Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1908-04-26

the same subject in a progressive
city claiming more than three nun
dred thousand Inhabitants. At the
pleasant dinner before the address
my hostess-it is always good wo-
man who starts these orts!-intro-
duced me to some representative
citizens, fine men, all of them. One,
an architect of prominence, was al
so president of business mems or
ganization Another noted architect
was there, and also the very active
secretary or another trade organiza-
ton. An ex-judge, the senior mem
Der of a prominent law firm which
| represents large telephone COM
pany, sat next to a prosperous leath-
| er merchant.
I put the same questions asked
above to the whole table. The ST
lence was eloquent until the hostess
asked us "Would we have more of
the salad?"
But the Judge, when he had re-
flected, did nknow the constitutional
debt limit, and the secretary added
to it the fact that state law pro-
vided for a five per cent. annual
sinking fund tax. No one was en-
tirely sure as to the exact tax raie,
and not one of these selected "gooG"
citizens knew enough about the city
of his home to tell me how the parks
were sustained.
| A few weeks before I had visited
another and larger city of greater
sprogressiveness, having for its may
4 or man of national repute, and the
most efficient chamber Of commerce
4 have yet learned of. There was
a great civic gathering, and my most
, was the owner and editor of daily
paper of considerable prominence.
catechised him about the city's !inan-
; cial condition, but he was blissfullj
ignorant, except that DC was
growing very rapidly, sir" Pursu
ing my queries at the city hall,
found one man, commissioner Of
public works, who was thoroughly
! well informed. The rest of the Off
Gals knew little, but not enough
to hurt!
I might site many more instances
of the ignorance about city Dusiaes
: affairs that / have uniformly encoun
! tered among the ''good" citizens i,
!. dozens of cities I have visited in thu
; last three years, but think my Doin
! is plain I cannot record one in
stance of even relatively comptet
> primary knowledge-just priMar
primary knowledge of city affairs,
mean-possessed by any one man
have Intercepted, unless he was
city official. Indeed, in one cas-
. that of middle states city of abcu
7 seventy thousand population, i
which 1 had a two hours informs
conference with the mayor and tn
councils about park system, Their
was not a man among them VIII
definitely knew the assessed valus
/ ton upon which taxes were assessed
| or the total of the city's curre1
bonded Indebtedness.
j OF course do get interesting sid
lights in answer to questions. IT
ex-judge with whom dined as abo,
mentioned, and who introduced n
| later to an audience of his townspe
pie, told me how he had drafted
bill, and helped have it passed
the state legislature, permitting h
telephone company to erect poles
city or town streets, or in any cou
try road, without regard to local co
j ditions or objections, and but sligh
III ~ subject u any TcSuldIAoA: ~
in that state just as If in New Yo1
the legislature had given teleDhol
companies the right Of eminent d
main, permitting them to plant pol
at will in Manhattan.
But my desire is to emphasize {
/ danger the criminality-
HI the prevailing ignorance of "goo
Il citizens about the financial affairs
their own home cities and towl
Many man who reads this can ia
luminously about the Panama can;
upon which he has opinions, but
cannot tell the debt or the debt lin
Of his own city. Another will t
you Just how the railroad rat
should be regulated, but he will
absolutely ignorant as to the cost
Fl water or of electric lights locally.
sneer will be heard from your frie
about the ignorance of the lately
signed president of great insuran
y company as to salaries paid to