Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1908-08-21

ing municipal plant, and capitalists
were fighting shy of the proposition
of investing ninety thousand dollars
in a plant for us, and yet today
many citizens are enjoying all the
Injuries attendant upon !" city water
and as rapidly as mains can be
built this opportunity will be extend
ed to every citizen. The commission
ers now in Office will doubtless see
1.-The extension of mains over the en-
tire city, and it will then be simple
proposition to install a pumping plant
and before we have fully realized it
Mandan will have waterworks sys-
tenn of its own.
On December list Mandan had a
| floating indebtedness consisting Of
outstanding warrants (Which the
holders had been forced to discount
at ruinous rates in order to get them
ito "f1oat'' at alD, of $4,000 On
July list, after seven months Of ex-
Fermentation with the system
this Indebtedness has been reduced
to $4,000, simply by. means of econ
omical administration of the city's
finances and without any additional
tax levy, and at no time since the
inauguration of the system has the
holder of a city warrant been obliged
to discount it in order to secure the
cash upon it; and before another
seven months have passed around
the entire floating indebtedness
should, and doubtless will, be wiped
out. 1t must be remembered in con-
nection with the reduction of the
floating Indebtedness, that for many
years the old council had at its COM
mand about $4,000 a year which was
derived from the ''soft drink" en-
poriums, and that the system has
been compelled to get along without
this source of revenue. II .
On the other hand, considerable
sums of money have been realized
from sources ignored by the former
regime; for instance, a complete re-
vision of the city ordinances has been
made, the offences that were left to
the state to punish or were left I'M
4 punished, are now made violations
of the city ordinance; and the police
court has become a source of in
come, ($600 having been collected il
fines in the past six months,) instead
of burden as heretofore. Poll tax,
dog tax, pool table licences and sim
I liar, heretofore neglected, indirect
methods of taxation have. been work
ed vigorously and large amounts
have been realized from these
2 sources. >7 -. -.
Under the commission system each
department of the city government is
under the direction Of one commits.
: sioner, and by the division Of the
: task among different responsible
: heads it was originally felt that the
i affairs of the city would be managed
in more business like manner than
under the council system, and that a
greater efficiency of management
could be attained In the minds OF
great majority of the citizens OF
Mandan the, system has proved tc
\ be all that was claimed for it or that
was expected of it. This may be
largely due to the fact that the per
sonnet of the commission comprises
; men of the first Importance in the
community, practical business me1
without political axes to grind, who
: are devoting their time and energies
: to the betterment of the city with.
I out compensation. But outside of thi
( consideration the. people, of the city
are satisfied with the change and NJ
a complaint is heard at home with it
: workings, and confidently assert tina
the q. SYSTEM" has come to stay il
Mandan, and that it will not bt
short lived" as prophesied in tn,
: interview referred to. 80
3 - ~. LE-1 b. .