Decatur Democrat, Volume 52, Number 42, Decatur, Adams County, 21 October 1909 — Page 4

— — THCBKMOCIkAT ivarrwrnraAT aoniiuia by LEW a. ELLINGHAM, Publisher. warn ybab » abyabob. Entered at the postoffice at Decatur, Ind., as second class mail matter. MflßnßsasaßßgMißEßassßMMMmtaiiMMai* ♦FFtttiAL BARER OF ABAMB CO. THE CITY CAMPAIGN REALLY GETTING INTERESTING It Is a common thing to hear those who do least make the most noise about what they do or find them continually advising others when, how and where improvements shall be made, while they never spent a dollar for this purpose in their lives. Sometimes their wives have contributed in this line, bnt on their own account they have not expended a cent. —P. L. That’s so, P. L. It makes us sick clear down to the bottom at those sofeheaded, loud mouthed advisors who know it all, and permit their wives to take in washing to pay the improvement to her own property. We appreciate that with you P, L. it is different. You own your own property purchased by real sweat while engaged in licking postage stamps for Uncle Sam, the only real labor ever performed. Those cheap guys owght to go away back and sit down. But under the circumstances we must not take the matter too seriously, for there are so many who are always using their mouths and their presses to boost the city while their money is being invested in Fort Wayne in the purchase of expensive wardrobe and in a good many other things that the merchants of Decatur could Just as well supply.—P. L. Now that is a little personal, but we presume that the merchants of Decatur are better qualified to testify to its truthfulness than you are P. L. Yes, we are willing to leave this momentous question to the merchants and business men of Decatur, and while your poor but patriotic heart is bleeding in their behalf, we would like to inquire the rate for Fort Wayne advertising, space in your val. uabta publication being generously given and accepted by them. The gentleman drew upon his imagination for the awful picture he presented.—P. L. It is worth something to be cal’ed a gentleman, and we hasten to acknowledge the courtesy before P. L. changes his mind and skins ’er back. P. L. has talked much and at times he has talked rather loud about the street crossings on Improved streets which the old councils paid, and that the present council had none of these improvements to pay for. It is true that the old council did issue city orders for the crossings on Monroe and Fourth streets, the only street improvements made by them, but the city orders were paid, paid too, in cash, by the present members of the city council. That same council In tnose good old days also settled the city’s portion of the Elm street sewer $3,000, by issuing a city order, but the city order was paid by the present council, and paid too, in cash. P. L. is certain, however, that the present council are bad managers and it is the good old days for him. P. L. has also cut the breezes considerable about the extravagance and bad management of the present council. He figured out that they collected and squandered $35,000 more money than those economical boys back in the good °id days. The treasurer’s record shows that from January 1, 1902 until January 1, 1906, the treasurer received in taxes $83,581.25. The treasurer’s record also shows that from January 1, 1906 to July 1, 1909, the present council received in taxes $113,521.85, an increase of $29,950.60. The city debt January 1, 1906, was $114,584, and the city debt at the present time is $88,932.09. This is a decrease in the city debt of $35,652.'M. Now then, when you subtract the $29,160.60 the excess in taxes paid, from the $36,65100 the actual debt reduc-

— tfon.iM hiv'e $5,701.40 of actual econ. omy U) the management of city affairs 1 by the present council over the councils that governed the destinies of the city from 1902 to 1906. P. L. in- : sists, however, that the present coun. cil are not good business men, and wants thd voters of the city to return to those good old days. • THOSE GOOD OLD DAYS Decatur, Ind., May 17, 1905—That this city is bankrupt is denied vigorously. That it is “broke" is sorrowfully admtted. And whether it was deliberately plunged into a morass oi debt or has been financially swamped because of the incompetency of its servants is a question that has caused a wide discussion. Many believe the city was placed in the “dead lyoke” class for the purpose of forcing the sale of the waterworks and electric lighting plant to private individuals. Others scout at the idea and say Decatur has had the debt habit tor many years and the accumulation of debt has finally resulted in the inability of the city to meet its obligations. But whatever g the cause, the business men of Decatur realize they are facing a serious proposition, and it is not a political proposition either. It is a plain matter of business, and there is a determination to bring back the city’s credit and save the municipal plant as we’’. Here is the financial condition of the city of Decatur at this time: City bonds $29,000 School bonds 20,000 Waterworks bonds 26,000 Total bonded debt $75,000 In addition to this bonded debt there are outstanding the following city orders: Waterworks orders for supplies, coal, etc., $10,443.78; electric light orders for coal, supplies, etc., $13,782.46; orders on the general fund for miscellaneous accounts, $3,193.28; orders on the street repair fund for material, labor, etc., sl,617.66; salary orders for the payment of the city officers, orders for payment of the me department, incidental expenses, $433.55; orders for the payment of an e'ectric light engine and dynamo, $1,450; time orders for the building of Monroe and Fourth streets, $8,283.52; city’s share of the cost of the Elm street