Semi-weekly herald., 1914-01-01
Observations by the Way
(From Tuesdays Daily

(F'rom Tuesdays Daily
In connection with the recent art
icles in The Herald relative to cost Of
city government the following from
the Denver News will be of interest. !
The News states that the cost of the |
city government under commission |
government is extravagant and ex-
ceeds that of the old machine govern
ment. There is evidence of something |
doing in the way of recall unless |
there is change for the better. The
News editorial follows:
Let US hope that in locating City |
hall as storm center over jobs, the |
moin purpose of the city government |
will not be obscured.
The row over the auditors depart
ment is the smallest kind of tempest
in the smallest sort of teapot, ex-
cept in that it has direct bearing on
the policy of economy that commits
sion government was established to
effect. Auditor Markey has given out
liSuiSs anu hc iS PiSouHeu " hho"
whereof he speaks-that go to show
that the commission government, so
far as saving to the taxpayers is con-
cerned, has not been brilliant sue.
cess in the first six months of it's op-
GRAFTON. From his statement it ap-
pears that the general revenue for all
purpose for 1914 is s4,640,000. For
1918 it was S4,5S9,0 900, an increase of
S5l 900 for the coming year. If the
contention of Commissioner Pitcher is
upheld by the supreme court that
Denver has been Disseminated
against by the state tax board, the
state will get s141,000 less in taxes
than in 1918. The schools of Denver
city and county are given $4,000 more
than for 1918, SO that, the city and
County will have S135,000 more to ex-
pend in 1914 than in 1913.
gent on the ruling of the supreme
court, but at the same time the fact
must not be lost sight of, that the ex-
penses of the city government are far
and away over what they were under
the old and extravagant machine sys-
tenn. The commissioners explain that
they have effected an economy of
about $4,000 including about $75, 900
of deficiency from this years rev.
enue which they inherited. Their ac-
tual saving is about $500, but they
have not told the people anything of
the increase of s135,000 which should
not exist at all, or why there should
not be material decrease in the ex-
penditures Of government
No one knows or should know bet
ter than the commissioners that the
two substantial reasons for the exist
ence of commission government are
efficiency and economy. While eff
cheney has been lax in some of the
City hall departments, it has been
fairly well maintained since last June.
If economy had kept pace with eff
cheney, the government could be vot-
ed more or less a success. But if, as
Auditor Markey charges, the commits
sioners will have the expenditures of
appropriations in excess of last year,
and if, as his books show, there are
departments of the administration
due to spend approximately $4,000
more in 1914 than in 1918, don't the
commissioners think it wise to revise
their figures and devote a little of
their time to judicious work with
scalpel?
Not to go beyond the plainest dec
laration, the News is of the unalter-
able opinion that any increase in the
expenditures of the city government
for next year is clearly unjustifiable
extravaganza. For if the commits
sioners should deliberately conspire to
indict commission government as an
undesirable substitute for govern
ment by the bosses of politics they
could not do it more effectively than
by proving to the people that it is
more expensive. We do not think any
one of the commissioners viii venture
the opinion that it should be. We do
not believe any one of them will as
sert that there is any one reason on
earth why the affairs of the city of |
Denver should cost more to admins |
ter next year than it did this. That
position would be contrary TO all laws
OF economics. The city is no larger. |
The conditions have not changed
There is no necessity for enlarged
police or fire departments. Local i'm. |
provements are not so extensive. The
work of the assessors office is not |
more arduous. The COW barn and
tubercular cows at the poor farm are
provided for out of this years appro-
priation. so that the health depart
ment is not overburdened with more
exacting responsibilities. Why then
the increase in expenses of admins
trstion charged by Auditor Markey?
The commissioners will be fulfil.