The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1919-05-20

The attention of sonfe Of you. doubt
less. has been called to the pamphlet
issued in behalf of-Ihc Big Five. con
trolling the Wheeling city council fer
Of this pamphlet appears the words.
How s359.00O.n0 was saved To tn" cry
OF Wheeling
Tho remainder Of tho pamphlet - dc.
voted to an effort 10 show the saving OF
enormous sums of money for tn" citizens
OF Wheeling. due 10 h" alleged nctlNl-
ties Of the city council. and particularly.
the Big Five" y reading Of the pam
inlet will show much Of its absurdltE,
hut perhaps some people hay" not had
time to disscct il. In the first place II
might hc proper to ASK why: :"aG:o ue'no
was saved in the city or wheeling IN
two years time. the city treaSur! ~
practically without money. No improve
ments have been made on our city
streets which are in Wrosc condition
than they ever were before. and when
the city needed TO improtr rs nre o..
partmcnt. it had To borrow the money
on the personal endorsements OF NUM-
Der Of citizens. In other words. where
is the $3.50, 100000 1t has not Dccn spent
on pu bile improrcmen,s Has II been
The fact is that the saving Of $3.50
600 % is sheer camoufiagc. sheer alb
surdity thrown out for the purpose OF
deceivinE few voters VINO may not
have time to Investigate the claim.
Tho Plggery Claim
The first item in the pamphlet is a
claim of $50, n00. % being saved by aban-
doninS the crematory on the NH ana
establishing municipal ptEgery. II II
has not shown itself in the city treas
ury. Tho idea OF a municipal piEgrrE
Is not new. I, may prove valuable. but
the big Five" had no more 10 do with
this proposition than tn" other members
nf tho city council, and the best that can
be said of 1t. is that il is an experiment
from which "" hope good results, ana
il is absolutely certain that II Will not
save $50. 10000 to the people or heel
ing. either in one years time. or in three
or four years time. IL II saves II Rt all.
The next item is an absurd claim OF n
saving Of 100000 being made by OBJ
Virginia Traction Il Electric company
Chamber OF Commerce, the Chamber Of
Commerce Of Elm Grove and hundreds
Of citizens took part in this protest just
as effectively as any representative Of
the city government. Thu fact ls that
for many months this fight has been car,
riCd on exclusively by IN" municipal
government Of Elm Grove. and by pri-
Vate citizens interested out-thc.pike. The
city government appeared in II Just 10
The extent Of making one protest. The
hight is not yet settled. and no ono
knows what the result will finally be.
and the claim that N" city government
Of Wheeling saved $l0.0n0.n0 by is in
dividual action in this matter il laugh
able absurdity. Any ono Of many differ
rrt people might make tho same claim
with equal justice.
Similar One
Tho next item shows nm alleged saw
I ing nf S10n. 900. no by tho objections 10
The application Of the Wheeling Electric
company for an advance in rates. Hero
1t is again to laugh. The Chamber nl
Commerce. manufacturing companies nf
all kinds and citizens generally took
part in this objection. The city or
Wheeling did not spend n dollar Ia pro-
pare tho case. Its representatives did
far less than SCORES of individual citi
zcns and corporations. The case is still
pending before The Public Service COM
mission Of West Virginia. and it's decis-
ion will doubtless be based on facts. and
not upon any naisy claims Of bunch Of
politicians seeking reelection TO office.
Street Lighting.
Another item claims the alleged saw
ing Of $50. made by abandoning the
street lighting plant of the city and
making a contract with the Wheeling
Electric company. IT is a curious thing
when YOU contrast these two claims. In
one paragraph. by fighting the electric
company. these alleged municipal