Evening journal., 1912-05-03
BOMBING THE CITY
NEVER NECESSARY

Editor OF THE EVENING JOURNAL.
Sir: Sec. 5. c. of the proposed
charter gives officials power to bond
the city up to ten percentum Of its
assessed valuation. The light that
is flooding the world in this day of
progress in civic righteousness re-
veals that this provision, so common
in the past. lies at the fountain head
OF graft, fraud, and extortion, which
so abound. When the history of this
day is written and read in the lime
light of promised progress, no words
will be ADEQUATE to express the
amazement felt for the patience with
which the people of today are feeced.
and their stoid Indifference to pos
sibilities IN civic Improvement
The provision here referred TO Is
objected to-, not because 1t is not IN
tho proposed charter but because II Is
there, and ought not to be. We de-
sired new charter TO obtain an efii-
cient. economical. business-like ad-
ministration of civic affairs. There Is
mot in said charter a single trace OF
one of these most desirable things.
The entire charter provides Tor the
utmost possible and extravagant ox-
hcndimres. and this clause is link
i'm an endless chain OF eXtortion-
which will be necessary when body
of men get into their hands the un-
rcstrictod and l.bridlcd powers that
the charter confers.
Why put IL ten percentumP Because
THAI is as high as bonds can safely
har O HrQn
and the like That is about the limit
of safe exploitation. DO you realize
what bonds M to ten per cent moanf
They mean that every piece OF prop
,erty in the city has a mortgage on
Nd of ten per cent of its valuation.
land that the owner or renter pays
THE interest on that mortgage. and
Eventually must pay tho mortgage.
I'VE object to the charter because no
lsuch provision rs necessary in a city
lwhere there rs an honest and econo-
mical administration. II such a pro
vision were necessary, five percentum
would he extravagant II is not to q
city's advantage 10 carry a mortgage.
We are now heavily bonded. our Hu-
lnual interest being over 100000. Sup
pose we had this interest money TO
lput on our streets. schools, and
,parke7 To whom does this money got
TO the banks. the bondholders, the
holders Of franchises who want to re-
Invest their extortionate earnings for
the purpose of further extortion. Far
sighted banks are not In favor Of
bonding their cities. lt makes the
town poor. and the money raised for
the most part goes out Of town.
But further The direct commits
sion form of government is proving
that In many cities less than fifty
per cent of the money raised for
public improvements ever got into
the real improvements. They areI
showing that there is no need of is
suing bonds. They are demonstrat-
ing that people are paying over
twice as much tax on their homes as
lis really needed They are coming
at the regulation Of expenditures
from another direction. They are
passing laws making It illegal 20
levy a tax above a fixed amount. in
some cases as low as one per cent,
and still public improvements 20 on
better than ever before.
Ohio limits taxes as follows The
aggregate taxes that may be levied
by a county for county purposes shall
not exceed in any one year three
mills; the aggregate for municipal
purposes shall not exceed five mills
and for township purposes not over
two mills. This limits taxes for the
three purposes TO one dollar per hum
dred or one pcrcentum. General
Code Of Ohio Sec, 5649-3a. o. We in
Wilmington pay two dollars and ff-
teen cents per hundred.
Under a proper charter We can stor
this perpetual cry for more money for
municipal purposes. stop issuing new
bonds. cut down our taxes. and give
the city Improvement the like ol
which they have never seen. We OBJ.
iect TO the proposed charter because
the clause here referred TO- lays the
basis for needless costs. incalculahls
waste. and unbusiness-like manage
ment
The business way 70 raise none,
for improvements is. TO levy the ta1
and get the money at once. DO no
load down the future or the city will
bonds and interest
Next I will take up Section 5, & ans
p
Respectfully,
George Henry Dole
Wiln1iu zion Dcl Nav 1910