Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1908-06-18


'"The good men are all dead, so fear
we shall have to stand for it," said
mournful voice.
Moved by personal and public con
siderations, the writer of this article
sailed forth to ascertain if it were sad
ly true that the good men in Empori-
um are all dead
She found one brave and sensible
man who dared stand by his convic-
tions, all by his lonely. Loyal Len
Taggart! Still as brave as when
he went forth to defend his
country during those dark days of Civil
War. She found number of other
| sensible men who were not afraid to
! add their names to protest against a
foolish and extravagant measure.
AS for the women-bless their troubl-
ed hearts, Every one, without an ex-
ception, signed the protest gladly,
gratefully, prayerfully; for they knew
that if the pavement scheme went
through thatit meant living on gimblet
holes and cookie burrs for years to
come.
1t is easy to spend money. There is
no difficulty in making public improve
ments if the bank account is unlimited;
| but where the amount of money avail
able is limited, and where the needs of
the town point to getting in new indus
tries, instead of little vain show that
will increase the tax rate very mater
tally, without putting dollar in the
! public treasury, that is another story.
/ One of the Oldest cries ''ringing down
| the grooves of timen is that "no citizen
shall be favored at the expense of an
other" Now, the paving on Fourth
and Broad streets originated in the in
ventive genius of few whose brilliant
mental parts enabled them to
see that new burden might be laid
on their ong-suffering neighbors in
order to enable those advocating the
measure to reap a return.
OVERCOMING THE BOROUGH.
1t would be very easy for Emporium
soon thereafter, tho people will wake
up and say For what did we spend this
| money? What have we to show for it?''
Despite what some of our rulers tell
us about are not being overtaxed, most
of us are paying nearly eight per cent.
on our valuations, and those who are
not paying this eXorbitant per cent.
are the ones who are fdVOred at our er-
pense.
There must be a drop somewhere
that will cause the peoples endurance
to overflow, for one of the cardinal
rules of business is that invested capi-
tai must have proper return. In the
good old Scriptural days the tithing
man was not permitted to take more
than one tenth of tax payers income;
but here in Emporium, some of us are
paying one-fourth of our income for
taxes. And because l opposed the
paving of Fourth and Broad streets,
one of the borough officials threatened
to raise my taxes higher yet. In this
|
say that when l owned a large prop
erty on Sixth and Seventh streets, my
taxes were not as high as now that |
only own beggarly strip on Fourth
and Broad. AS fast as l sell off piece
of property my taxes are raised to
meet the emergency. Thus it seems
that the tax-paying business woman
inevitably shares in the tax burdens,
although she is deprived of redress,
because she is not person in the eyes
of the law.
WHY THE PAVING SHOULD NOT BE DONE
AT PRESENT.
First, because the sewer is in the
centre of the street, and every time it
is repaired the paving must be torn up,
causing a continual expense.
Second, because there is not water
enough to flush it; and unless it is
flushed, and kept clean, it will breed
an epidemic of disease
Third, because those who have to
pay for it are struggling hard to just
live, with no prospect of economic
public reform, or betterment within
sight.
Fourth, because the borough officials
admit that the paving must be kept
clean by individual enterprise, and if
any one will take the trouble to glance
at the pavement in front of the Epis-
copal Church, my meaning will be
obvious.
Fifth, because rents must be raised
to remunerate the property holder for
the assessment, and rents are already
as high as the tenants can bear.
What Emporium needs is a good
sprinkling cart, run twice daily.
F do not ask if there are any good