The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-10-30
BUCKINGHAM'S STRONG SPEECH ACCEPTING THE
 IMMORAL NOMINATION

IMMORAL NOMINATION < | MT. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention:
 am informed by committee of your body that you6ave honored me with the nomination of the Dem 6cfatic party for the office of mayor assure you Appreciate profoundly this honor and promise you rthat will do my best to deserve it. want to say to you that in accepting this nomination absolutely nnpledged as to any person group of persons.
 1.-The Republican party organ in desperate eff fort to find some ground for attack me- in the hope of weakening politically has made the charge, if not direct charge at least the nsnuation, that in order to obtain this nomination have been com pelled to enter into deal and make promises That charge is absolutely groundless and I want to say here publicly and in the presence of you, my fellow citizens, who have honored me. with this nomination, that have not made promise to any human being as to any appointment that may have to make if elected and have not in any way mortgaged my con duct of the office of mayor believe that am jsti- fled in feeling that this public and positive denial my part ought in view of my record in this city in winch have spent my life, to prevail and be cepted as sufficient refutation of these political islanders uttered by irresponsible parties st The only pledges that shall make are that wi to the best of my ability carry out the promises serve the whole people chanced to read within a. day two that remarkable utterance by the gentle temporarily in charge of the destnies of the Re- publican party of Bridgeport, which they have dgni fed by the title of platform Our friends view with satisfacton their policy if policy it can be called, of repair and paving of streets as Main street and
 
 do not show how unsatisfactory their policy has been If they did not view the streets with satisfac ton, I do not know who else would, because our streets, in their present deplorabe condition source of profound dissatisfaction to the public at large sss
 And the second thing, gentlemen of the conven- ton which they did, after they had kicked Harbor Master Charles H. Morris his views of Republican policies out of doors to express their pleasure with the assessment of taxes and the existing tax rate Just what comfort our friends able to find in the
 highest tax rate the history of the city levied the biggest grand list since the city incorporated do not know, unless indeed they have in view only the quantity of money they have spent and not the they have made of that money And to their pretense that they have capitalized the assessment of property that they intend to make an equitable adjustment as between the home and holders of property of other forms. Under the grand list of 1908 which their grand list because they made it the total value of all the property the city set down for taxation is OOO and of this amount $51 900 is the value of houses and land
 ssThese gentlemen who view with satisfaction their work in this line have levied the expense of ming this city that homes and lands bear more than fveeighths of all the charges. So successfully have friends equazed taxation that the State Board of Taxation obliged to increase, and did increase the grand list for purposes of state and county taxation by $6 GOO 900. Let pause for the moment and what is meant by socaled Republican economy in the management of the affairs of our city. From 1886, the year the city Incorporated to March 31 19O6 period of seventy years reaching the last year of Democratic administration four years ago. the cost of running the city had reached trife than mil lion dollars annually. During these four years of Republican administration, the cost of running the city has passed the $1 100000 mark. What adequate and tangible results for this vast increase of outlay can Republican friends show?
 sNThe four years from 1902 to 1906, the city was i Democratic hands, The increase in the cost of con- ducting the business of the city approximately $7O,OO0 for the entire period. s
 Beginning with the Republican administration years ago. down to the present tme the increase
 the cost of running the business of the city totals the astounding figures of almost half million dollars.
 1sGentlemen, I leave you to draw your con- clusions
 It should be the policy of the Democratic party wisely.
 1.-The attention of people has recently been attracted through the public spirited enterprise of