sewer* $3,575.10, making a total indebtedness of $121,030.75. Every one of these orders is marked “not paid for want of funsd.” They amount to about $34,000, and are held by the supply houses from fchich the city has purchased material or coal or other supplies, and the local banks. And the city is paying 6 per cent, interest on the outstanding orders. They were not discounted, however, and that the people believe, is some* thing in favor of the city. As has been stated, this debt-making has been going on for a long time. The city council borrowed extensively from the two banks for temporary purposes. To secure these temporary loans the city mortgaged its tax duplicate to the banks very often, and most of the times paid 8 per cent. Interest for the accommodation. Os course this money was needed, It is , agreed. In the last few years Deca- . tur has shown a wonderful improve- ; ment. It has put down four miles of ■ brick streets and macadamized all the others. It has also been paying : its share toward building rock and i gravel roads in Adams county; in fact, the city has forged ahead In many ways. The present tax rate is $1.30 on the SIOO for city purposes I alone, the ..total tax rate being $3.85, ■ of which 95 cents is the city’s share 1 of the cost of building stone and ' gravel roads. The tax duplicate of i the city is about $1,800,000, which » brings in for . city purposes alone , about $23,400. The city of Decatur owns its elecs trie lighting and water plant. It is t agreed that this plant is one of the , best in northern Indiana: / It is thor--3 oughly modern and up to date and . would be a very desirable property i for a private corporation. This plant s it is estimated, is worth at least i $150,000. The receipts from this I plant average about $24,000 a year. • It seems that when the plant became I jPity property it was agreed that the • city should have its street lighting’

and fire protection and a few Other things in the water Uns free. This amounts, to about SII,OOO a* year, and this free light and water has continued for six years, making about $66,000. The consumers also were getting a good deal of benefit from the plant. E’ectricity is sold at 8 cents per 1,000 watts, arc lights at $4 and $4.50, and incandescent lights at 50 cents each. These figures are about half what are charged by private corporations in different parts of the state. And the prices for water to the private consumers are in proportion.—W. H. Blodgett in the Indianapolis News. THE WAY THEY USED TO DO. IT P. L. is very much impressed with the great business capacity of tha councils who cated for the interest of the city in those good old days. He is certain that they conducted the business in a safe and sane way, and that the present council were bad business managers, even malicious in their treatment of the public affairs. The records show that during the four years previous to the present council, and with no improvement for which they paid, the city debt grew from $93,100 to $124,000, an increase in the obligations of the city of $30,900. Had the present council followed those safe and sane councils of the four years previous,- the city debt today would be $154,900. Instead, however, the present council reduced the debt to $88,932.00, a total reduction in the four years of $35,000, and a difference in the management of the good old days and now of over sixty thousand dollars. Sixty thousand dollars in favor of the present and the economical way of transacting the affairs of the city. P. L. you must have an awful partisan grouch, when in the face of aU this evidence, you still insist that it is the good old days for you. You talk about your cheap talking sports, the fellows that talks but never pays, he must be a twin sister to the city councils in those good old days. Then it was. that they improved the city, built brick street crossings, paid for seWers, and did it too, Without ever paying a cent. True they issued the orders, but the orders were paid by the present council, the business men who have conducted the affairs of the city,, for the past four years. P. L. however, stands for the ' ■ good old days. The Democratic candidates in their platform pledge, stand for a still further reduction In the city debt, and for a lower tax levy. What do the Republican candidates stand for? They met in mass convention, nominated their candidates with a log roller, but never gave a thought to the people. Who should be trusted in transaction —the ones who only say they want the offices, or the ones who have proven their ability in the reduction of the debt and a promise to still further reduce it. P. L., the great moralist and partisan reformer, stands for a return to the good, old days, the days when the city debt grew larger, and the days whenthey mortgaged their tax draw and when city orders were a little less than worthless. As Billy Blodgett says, we were not bankrupt, but we were “broke.” • Those were great days that P. L. talks about. They were the days when public improvements were made with a lavish hand. They were the days when these same'improvements were paid for by issuing a city order, and then never paying the order, but leaving it as an emblem of their great business ability in the management of the affairs of the city. The present members of this very bum council paid the orders, paid the interest on the orders, and in some cases they paid the trimmings of court costs In the bargain. Those were glorious good old days, P. L. < - P. L. would you mind telling us the dolor of that expensive wardrobe, and which one of your Fort Wayne advertisers profited thereby. They tell, us P. L. tha\ if the present council | are elected theV will decrease the city debt another tb(rty-five thousand i

