Norwich bulletin., 1914-05-27
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Time for a Change

| T.
 of Ex- Mayor Thayers twentieth cen tury dream of a city without tax I payer or tax list and how opd- mistic he seemed to be at that time with municipal gas and electricity and l all that remained was to take over l the trolleys, telephones and go into 1 municipal insurance and the dream | would be realized; but as I look back and see what has been accomplished | in the past fourteen years I am not fully awake to the possibilities of a
 taxless city at the the present time | judged by democratic management, l with a bonded debt increased from 1 about S900,000 to a million and half. l To be sure we have got Stony Brook | reservoir, one of the finest water basins on earth (and they told us 1t would not hold hay) conceived by | good republican and supported by good repu blicanS and bitterly opposed l by good democrats at an expense of | S100.000 or more dollars if the tax. | payers money, and finally by order of | the citizens in an indignation meeting, l called city meeting, they were com- pelled to build 1t. Then this same op- position fell all over themselves as to l whose names should be placed on the
 bronzed tablets of water fame as the l granite tablets prepared were not sat- | isfactory and as the writer stood on the dam looking at the bronze tablets
 another party looking at the same time remarked Say, stranger. how
 many mayors and water commits | sioners is the city of Norwich SUD-
 was all right only a lightning change | from before and after.
 Now we come to another improve ment. part of a wall at the outlet of
 Franklin Street sewer at the foot of l Rose alley Ca part of the Rose of New England). A new gas tank at 1 the gas works, new road bed on Washington street, that has to be | sanded to enable the horses to stand
 up, and give employment to men to 1 dig out the sand of the catch basins | after it rains and then put on more 1 sand. We also have the Boswell av- enue trolley extension that seems to 1 land you a little ways from nowhere
 but yoH can ga there by going cross lots a little further on and if you l know the way and have the time you | can get into Mohegan park. I am
 not able to figure out just why so much energy was used on the project by | Mayor Murphy to compel the railroad to spend the stockholders money to build this piece of road and so little 1 energy expended on the outlet of | Franklin Street sewer and Thames street, and other city improvements that might be a help to our city beautiful. but by the looks of the | Boswell Avenue cars arriving and | leaving Franklin square they must be
 quite an accommodation to a whole l lot of people as we'll as a great source l of income to the railroad stockholders. | About the only thing left to be de- | sired would be a stenographer for the l city barn to assist the clerical force | in charge of the street department as | I should judge the exacting duties of I the positions must be quite strenuous, 1 especially in cold weather when the | fires have to be attended to to keep i them warm.
 your money and take your choice. and l if you only. sleep long enough you may be able to dream of a taxless l city and when you wake up and read the tax collectors warrant to collect 1 12 3-4 mill town tax, 3-4 to run the | town 3-4 mills to run the schools
 and mills to run the state and coun- ty outside of the towns income from the liquor license and state money for l schools and 10 3-4 mills city tax not
 divided as per add on town tax bill l you will not have to get some one to | hit you with a club to realize that you
 are awake to the fact that expectan-
 cy is one thing and realization Is an- i other for you taxpayers that are pay
 ing the freight
 change or do you want to give | Mayor Murphy another chance to rec
 ommend deputy street commissioner
 at salary of s day?
 At the democratic caucus Chairman Spalding said they laid bad times to
 the democrats but not anything good
 but I failed to note where he made
 known one eood thing for the inn
 provement of our city beautiful, that
 has been done in the past two
 government except to find employ
 ment for some of its members Al
 this same caucus Edward Kirby re-
 marked about the best tariff ever
 known free beef and beef trusts he
 might have mentioned free fish, free
 wool free leather and free lumber. Is
 he paying any less for his meat. fish | shoes, clothing or lumber? How
 about the contract for bunting for ouI
 flags and buttons for our uniforms
 how about free seup?" Does it make
 any difference with the fellow that is
 paving the same old price for g
 shave? The only thing that will not
 affect Wilson and the free trade
 members of congress and some of the
 democratic members of our city gov I ernment are free soup houses as they
 draw salaries from the public crit
 and won't have to eat soup but car T live on imported beef and shave with
 safety razers, while we poor taxpay- CTS that pay our money to support
 this bunch can stand in line for the s soup house.
 ED FOR THE SOUP HOUSE, H Hr- zr-4 n GA