Show I G1 G O P1 P BUNCO SCHEME Ridiculous Pledges to Reduce Taxation Taxa-tion Forty Per Cent 4 ABSURDITY OF THE PLAN DENOUNCED BY EBPU2LICANS A AS SILLY BIINCOMB Pledge Hade by Desperate Republican Repub-lican Candidates Means That the Council Last Year Wasted 50000 Idiotic Promises Will Have an Opposite Effect From That Intended In-tended A remarkable statement appeared In yesterday mornings Standard signed by all the candidates on the Republican ticket except the candidate for recorder record-er police Justice attorney and auditor Here it is We the undersigned candidates on the Republican ticket for the offices of mayor and city councilmen have carefully care-fully investigated the financial affairs of the city and we find that while the present city council has made great strides toward effective economy yet we believe that necessity demands and present conditions warrant a reduction of the taxes from 40 to 60 per cent and we hereby pledge ourselves if elected to reduce the amount of tqxes collected col-lected from the people not less than 40 per cent The article was Intended as a campaign cam-paign boom for the signers but it had decidedly the opposite effect Republican Repub-lican and Deniuurats alike denounced 5 it many of them characterizing It as absolutely silly and the worst kind of a political blunder An amusing feature fea-ture of the document is that live of the signers have been in the city council for the past two years and yet have never seen fit to make the great reduction reduc-tion A Herald reporter called on H C Wardleigh president of the council and found hat gantleman mournfully checking over a poll list with Councilman Council-man Hill Mr Hill said he thought just what Mr Waruleigh thought and Mr Wardleigh said they both thought more than they would tell Do you really believe such a reduction reduc-tion can be made and the interests of the city subserved he was asked Certainly its very simple We have It all figured out Would you mind telling how it is to be done Not much young man we are not giving such information away If we explained how it could bo done the L Democrats would at once promise to do It and then we would get left After f election we will explain Until then I the people must take it on faith We have promised to do it Just elect us and ne will do the rest Mr Wardleigh took Up a small bit of foolscap and waved It about mysteriously I mysteri-ously pointing to some red tigures thereon and saying that the whole I scheme was outlined thereon and that was the only copy in existence He t had been made keeper of it and no one c except a privileged few could see it until after election as it would be kept i in his safe securely guarded Other people however investigated the official records of the recorders office of-fice and found them about as follows J4 Receipts for 183C SHSOS4 Of this sum S1GSSS itas properly receipted liar previous years held back by Collector Hurlburt by reason of being in dispute 0 and S9000 was a warrant given previously previ-ously to the Rio Grande Railway company 2 com-pany and heldin escrow till returned i in 1SSG Hence the legitimate revenue I of 1S9G wan 122496 In 1SDS the revenues of the city will toe J12COO less by reason of the reduced valuation and by reason of the levy being 1 mill lees than last > cai This will leave the revenue of 1S9S 110436 Now these wise men propose to reduce re-duce that not less than 40 per cent and hint at 60 per cent However say 15 40 per cent That is a reduction of 11 14000 from the revenue leaving 664SC I as revenues of the city for 1K9S For 1S9G the expenditures were a few cents less than 5120000 The live candidates for election on the Republican ticket have consulted vith their candidate for mayor and their fellow candidates and have discovered that they can cut that to 664S6 for 189S and consequently might have saved the city 535U if they had thought of It in time The above figures may bo verified by anyone at the city auditors oflice but of course Mr Wardleigh and his fellow scramblers for office have a dark mysterious mys-terious plan to be divulged after election elec-tion that will make it possible to do all these things The average voter will look upon the scheme as a clumsy i bunco same and few of them will betaken 1 ik be-taken in by 1L CONDEMNED BY REPUBLICANS It seems however that there are snany intelligent Republicans who see t through the sophistry of the plan and I tirdemn It The ords of some of i thorn are given below I i U < M M A Breeden exspeaker of the Republican senate and prominent candidate for city attorney In the last J convention said Its all nonsense Itt absurd to think of It It cant be i done R H VVhipple Republican city at torncj and formerly chairman of the city committee There should be some I guardians appointed The proposition is absurd If the reduction is so fetes B ibis why did not those five candidates who arc also signers of that pledge see > that it was made before or at least J raise their voices for It Look at our I streets nov They are worse than those I of most eastern country towns and do more to stare capital away than burdensome bur-densome taxation William G Wilson Republican and excounty commissioner Its nonsense Xo man under heaven can gauge public expenditures down so fine as that The best they can do Is to j > promise to dia the very best they can and then deal with matters as economically econom-ically as it is wise to do when they come Such stuff makes me tired E H Anderson candidate for city recorder re-corder I did not sign that statement I because I did not want to I wish It 0i were NOV 2 right now 7 William Driver candidate fbi mayor r said in regard to the statement that I vie i men who were posted had told him such a reduction could ue made and he be I Jteved it He would not specify on what lines expenses could be curtailed to such an extent but said lots of money had been wasted In street work on the bench and although he signed the statement he was not oath bound and ali he would promise was to reduce re-duce taxes as much es ha could Miles L Jones candidate for reelection reelec-tion from the Third ward said he was not present when the paper was signed but had he been would have urged that the proposed reductions be l > ut at Jess lie did not understand how such a sweeping rsauetloji could be made but still he signed the statement after t the others had and becaus they had done so Whichever W1i9 this statement state-ment Is locked at the showlie Is a bad ir one for the five Republican candidates for reelection to the council If a reduction t re-duction of 40 per cent can be made nest year it should have been made for the preceding two years consequently I conse-quently It has taken them two years to 1 find out what the other five who are running with them claim to have discovered dis-covered in a few hours Hence one side must be abnormally dull or the other side prematurely acute or else they are all demagogues and should forfeit all claims lo support for they have made promises that all reasonable reason-able men will see they cannot perform From the above figures it will be seen that the proposed reductions would make the citys entire revenue leas than SSOOQO The interest account the accounts ac-counts of the fire and police department depart-ment bills for hydrants and electric lighting alone cost oer 70000 and in those items retrenchment is hardly possible pos-sible Hence these scramblers after office of-fice would have the people believe that with 10000 they can run all other city departments and pay all salaries to say nothing of S3000 in outstanding warrants which must be paid sometime some-time and furthermore in their calculations calcula-tions they could not have considered consid-ered the sinking fund so the statement state-ment is shown up as a flimsy political trick |