The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-02-15

WHICH Cn0y VIII Dc ToQulI0u ~ P'~1'
Mr.. Beach told the committee that
if the proposed new debt is paid Off
no faster than the old debt. it will take
666 years to pay 1t.
Mr.. Wilson said: /"It is like these
gentlemen to tell you that $500 free
men f Bridgeport are eternally wrong
and that they are everlastingly right.
Mayor Wilson had less than 7,oOo
votes. He is mayor against the Will
of majority of 1888 Bridgeport vol
ers. He is a minority mayor II ne
! thinks $500 voters are mot entitled to
credit when they vote on a bond issue
how can he claim that less than 1000
amount to anything when they vote
for him?
Twill the mayor say to Bridgeport
audience, as he says here, that he be-
lieves the electors of Bridgeport ex-
hausted all their wisdom when they
elected him, that his election was their
supreme act of knowledge and power,
and that now they do not know
whether they want a debt of s12, 600, 900
or not?
"Mr. Marsh says he represents DE
Yer Warner, who owns the gas and
water monopolies. He tells Aou that,
Mr.. Warner is a very nice man. SO
he is, and so was George Washington,
but neither you nor would let George
Washington usurp the public taxing
power Neither are we going to let
Mr. Warner.
"Mr. Warner is not the chief tax
payer in Bridgeport. Ihe grand list Is
s168,O0O,OOO. The biggest item On it
is s69OOO,0OO for the homes Of the
people. Mr.. Warner, by his gas and
!,
each annually. This is enough for
him. He ought to let them decide
what else they will be taxed for, and
whether they will go into debt for it,or
! pay for it as they go.
"This attempt to defame the peo-
pie, to decry their intelligence, and to
belittle their patriotism and under
standing is un-American. One would
suppose that those men have never
heard Of Thomas Hooker, nor of the
democr ,cy he founded, when he gave
to mankind it's first written constitu-
| ton establishing the principles of pop
,, ular government.
Mayor Wilson adds to his other
accomplishm excellent judgment
| of the position of markers. He saw
what was coming and 'fessed up. Here
is what he said, in 1912, in his official
message, dated Aug. 5, and addressed
to the common council:
"'Our city charter has been
amended many times in the past,
and almost always at the within OF
a. small coterie of citizens without
first ascertaining the desire of the
citizens at large This is, in my
opinion, wrong procedure. Inc
wishes and desires of our citizens
should first be obtained and then
their expressed desires carried
ont. The bonding of our city and
the projects for which the pro-
ceeds are to be used should be
first submitted to the people for
approval or disapproval, before
asking the legislature to authorize
such bonds
"There is what the mayor used to
think. And here is the case now. rms
is a. small coterie come here to ask
YOU to set aside two great policies OF
the state, the policy Of home krule, es-
tablished in Chapter 319 of the laws
of 1915, and the policy of five per
cent. debt limit, established in the
same year.
people. is the policy Of the state de-
spite the claims and pretenslons OF
this very impudent bonding coterle
who are here to make killing, ii you
will let them"
/ Mr.. Wilson said: .'The grand list is
s1es .Oo0, 900. The proposal debt, added
to the present debt, is sum equal 70
five per cent on the grand list OF
s24O 900, 900. This is miles beyond the
five per cent. limit.
s'It takes twenty per cent. of our
present revenue to pay debt charges.
If this bill passes, it will take 40 per
cent. Debt charges now are $S45,C00
annually. This bill raises them to
81, 300, 900 annually.
OF the proposed bonds million
are for Warrenite. These bonds would
never be voted by the people. The
scandal of Bridgeport Warrenite is too
notorious.
"The 81, 900, 900 bonds for sewers rep
resent the dead Herring scheme turned
down by three mayors, and voted
down /by the people at the polls"