The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-01-07
CITY MUST SPEND
TO BRING RESULTS
City Clerk Bescher Says
Economy Is Bogus
Policy"

City Clerk BaltZ Bescher, being
native of Indiana, is naturally an au-
thor and recently, following the ad-
journment of the last session of the
Zimmerman board of public works,
announced that he had a little state
ment he would like to read This is it,
and it met with the hearty approval
of all the city officials who heard it:
In the newspapers We preach to the
legislatures and to the councils and
commissioners: "You must be eco
nomical: you must save the peoples
money; you must cut down the tax
rates. Now in my humble Judgment,
after four years experience in clty's
affairs, I think this is bogus policy.
Economy is all right if not lead to
stinginess. Every city ought to spend
all the money that can be wisely
spent to get good results that will pay
the people on their investments.
You may talk until the hot place
freezes over for skating rink, but
you will never change the fact that
you can not have improvements and
the best kind of government without
spending money, anymore than bust
ness man can have growing bust
ness and carry it on successfully, I'M
less he hires more men and spends
money and extends the scope of his
energies.
improvements Necessary.
You cannot do it in a city any more
than you can in a private business, II
we are going to get anywhere. AS our
city grows we must spend money. 1t
is true, that it is not necessary to
spend it foolshly, or in other words
to wantonly waste it, but money wise
ly spent is we'll spent.
And another thing we must have
new growth of faith in the general hon
esty of men and the citizens should
not presume that ever lyman is crook
ed. They ought to act on the proposl-
ton that there is in the general of
men very much more honesty than dis
honesty. Now when we get down to
this fact, and find out where we are.
then we are going to begin to get &C
ton on our city government.
Some of us may have to get new
education and get back to the idea
that men who are running for or1ce
are not necessarily crookeed-that
they are honest men, just average
Americans and that they are willing
TO give the city a fair deal, just as
they would give their neighbOr fair
deal, the same as a business partner;
if you do not think a public official
will, bond him high enough so that
you will have a cinch on him anyhow.
He cannot steal. Under the present
system he does not have much chance
to steal. 1t is true we handle lot of
money in our town every year and |
give you my word that the man who
would waste time trying to steal it,
/ was going to say, would be one kind
OF a fool: he would be a fool anyhow.
Now I believe one of the best things
for men in our city to do is to try to
wake up the pessimists in our city,
the knockers. to the idea that men are
generally honest, and that the wisest
economy in the world is to spend what
money is necessary to give us good
city, we'll built and properly admin
istered BY getting your headlight on
in front, get started right and then go
ahead in the right direction and keep
the path ahead lighted up in a way
that We can see where we are going
and for the people to take warning
and help clear the way.
Signed
BALTZ A. BESCHER.