Imperial Valley press., 1921-01-15

down to this, water or gas, which? 1T
is manifestly impossible for us to get
both, at this time, with any degree of
safety. The water proposition, as
stated above, is vital; the gas propos-
ltlon which is not vital can and must
wait.
The above facts alone should be suf-
flclent to cause every voter who has
the real interests of Ell Centro at
heart to cast his or her vote against
the gas bonds. But there are innum-
cradle reasons other than these for
voting down this pernicious PROPOSE
tion. Space will permit the mention of
only a few.
1t has been stated that the carry
ing of this bond issue will not place
further burdens on the taxpayers, be-
cause it will be self supporting. Such
statement surely requires no ar
gumeht to disprove. When the Gas
Co., with the enormous rates allowed
by the state railroad commission could
not "break even" with all the large
number. of consumers they had at all
times, how, in the name of common
sense, can the city hope to derive
enough revenue from a much lesser
number of consumers, to pay expenses,
interest on bonds and eventually re-
tire the bonds? For, be it known, that
hundreds of former consumers of gas,
after now having equipped themselves
with oil or electric stoves at great ex-
pense, and who have also learned that
they can run their oil stoves at less
than one third the cost of gas, will
never again at least until conditions
become normal go back to the use of
high priced gas. This statement can be
verified by talking to various restaur-
ant men and individual consumers.
Further if everything was favor
able and there were no obstacles
whatever in the way of a municipal
owned gas plant, it would be great
blunder to take over an old worn out
plant and spend good money to re-
habilitate it, because it would be con-
tinual source of expense for repairs
and would never be satisfactory. If
we must have gas, let us wait year
or two and when conditions become
normal, build new plant from the
ground up and have something dur
able and lasting and credit to the
city and not "junk heap" By that
time, too, prices of material and labor
will have become adjusted to the new
and lower level, and then we can
build a plain for much less money,
new throughout, than we can hope to
rehabilitate the present one.
/ In conclusion. the writer desires to
state that if this gas bond proposition
should carry, it will be the death
blow to every hope of those who are
so earnestly striving with all their
might and energy to find a means to,
in measure. rectify the evils of the
very grave tax problems now con-
fronting the people Of Ell Centre and
Imperial Valley. Unless some remedy
can be found to tighten these terrible
tax burdens, burdens which, by the
way, have been in no small degree
caused by the past reckless voting of
every kind of bond issue. we are
doomed and will soon be facing abso-
lutte ruin. This is not the statement
of pessimist but the judgment of the
thoughtful and conservative tax pay
ers of this valley who have recently
been devoting much time to investgat-
ing the deplorable conditions now ex-
isting These men see the "hand-
writing on the wall" and realize that
unless we come down to earth and get
back to the most rigid economy and
conservatism in public as well as
private business the future is dark
indeed. We can not hope to pull our
selves out of the present financial
hole in which we find ourselves by
digging it deeper.
ALVIN N. BUCKLIN.
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