The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1909-06-02
PUBLICITY IN CITY AFFAIRS

PUBLICITY IN CITY AFFAIRS
The Review does not urge publicity
of city affairs except as means to a
desirable end. The Review believe Is
that publicity will make for greater
efficiency and for eco omy We have
never claimed that Denison was suffer.
ing from graft. We claim that il
has suffered from inetficiency. slip.
shOd methods and carelessness. II
has suffered no more than other local.
tiles perhaps, but it has suffered
greatly. Read the road reports OF
the various townships and then travel
over the roads and see if you can find
where the money was spent Craw-
ford county spent about forty thousand
dollars for roads last year. This does
not include bridges. For what was
that money expended? The Review
is not from Missouri, but it would
borrow the torceful motto of that
state, "Show me. -
The roads approaching Denison are
the worst in the county. The road to
Arion crossing the Northwestern tracks
has numerous chug holes two and three
feet deep. Holes that have been
there all spring. The road to the
Illinois Central. once finely gravelled
has been allowed to backslide' until
it is little better than before the
hundreds of dollars were expended for
its improv .ment. In the meantime
the city did some grading out in east
Denison where they had to finish the
job with windlass and buckets to
hoist the dirt and then had to put up
fence to keep people from falling
into the street. The city gave Mr..
Criswell the grade for gutter in
front of hin house. gutter that is SO
high above the street that you couldn't
use it for watering trough. The
city had lot of blue clay from the
Nicholson we'll hauled onto Sweet
street. stuff that is so sticky that a
team cannot pull an empty wagon
through it after light dew. The
city digs cutters on our side hills
and then fills them up and then
digs them out again and then fills
them up again. The city spent sew
eral hundred dollars digging a street
eight or ten feet below grade and
some lay it will have to spend twice
as much money to fill it up again.
We mean the street back of the court
house in front of the Harthun resi-
dencc.
Taxes are way up. The saloons
pour money into the city treasury, but
there is not man in the control Of
city affairs who can tell US where the
money goes and it is confessed that
the funds are go badly mixed that
weeks of effort have failed to unravel
the mystery.
There is absolutely no sense in it.
With an income of fourteen thousand
dollars year Denison ought to be in
fine shape, with nc debt, with good
roads. with clean. up-to- date city.
We need publicity but we need com.
mon sense and grey matter even more.
The worst cement walks in town are
those laid by or for the city. With
but few exceptions private contractors
have been able to get good cemen
work. But look at the crossing by
the Bulletin Office. at the Crawford
County Pank crossing. at a dozel
other places in town.
For seventy-five dollars a month
Uncle Sam hires men to furnish horses
and wagon and to drive not less thai
twenty-five miles day in all kind
of weather to deliver mail. For tn
same amount of money the city ough
to be able to hire a good man an
team. Such team could be used t
look after minor repairs, to sprinkl
the streets. to work the King drag, t
pillow the snow and to pull the appar
AUS In case OF nre.
The Review has no details to pro
pose however. 1t has no perosna
criticisms to offer. 1t is not afte
any man or men, it is after the Who'll
slip-shod. lack-a-daisical way in whic
public affairs are managed not only i
Denison but throughout the enuir
county.
The carpet cleaning wheel present
the best and most healthful metho