The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1919-08-22
SOMETHING THAT BLACK
FOOT NEEDS MOST

Blackfoot needs a good many
things that it is already getting. 1t
feels a good many of its needs, and
is attending to them. 1t has great
capacity for doing things, but 1t
doesn't realize how great that capac-
ity is. 1t learned considerable about
it during the war, but it has never
gotten down to its full capacity try
ing to do something.
$ What Blackfoot needs. more than
anything else is one great task on
which it can expend it's energies in
a combined determination to succeed
1t should be task that is entirely
too large for the town as most people
see it, and one that it could not back
out of. 1t should be a task that
would be good thing for the growth
of the town in a substantial way. II
every man, who is able or who thinks
he will be able in the next ten years,
to pave in front of his property,
would agitate among his neighbors,
to get their street paved, the town
would soon be a paved town and
would reap the advantages attending
such improvements. 1t would be a
good thing for the town if it should
reach out in doing some such modern
thing as this.
But paving is not the only thing
the town needs. Paving is not the
only Improvement the town could af-
ford to over-reach on, and make it
self hard-up to accomplish. 1t would
be doing itself good turn if it
mr. toll
flock of cold springs that it could
secure and pipe them into town to
put into the water system. 1t would
do we'll to lay out the system assum-
ing that the town will grow into a
city and make that growth under the
observation of the present genera
ton. Indeed it would aid greatly in
making this into city to lay an ade-
quate water system and an adequate
sewer system and then pave every
thing. 1t would bite pretty hard to
pay the bills for water and sewer and
paving, but it would make everything
else so much easier it would be
worth while. Then too the payments
could be spread out over such long
term that it would simply mean high
taxes and not too large tax at any
one time. When people know that
their taxes are going to be high for
term of years they plan for it and
met 1t. 1t is only when they are
taken by surprise on thirty-day
notice that it plays havoc.
When the town has water, sewer
and pavements there WILL be incentive
to build homes, and If there were
houses the town would grow rapidly
to fill them. In 1916 the population
of the town was 3508, but if there
had been enough houses built to re-
ceive all the families that tried to
get in the year before, it would have
been nearer 1000. In 1917 the popu-
lation was $780,. and if there had
been enough building to house all
that wanted to stop here, it would
probably have reached $500 in 1917.
Those new people would have liked
the town and boosted for it to their
friends and something like $500
would have been the total in 1918.
In May, 1919 the total number was
1902, and if proper housing had been
going on, it would have been close
to 5000. The stream of people look
ing for houses this year would send
it up to nearly 1000 by the end of the
year if they could be housed and
most of them stayed. The year 1920
followed in the same way, would
make the population pass the 1900
mark, and 1921 would make it
double what it is or what it will be
If the same process continues and
by that we mean the process of al
lowing people to stay away or 60