Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1908-07-09
HON. L. TAGGART AGAIN OBJECTS.

IDlEOh hESSs-
Dear Sir:-Of all that has been writ
ten or said on the paving question, the
letter ofC. w. .Shafer in this weeks issue
of the PRESS, contains more good
common sense than all the talk and
writing have heard or seen; and it
should be carefully read and studied
by every citizen of our town and es-
pecially the Town Council, and more
especially by very few wise men
whose names l could give but will not
trust and hope that anything I may
say in this short letter will not give
offense to any one, for l certainly do
not so intend it, but that every citizen
should have the right to give express
sion to their views on all questions af-
fecting the public cannot be gainsaid
and friends should be careful and not
misjudge.
So in giving vent to my views in re.
gard to the law, which as / understand,
itrequires the citizens living along a
certain piece of paving, providing two
thirds of them favor it; to pave or re-
distance as said wo.thirds may dictate
and the said one-third of the people,
| must provide one-third of the money
required for said work, and material
whether they are able to do so, or not.
| believe it to be a disgrace to any
town, county or state to permit such a
law to stand on its statute books, and
no man in our town or county, who
will not under his own signature say
he will use every effort possible for its
repeal need look for my vote. ] don't
believe in placing the poor man alb
solutely in the hands of the rich Now.
to illustrate, let us take any section of
street in our Borough along which
there are living thirty-one people
property holders) and let us suppose
twenty-one of these people are abund-
antly able to pave, or do any other
work, that their fancy would dictate,
the other ten are poor, or comparative.
ly so, simply under good times able by
| strict economy to find food and cloth
ing and care for themselves and little
ones. But the twenty-one are rich and
they say ''let US have the street paved
with pure gold and their families cloth
ed in fine linen," but, says the ten
poor, 1--WE are not able to pay our share
of this work''; away with you then you
have no business here-let some one
have your property, even at a sacrifice,
who can and will pave. | can't be-
lieve it to be so, but was told that two
of our Borough officials made SIMILAR
remarks about those who are living
along Fourth street, where they are
agitating the paving question, and Just
in this connection, desire to call at
tention to the fact that it has been re-
ported to me that a number of the
people living along the highway, where
the paving question is being agtated,
! have been offered help quite sufficient
| to pay their share of the paving, if
they would withdraw their opposition.
Gentlemen, / don't say you have done
this, but | do say that you can't afford
to do it, and please don't.
Now, gentlemen, | desire to say as
| regards myself, that while | have near
ly twice as much to pave as any one
along the line that | could possibly
furnish my share and still remain out
side of the poor house so long as | live,
which ! don't expect will be very long,
but kindly let me say to you Just here
that myself have in property a few
thousand dollars, every dollar of
which has come to me as the result of
tifty-five years of honest, upright toll.
say fifty five years for was less than
ten years old when left to care for N.Y.
self, and now to be called on to furnish
one-third of the cost of building and
maintaining the highway in front of
my property, as | view it, is the most
unjust demand that could possibly be
made. No! No! don't let it go out that
this Borough has asked individuals to
rna6o htlt Lot ha
officials look carefully into the matter
and if then they think it proper to
pave any part of our streets let there
be tax levied sufficient to do So. Go
about it in business way and pave.
Hon. Josiah Howard called on me a
few days ago, evidently to point out
TO me my duty in regard to paving and
in very few words will give to the
people the only reason he gave to me
as to why we shonld pave. He said to
me, Mr.. Taggart you know we should
join hands and do all in our power to
keep the industries we have at work,
and now he says 'Mr. Taggart, you
know if we would pave this street it
would furnish ten days work for our
brick factory" If ever had anything
come near taking my breath, this was
it. What, | said, to myself, you ask
me to appropriate some six hundred
hard earned (for the little money |
have was not handed down to me) dol.
lars simply to keep the brick plant
running. SO excited was l that / did
not even ask him how much stock he
had in the brick plant or asked him to
call again, for l think it the first and
only call he ever made me, but before
he left he Strengthened up and said
with voice unmistakeable ''but hope
they won't pave in front of my house."
Then it was that came 80 near call
ing out at the top of my voice Hip!
Hip! Horray! And now in closing will
ask in all kindness for our council and
people to read carefully Mr.. Shafer's
letter for every word he has written is
good business view of the matter.
Truly,
T.. rn