Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1917-03-16

1915. to June 30, 1910. we're sSO'S9O.
In our request to- your Honorable
Body. we placed that for the follow
ing year now current at S3S,OoO. You
in your Judgment, could only see your
way clear 10 allow us 100000. We
beg to say that. even as unsatisfactory
as the streets have been cleaned and
by the addition Of mechanical means
i'm so far as possible. our expenditures
TO January 81. 1917. for street clean
ing were SS.46S77. IN excess or our
appropriation. II Is needless 70 state
that We must far exceed our appro
priation for the balance Of the cur
rent wear or we must stop entirely the
cleaning OF streets or an eNiraordl-
nary appropriation must he made by
your body TO this end.
"fn the numerous complaints and
injuries that are lodged in our Of
Ace bv telophone mostly in an i'm
sultine tone and as though our clerks
were embezzlers and thieves. NheIea"
they have nothing Whatever 10 40
/ with the administrative END OF the ne-
partment the two most popular ones
are that I pay my taxes ana "nat
/ do you do with the money IL u IN
necessary for MS to say TO your ron
orable Body that We have notning
whatever 10 do with the COLLECTION "t
/ taxes. the tax rate nor that poruon
appropriated ~ our Department pu.
! n may he OF interest to YOU. as wei!
AZ the public. TO know that out OF
every dollar received by the CITY IN
| its annual revenue. the DoparemenI
charged with the responsibility OF
street repaving and maintenance
street lighting. street cleaning ashes
and rubbish removed maintenance
Of sewers. the care OF trees ana the
maintenance Of an engineering dc
partment is appropriated less tnan
fourteen cents. The expenditure OF
every cent Of that enormous amount
IL shown clearly and fully in our an
nual reports which are published ana
Of access TO each and every citizen or
| Wilmington We do not believe that
even your Honorable Body appreci-
ates what a small proportion OF the
ravanue Of the city. the largest DC
nartment and the only department
witch can work 70 the Advancement
and betterment Of the city receives.
every dollar Of improvement made
through il tends 10 the increased as
eessed value Of the city. consequent
ly more taxes. but we are sorry 10
sov that with few exceptions IN the
mast few years the Council has not
seen NJ 10 give us any increase 10
take care of the greater mileage OF
streets. or the greater number OF IN
habitants. 10 say nothing of the heaN-
lest item-the increased cost OF labor
ana material. Anyone sufficiently in
terested TO procure and study the n
nancial statistics OF the cities or the
United States, published by Federal
Government will see that Whining
ton Is the most economically conduct
ed city in this country. We ask no
I one 10 take our word for this but 10
ascertain the facts from deductions
made by the United States Govern
ment and It shows conclusively that
the Giles visited by some OF our citi-
zens and held up to US as criterions
are accomplishing their end by the
expenditure Of a greater amount OF
money. It was my privilege, within
the last few weeks. 10 have been n
from ten to a dozen OF the largest cit
les Of the country. east Of the Missis
sippi. and I say il without fear o
contradiction. that IN none OF then
were the streets in any better condi
ton than our town, and In some o
the cities, which are renowned 10