The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-07-11
THE BLAME FOR DELAY.

The Smoot "Mouth' wants The
Tribune to answer as to some failures
in former proposals TO make certain
local improvements, and goes back to
payments made under the Morris ad-
ministration for examples and instances
illustrating its meaning, The Tribune
is always sorry 10 hear of the failure
of any local improvements, through any
cause whatever. Occasionally there are
failures through no fault of anybody
in particular that can be traced, Some
mistakes are made, and have been
made here from time to time from the
! first settlement of the city; and cspe-
cially from the first attempts al local
! improvements.
The very first thing that any city
ought TO do when beginning any sys.
TEN of local improvements. including
sewers, sidewalks, street paving, gut
| tering, etc, would be TO make com
/ plete and accurate topograp phica sur
vey. and thenceforward in making its
Improvements, work TO lines estab-
lished in consonance Herewith, and in
accord with n well.devised system of
levelings and surfacings The great
difficulty with local improvements,
here as in so many cities. is that this
was not done; consequently there are
disagreeable surprises in the course of
the further improvements that the met
ropolitan conditions of the city now re-
! qulre.
However, with respect to the specific
matters inquired about by the Smootite
we have this to say; Any payments
made in October, 1905, or any other
time that the Morris administration was
in power, are directly chargeable to the
Smoot push. Mayor Morris obtained the
Office Of chief executive of this city by
| church favor and influence. A few
boiling Republicans gave the excuse for
the church to take control of that cleo
tion and give the prize to Elder Nor
ris; and with the aid and support of
the boiling Republicans thenceforward
| called Republican party. Whatever
sins, therefore, are chargeable by the
Smootite against the evils and the fail
ures Of the Morris administration, are
Justly chargeable TO Smoot, because he
as the chief exponent of the church IS
political activity on the so-called Re
publican side Of the house. was direct
! ly responsible for the putting of Morris
In the Mayor g chair, 1t would there.
fore seem logical that the Smootite
should demand of Smoot. and not from
US, why it was that those Improvements
paid for during the administration of
Morris, his protege, were not put in or
the money Immediately refunded, as it
ought to have been,
In all candor, however, with respect
to this sort of work, The Tribune de.
sires TO say that it has been opposed all
along to the old standing practice in
this citv Of requiring the property own
ers to pay for local improvements mere
/ " on the engineer estimate. Its idea
has been all the time that the property
owners should not be asked TO pay at
all until the contract is let and the
work thereby assured. We suppose
! that any Council could have changed
this practice at any time during the
last twelve years. The fact remains,
however, that no Council did change it,
and that it was left TO the Legislature
TO make q change in this respect, which
was certainly proper one and might
| be marked up to the credit Of the last
Legislature as something TO balance, IN
small degree, the numerous acts Of
bad legislation which it committed. 1t
must be said. however, i'll cxtenuation
reason why the Legislature passed this
measure was not because of the merits
of the roposition-meritorlou though
it was, but to get at the American ad.
ministration, and cripple it's efforts at
| getting on with the local improvements
as ii had been doing, much to the sat
isfaction of the people. And, further,
coupled with this beneficial legislation,
was clause requiring separate con
tract, separate advertisement, and sep
arate treatment of every individual
piece Of property, which makes the car
ryiug OIL of public improvements now
not only more cumbersome and difficult
than ever before, but also very much
more costly, If this latter portion of
the legislation had been omitted, and
only the requirement put into law that
| property owners should be called on TO