The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1921-07-21
WHEELING NEEDS
ARE RELATED To
THE CREDIT MEN
REVIEW OF C1rY's PRoGREss
WITH Low TAX RATE Re
VIEWED BY MIR. OGDEN
Intelligent Thought and Wise Action by
Public Spirited Men arc Essential

At the noon day luncheon meeting OF
n" Whrc!iuc Association q; Credit Men
he'd yesterday at the Mcclure Hotel. Mr..
f. H. e ogden made a short address re-
f"rr!ug !" some of the material and So
ca! needs Of the city Of Wheeling. Mr..
Ogden pr"!Lrrd his remarks with the
statement th,,; for many years the city
1T WhrclIn% had hrcn conducted upon
an economical. not - say parSimon-
IupS plane.
'Whi." The l,aymcn, Of heavy taxes
was not rc'.,h"d by taxpayers nj any
tame. nevertheless. u was Obvious that
'aNcs paid /" the city government and
wisely "Np"Hd"d were ;hr most bcnch-
,,.G and h"lpfui taN"S that tn" taxpayer
pad. and Yet not only now. but for The
,.,~t tw,nty-'iv" years the relative taxes
I.ild Tor C!ly government in the city or
Wh""s"G were smaller than those pad
'.tn,r to the local Board of Education.
tn county of ONO. The state Of West
NlrplniI, ur to the nIttona, government
he aid. I'm other words the taNpaying
media. from which the citizenship Of
Wh"rllnG obtained thc greatest benefit
WAS the media to which they contributed
the least. The rate Of taxation in
. Wh"o.l"E for many years previous 10
. N" Last Two has been thirty-liye cents
. than any other important city in West
. Virginia. or in eastern ohio. and from
' on"-ha to cnc-th!rd az tho rate in the
/ larger and more progressive cities OF
IN" county"
! within tho past few years. We have
seen n the community. an awakening in
. ,crcSt in public affairs. and Particular
. ~ in a program OF public Improvement.
. The Wheeling Improvement Commission
T. 4 voluntary organization. paying its
/ own expenses and studying the physical!
needs of tho community. has mapped
ont Il program Of development. which
ought :" command the serious consider
: alton of our citizenship.
! "First and foremost, however was the
need Of filtration. ls% Il gradual pro-
! ceSs Of elimination. "" hav" reached
! point at which We now know that no
other plan of filtration than the mech
J anica! or direct plan viii he accepted. or
! l. possible. W" must dismiss the idea
4 OF using the wells. either on the river
shore or in n" sand beds Of tho river.
"lr IS equally obvious that the ConG"s-
3 ton upon our streets Is becoming so
- great that we must snon create new
street rarailcinG Main and Market
streets through our business section.
This can be- done by extending ChaplIrc
. SiTftl 'l NV "''~l sue W w HftlAIH HIal
: 20 ,hr intersection oC the National road
in on" direction and by building a VIA
. duct across "a" creek at m" Chaplin"
! street intersection. Through TcEiSia'io
secured last winter. Il Is now practical!
ami possible "a S"Cur" II portion 0f tho
credit. IN" bonding uowrr and IN" tan
: raising power Of ohio county for i'm
pr"rcments within the city limits. The
, county VII! soon l." relieved OF the ne
D. c"ssIty of rebuilding and r"pairinE the
NatiOna, road through the entire
length OF tho county. the State Roads
. commission taking over that rcSpons!-
. h!lity. Under these conditions II is pos
Sihlc for IN" county 10 undertake a pro-
gram Of additional Improvement. and
some Of that program should contcm-
plato expenditures within :he city. and
probably n" important project Is NJ more
vital interest than the extension of
Chaplinc street as outlined"
Other material projects touched upon
/ BY Mr.. Ogden was tn" proposed vratuct
arrosS Wheeling creek at the head OF
Fourteenth street the development Of
the Rcymann hill territory and the posi-
rlilS 81 flood protection on ihS South
Side. These things he said were NAV
icrIal things which meant additions 10
tn" wclfar" and the comfort of cur , H.
lcnS, the Identification Of the city. and
altogether making IT moro attractive
/ place in which 10 live.
The CITY Of Dayton. ne said.
was on" OF the fIrSr and most import
! an, cities in the United States 10 adopt
! the commission plan OF government. and
when II was adopted. Il great many Of
I the pcupi" q! Dayton doubtless believed
that All their municipal troubles were
over. but a. the present time petit
,iCn has been signed by ten thousand
citizens Of Dayton asking for the ahOli-
tom of The commission plan OF govern
mrnt and a return OF the so-Caii"d
fed, RAJ plan. such as existed IN Wheeling
a f"w years ago. The experience al
Dayton. Of Wheeling. and Of every Other
clty in the United States. Will show
hat no form Of government, whatever
may y" It's ideal advantages. could take
n" place Of Il keen. alert and intelligent
interest In public affairs.
"MunnIp;ti government had been the
greatest American failure. The corrup-
ton and ineffir!cncy in our cities har"
been Il constant source Of rcproaCh and
criticism on the part OF publ!C!stS
/ abroad but thcsc were. to some extent
a necessary result 81 democracy. and
,,clrurra'y. {" prov" itN'!f. an" I" justify
itself must always command tho best
SERVICE the siuCcr-St ,ii"rt and tn" most
iurc!lirrnt thought Of pub!c-srir!tcd
citizens
Those present ut yesterdays luncheon