The Seattle Republican., 1908-12-25

We believe that safer saner more necessary prop
oston was put to the people of Seattle than this
proposed issuance of general
Vote the Bonds fund bonds 1t is point OF
For Seattle Improvement honor that should be upheld
and an obligation that every
citizen should mhestatingly assume" Extract from
the speech of City Engineer R. H. Thomson to the Satur
dav luncheon Club That the credit of the city of Seattle
is involved in the fae of the general bond issue which
the axpayers Of Seattle to vote December ~, is
the statement Of City Engineer R. H. Thomson and the
members of the city council
In the bond issue is included $458000 to cover the
deficit the regrade districts caused by the action OF the
supreme court invadatng assessments to that amount
The credit of Seattle is involved because these assessments
were levied to provide money to pay local improvement
bond issues to pay for their work the Jack
son street. Denny hill and Fourth regrades and
the of nvaldated assessments is not made up IN
some way the city will be forced to default local i'm
provement bonds to the amount of the deficit remaining
when all legal assessments have been collected.
Under present system Of local improvements,
which is the only practicable one to repudiae any part
Of any of local improvement bonds would be to de-
stroy the credit of all such securities and make future
improvements impossible much COSTLY until credit
was re-established.
Under the present system, contractors doing work
for the city paid in cash but in local Improvement
bonds as it would great loss and delay in work
the contractors obliged to wait the collection OF
the assessments levied for their money The contractors
dispose bonds banks and bond buyers and get
the money carry the work through The bond buyers
depend on the collection Of the levied to get
their money the bonds being paid in instaments rum
ming through period Of ten years at per cent
AS long as there is question that all public improve
bonds will be met by the city when due, they will
find ready sale and the improvements which Seattes
future depends will go on, but when question arises as
of
altogether buy Seattle improvement bonds will buy
them only at great discount.
That question has arisen in regard to the local I'M
bonds to for the regrade work and the
city council has given the people opportunity to settle
the question by vote December 29 Should the people
against the general fund bonds to provide for the
deficiency in the regrade assessments to meet the local i'm
bond then bond buyers through the country
will consider that the people of Seattle willing to
pudiae securities for which the honor of the city is
pledged and would either refuse absolutely to buy any
improvement bonds would buy them only at
great discount.
If bond buyers refuse to buy Seattle improvement
bonds local improvements will necessarily and the
city be retarded years in it's growth while credit
being re-esabshed If bond buyers take the bonds at
large discount the contractors bidding local improve
mens must add the amount of the discount on bonds
the of their bids and the cost of local i'm
to the tax payer will be greatly increased The
increased Of local improvements during the time the
cys credit being reestabished would amount to much
than the general fund bonds asked to make up the
deficiency.
The city council is not responsible for the action of
the supreme court but is responsible for the financial
credit of the city and all efforts Of the council to maintain
that credit should be supported by the people
Judge George Turner of the leading consttu-
tona lawyers of the country declares that
Cosgrove will have to return the state legally qualify
for the governorship
Theodore Burton of Ohio is not to be member of
President Tafts cabinet say the latest reports from
Washington City, which means that Burton will scrap with
Charley Taft for the United States senatorshp to succeed
Joseph Benson Foraker.
Hon. John L. Wilson and Mrs Wilson will leave Sc