Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-02-28
City improvements and Borrowed
Money.

The Journal has no desire to indulge
in any captious criticism of the Demo-
cratic administration of city affalrs
There have been some good results &C
complished along certain lines. which
the Journal was glad to commend
But the fact must not be overlooked
that these improvements have been
made, for the most part with borrowed
money, by a large increase in the
bonded debt of our city. Not long ago
Il $4,000 in interest bearing bonds OF the
city of Augusta were disposed of at
private sale to bankers outside the
State at par. We believed that this
manner of disposing of a matter OF
this magnitude was entirely wrong 1t
shut every citizen of Augusta out of
an opportunity to bid on these bonds.
It preciuded all possibility for bidding
on the part of outside parties. The
bonds brought par, and accrued inter-
est. The city of Bath which had some
bonds to sell at the same time, adver-
tised them, afforded its own citizens a
chance to bid upon them and was able
| to dispose Of them at considerable
premium. A Bath bond is as good as
! a government bond; but it is no better
than an Augusta bond, which should
have sold at as good a figure. With
this money the administration was
able to pay for it's new roads. The
principal and interest on this loan
will be paid for by the taxpayers in
years to come. 1t is absurd to think
that a Republican administration, if
it had been in possession of this
large sum of money could not have
secured equally good results with it.
Republican administrations, however,
had been working along lines of debt
reduction, believing that the debt of
the city was too large, and that 1t con-
stituted burden upon the taxpayers
of the city that was retarding the
growth of the community. Had they
had thousands of dollars of back taxes
turned over to them in addition to a
$4,000 loan they could certainly have
accomplished all that has been accom-
plished by the present administration.
The last Republican administration
had q large amount of taxes tied up
in litigation which subsequently came
over to swell the Golfers of the present
one. The Withholding of this money
was a great handicap, and still the
administration was able to carry along
the affairs Of the city, make sub
stantial reduction in it's debt, and
close the year with splendid financial
showing. 1t did not increase the debt
by a big issue of long term bonds
Most any man who is able to borrow
money can make a big show with it;
but the day comes when it must be
paid, and there is, too, an annual in
terest account to be added to the other
burdens of the taxpayers. If the re-
turns Justify the expenditure, the tax
payers may be willing to bear the
additional burden; but it is absurd for
any administration to plume itself on
the fact that it was able to do with
borrowed mOney-thrOugh the heavy
increase of the city debt-things that
previous administrations which were
paying off the city debt instead of ex-
panding it We're unable to dc. These
are facts that are coming home to
The sober consideration of the citizens
of Augusta. We are now in debt very
nearly to the full extent of our consti-
tutional power to borrow. The day of
reckoning is here. The situation de-
mands careful business handling.
Who is better qualified to give it such
handling than Hon. ira II. Randall.
one of the best known and most sue
cessful business men of our city, and
the strong. clean men who have been
nominated for the city government on
the Republican ward tickets? They are
men who may be depended upon to
move for making lighter, instead of
heavier, the burdens of our taxpay-
ers. and all the signs of the times are
misleading if they are not elected for
that purpose by an overwhelming ma
jority.