a. hunt 1/hf nf at*a A.v*An’£ ttiAv? It was never thus in the good old days. Then it was that the city debt grew sise, city orders were not taken on a bet, and Billy Blodgett says we were “broke.” NO BLIND TIGER - V - OR BOOTLEGGER NEED APPtY The declaration of the Democratic candidate for mayor, that if elected he will enforce all the laWs, and especially will he enforce the blind tiger' law, should be cheering news to every. law abiding voter in the city, All the Democratic candidates stand upon such a platform, and the candidate for mayor, Mr. Herman L. Center, gives it especial emphasis by declaring in public and in private that if he is elected mayor of this city, that there shall be no blind tigers and that bootleggers had better hunt for a more ( congenial clime. Mr. Center’s word is good. He has lived here always and our people know him and they know that he makes good. They know that he has the nerve to make Decatur clean and morally wholesome, and they know too, that he will do it when he says so. The Democratic party is especially favored this tithe in having Mr. Herman L. Conter as its candidate for mayor. He Is an expert bookkeeper, and he will lend valuable, aid in redeeming the Democratic pledge of a complete and published statement of the receipts and expenditures of the city. Every one will be interested in these statements. It will then be known beyond any shadow of doubt whether the waterworks and electric light plants are a paying asset of the city, or whether it would be better business to turn them over to private enterprise. These promised statements will disclose what it actually costs to manege them as well as the revenue they -produce. The Democrats of the city, and especially their candidates in this municipal election are interested only in good' government, economically and honestly administered. they promise a reduction in the city debt and a lowers tax levy. Doesn’t that sound good. We know they will deliver the goods because they have donb it They have paid thirty, five thousand dollars on the city debt, and next year there will be a reductibn of thirty cents in the tax levy, all this ia the accomplishments of the present council, and yet P. L. says they are bad men, have,no business ability and hate dme nothing. Isn’t P. L. partisan -.hough, not even being Willing to admit inat a Democrat is fit for office. LAW ENFORCEMENT AND ECONOMY THEIR PLEDGE Tie candidates on the Democratic ticket x and who are seeking the suffrages of the people m infs municipal campaign and election, have no desire other than that the best interests of the city, morally and financially, the served. They have nothing to- conceal and in order that they may each voter upon a'l the issues, that Have been raised at this time they have met together and subscribed i their names to a little platform of principles which they present you today 4n our news columns. The platform is but a reiteration of the promises they have personally made, and as every one of them are men of integrity, men of honor, and men of business capacity, the voters of this city will have no hesitancy in accepting them and their word upon all mat. tors touching the moral good and financial betterment of our city. Under ths primary system the Democrats have no other way of meeting'the people upon any issue, and it is good to see the Democratic candidates bold, iftroclalm themselves upon law enforcement and economy in the transaction of the public business of the dtp. It seems especially good after Witnessing a mass meeting of the Re. publicans of the city, where they railroaded the candidates through, but they had no time to take th voters into their confidence with a statement of anything teaching, upon the oah'‘of ' candidates providing lightning would strike them with Bn

W' 'i-,, ‘ .A' '* 4a, ••* ‘ f>l WWMSUOD. JQI Ia uoa * oODfeflt I • ' ‘ ' <>?; r'i'- '• ■ ' . , J™. have offered at that mass meeting a few “junk shop” resolutions, and he would have printed them In bold bad type in his K t. column. ‘T. L. is do, Ing the same game of partisan politics in this campaifh that he has done in previous campaigns for 10, these many years. P. L. is nb spring chicken and he has worked the game all his life. He wants Republicans elected to office for the /politics there is in it. A Republican council back in the good old 'days increased the city debt ninety thousand dollars. Under another Republican council the city debt reached the highest in all the history of our city. Did you ever hear any complaints from P. L. about the bad management and extravagance of those Republican councils. Why they even looked good to P. L. It is rotten now—all are Democrats and he wants them out and Republicans in. Great is reformation, but greater stil 1 , is the P. L. brand of reformation. But after all, it is good to see the Democratic municipal candidates take the binding pledge of a faithful service to their people. A REFORMER FOR PARTISAN PURPOSES r There are not many in the city who are so blinded by political prejudice that they would want their party to win upon false pretenses.—P x . L. Oh, P. L. you are a sly old fox. You might be able to work that off In some new country, but in Decatur, where your life and partisan character are known to every man, woman and child, it won’t go. Might just as well confess that you are a reformer for the offices, that is all and nothing more. Every one is on, P. L., own up.