Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1917-04-06

to the charter commission on this sub
1ect whereby 1t may be possible to
the city is concerned. In any case the
cost of bringing the proposed amendment
before the voters should not stand in
the way. Now, is such an amendment
adopted in 1902 and was admitted by it's
makers to be an imperfect and unwork-
able instrument: Political, social and
mendously in our country during the
! last fifteen years. Little Falls has felt
the change and yet we have tried to
make na119+; this OLD instrument serve the new
change 1t has been demonstrated again
and again that our charter stands in
the way of municipal progress. I should
Mems club take up this question and see
il our charter commission cannot be in
duced to take up the revision of our old
charter at once.
PUBLIC HEALTH
The people of Little Falls have not yet
come to full realization of what can
be accomplished for the prevention of
disease, for the preservation Of life. the
fective children. and the relief of its old
and poor. About FIVE years ago the Civic
Improvement league was organized.
en- Of our city it. Who give great deal Of
their time and money without compen-
sation and there is only one person con-
nected with its work receiving any pay
and that is the visiting nurse. The main
purpose of this Organization Is to- find
and relieve the unfortunate people of
our city-aiding and assisting the old,
formed, defective and crippled children
to furnish the poor temporary relief and
advise those who are responsible for
their support to place children in inst n;I,
treated and cared for so that in course
ing and useful citizens. only those who
some capacity can realize the amount
of good that has already been accom-
plished with very small means and the
Of such an IN our
eventually take care of all the poor and
| unfortunate Of the city, and thus not
! only save the city couple of thousand
| but save human life and human energy,
which is now going to waste. The league
needs two things for efficient work and
that is a visiting nurse tor at least ca a
business center. The building could be
used as community center and rest
room for both the city people and farm
PUBLIC LIBRARY
There is no more necessary institu-
| ton in the city than the public library;
| 1t serves as an educational, social and
fef fhe brary is
Out of this sum must be paid the salary
of the librarian, the wages of the JAM
tor. fuel, light, water and repair of the
| chase Of new books or the repair Of old
! ones. You cannot maintain library
| without books. Even if we do not make
the purchase Of new books, something
| must be done from year to year by add
| ing at least enough books to take place
| Of those which are worn out. I hest
/ in 0yoV NJ
| which will necessitate an increase in the
amount of taxes to be raised, but I
would suggest that an effort be made to
| so adjust our finances that we will be
| for the library to eighteen hundred or
two thousand dollars.
STREETS
/ Good streets not only 6eautify the city,
] but in view of the heavy traffic they are
now subjected to on account of increas-
cessity. Under our present charter the
city government can maintain streets
! already built but cannot build them.
| Streets can be paved only upon the Pc
sufficient number of property owners do
nothing will be done. Broadway needs
to the east side of the court house
| square and the paving should be done
while enough Of the old paving remains
pubic f d' works should be r. requested to. in:
terview the property owners alone
| soon as possible.
PUBLIC PARKS AND FAIRGROUNDS
| Little Falls is blessed with many pub.
| lie spirited me1 and women-men and
women who will give some of their time
and money for the purpose Of improving
| the conditions of the community in which
they live The park committees both OF
the council and of the Civic league have
such men and they have made Pine
Grove Park one of the most attractive
nesota. In order to maintain this park
as place of amusement and recreation
for our citizens and visitors some things
must be done from year to year to main
roads should be iaid oat throash
the park with guide boards so as to
| avoid collision between Opposing drivers
the building Of pavilion which would
| serve as place Of amusement as well
as to protect the people. against the
heat of the sun and. against rain and
| storm. It is possible the council may be
called upon to donate something for this
purpose.
Little Falls also has splendid play
| mittee from the Civic league and the
| board of education have taken an intelli-
gent interest in this matter and have
for he use Of chd lid ana
their efforts in this direction should be
encouraged.
TAXATION
There is nothing that needs improve
nent more than our system of taxa
ton. Our state laws and our charter
are both wrong on this question. The
valuation of the property upon which
taxes are paid should be made by per-
son qualified to make such valuation
from a. scientific point of view and not
simply because he has been elected to
the office. The greatest injustice in the
matter of taxation is the inequality of
valuation and, hence, in the Inequality
and difference of the amount Of taxes
paid on property which in fact have the
same value. If our charter provided
for the election of an assessor for a
term Of years instead of just one year
we might get some relief as an assessor
holding the office for some years would
undoubtedly qualify himself and event.
ually become experienced in the making
Of correct valuations The only thing
that we can do in this respect at present
is that we may appoint tax commission
to sit with the assessor and assist him in
the proper valuation of property, especial
ly real estate. Such commission should
be appointed by the council before an
other valuation of real estate is made
in this city.