Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1916-02-11
WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH
HOQUiAM? SHE'S ALL RIGHT

Opponents of the adoption of the
commission form of government in
Aberdeen are fond of asserting that
our neighbor on the west is tired of
operating under the Allen law and
would be glad to change back to the
ward-oouncilmanic system. The pres
ent writer has interviewed quite a
number of the citizens of Hoquiam, of
nearly all shades of belief, and found
this assertion totally lacking the
basis of truth
No system of government, no set of
men in authority ever has or ever
will give satisfaction to every person
under its or their control, and Ho-
GUAM is no exception to the rule
nor will Aberdeen when the commits
sion assumes control But, care
full investigation in Hoquiam led to the
conviction that the number who de-
sired to return to the old system was
negligible, and that So per cent of
them had expectations of private gain
by such a change. A number do not
always agree with the acts of the COM
missioners, any more than do all citi-
zens of this city always concur in the
actions of the city council.
Hoquiam inaugurated the commits
sion form under severe handicap.
in 1911, when the I. w. w. and Red
Socialist movement ON Grays Harbor
was at it's zenith. Mistakes were made
in electing wrong men as commission
ers, and, as usual, the public paid
the bill But those men were quickly
recalled, and since that city has had
government far superior to the old
system, although it has required some
time to break away from the old
customs to which the city had so long
been addicted.
The present commission, under eX-
tremely difficult financial conditions,
is facing it's problems in a way that
even if disagreeable in some respects,
commands the respect of the thinking
citizens of the city. The occupation
tax is never a popular tax, but the
commissioners were up against a
financial stone wall, and this tax was
the only means in view of meeting
current bills.
Hoquiam, like Aberdeen and all other
cities under our present system, has
ever been in the habit of spending
more money each year than the cur
rent revenues. with the result of an
ever increasing Indebtedness until
now the city is beyond the legal limit.
The talk heard in this city, to the
effect that Hoquiam is or has re-
pudiated it's warrants is absolutely I'M
true.
The records of that city show that
it was found in debt beyond the limit
by the attorney general in an effort
to sell bond issue to the state, and
that official notified the commission
er of finance and accounting that if
he issued any more warrants, except
for absolute necessaries he would be
liable on his bond as we'll as subject
to criminal prosecution, hence the
present retrenchment and occupation
tax.
The fact is that Hoquiam and Abb
erdeen have been in the habit for
years of permitting expenditures to
exceed Receipts, and both by the
same method, that of bolstering up
the estimated receipts from sources
other than taxation. For instance, in
the five years prior to the adoption
of the commission form, Hoquiam ex-
pended $7S,592.26 in excess of it's re-
ceipts, and in all those years was
far in excess of their legal limit.
This condition was not unknown, at