water, however should pay the water
bonds and interest not the taxpayer.
The mayor had right to veto the res
olution for this reason, without trying
to establish that interest on bonds is
not part Of the bonded debt in law.
Taxes In Marshalltown are not ex-
cessive. There are always insufficient
funds for needed city improvements
and this one mill should he placed
The main thing is to see that the city
gets full value for every dollar spent.
For this purpose the present council
and mayor are admirably constituted.
Water extensions, for instance,
should never be made until there are
sufficient patrons guaranteed to make
them pay. DR.. Devine and the mayor
are both on record as agreed on this
point. Councilman Sieg once got
s1,100 extension west of the soldiers
home gate on which there is only one
patron and almost mile of water
mains have been laid in the Fifth ward
without a single house connection. The
councilmen were getting something for
their ward, but the city was getting
nothing but expense. Economy in such
a direction would 2 pay
To settle or not to settle the glucose
case is a vexed question. The city
got the $4,000 from the Glucose COM
pany and spent 1t for a sewage plant.
The contract has many mysteries about
it, The glucose company got off with
out adequate taxation for years and
it is hardly possible that it could ever
recover anything from the city now.
On the other hand the expense OF
litigation has proved so enormous that
the council had better go to figuring
costs and save all the costs possible.
Those who favor one kind of settle
ment need not crowd the thing, how
ever. Mr.. Herman and others are not
to be blamed for taking time in which
to hold their noses before stirring up
the sewer gases which come from that
old sewage disposal contract. The
people of Marshalltown all know what