* P. L. is a great jefonper. He believes only in the sort of reform that insures official berth to Republicans. It is a one-sided game, but P. I* plays It with all the pretensions of being honest. We are willing to acknowledge that he does know all about a fellow’s wife’s property and the kind of clothes she wears and where she buys them, but when it comes to partisan politics we pass P. L. a four flusher of the rankest sort His failure comes in the fact ttiat Republican officers are always honest and rtyht, and that Dem. ocratlc officers are but the off-scour-ings of the earth, false to their every trust, and have no ability or Inclination to be either honest or sincere. Take for lllusti-ation his treatment of the Republican councils and those of the Democratic, councils. He has no word of censure for the councils who made the debt of the city, and nothing but censure for the council who have made an honest effort and are paying the debt. He talks of the street improvements his councils have made but which they paid for only by the Issuing of a city order, that order be -, ing paid by the present council. Set. tlement of the Elm street sewer was made In the same his , councils issued the order, the present council paid it. He furaishes the fiffures to show that this council collected and spent $35,000 more money thsn his councils did, when ip fact the books show that this council have managed, the city affairs nearly six thousand dollars cheaper and more economical than did the councils ih the tour pre ■ vious years to the life of the present council. These are facts taken from the official records and cannot be disputed. These facts prove P. L. to be nothing but a partisan reformer, a reformer for office only. HE HAS AN AWFUL PARTISAN GROUCH P. L. acknowledges the proficient and economical efforts in the present council in the repair of west Monroe street, the work now being done under the management of the street commissioner, and by direction of the council. P. L. says repair win make west MOnroe good for travel and traflld. These words of commendation coming from P. I*, are ho doubt appreciated by the members of tee council .who are not used -to. (having F. L. brag about them. - d at. ‘ 1 fopIBM

T~“ — : r toed for law enforcement. AU the candidates ( <?n the Democratic ticket Stand against blind tigers, and for peace, sobriety, economy, a reduction of the city debt and a lower tax levy. They promulgated a platform enunciating these things, and < they not only endorse them but they stand squarely for them, and pledge themselves to faithfully carry into execution dvery promise they make. What do the ■Republican candidates Stand JJor? (Although they met In convention nary promise do they make to the voters in the city. Some of them have an official record, a record, too, that, does not compare to that of- the present council. Their record is of the debt making variety, but still they offer no excuse for the >: past, or make any promises for the ' future. Who are worthy of the trust and the votes of the an<| who ought to succeed in this-contest z for office? In the light of the past, this is not hard to answer. Our civic officers promise everything that is right in the eyes of the law, and our councllmanic candidates promise to continue the business features of our city government so that our city debt, will be reduced, our tax levy lowered, and to improve and make gilt edged our credit as a municipality and as a people. There is no hot air and no pay in these promises because they are now a paying council. They have paiA their own obligations? they have paid many of those of their pre- * decehsors, and they have reduced the city’s obligations besides. They have a. pride in the record they have made, and they will have a greater | pride in the record they can make it given the right of official preferment for another term. What they have done Is not* a drop in the bucket.to .what they will do in the next four years. The reason for this is simple. When they took the affairs of the city things were precarious. The city had no credit and debt was star- . 1 ing them straight in the face on all sides. They were compelled and did give their own personal endorsements for coal and other supplies needed. It is different now. Their credit is good and they can buy in the open market for the best price. It Was different in the good old days. The prices of coal furnished the city then and now tell the tale —tells the tale of what a business management is. P. L.’s grouch is nothing but a partisan grouch. He simply wants Republicans to administer the official affairs of the city instead of Democrats. It was ever thus. He has had A this, partisan grouch for many, years. The voters of the city are well acquainted with him and his partisan grouch, but they were ntever better acquainted with it than at the present time. In this campaign he Jias shown a wonderful inclination to reform everything, but the dirt in his pwn political household, and that Actually looks sweet to him. For instance he has no word of condemnation for those Republican admin- r istrations who made the debt of the city, mor any word of censure for those RepbWican officers Who made the debt bigger. F. ,L. V even told how they pitid for Improvements to the streets and sewers, when in fact they did nothing but issue an order, the order being paid by the present council. P. I* even goes so far in his partisan reform as to condemn what he the “bad business management** of this council, when in fact they are the only council in the last .quarter of a century that has ever actually been a debt reducing council. Don’t you think that P. L, , has an awful partisan grouch? p7p. p. c. Positive, Painless Pile 'Cura The most thorough and complete, practical and painless method of treating all curabale diseases of the rectum ever placed before the public. It displaces all the old, barbarous methods of cutting, ligating and Injecting. Piles are permanently cured in a few Weeks by the use of this Vestment. Fissure Fistula, Catarrh, Inflammation, Ulcefatlon, Prolapsus, Condtipatioa, Bleeding, -Blind and ftehlhg Pifds are cured ns If by magic. IP r