Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1910-11-04 | Page 7 | That Favored Contractor

II THAT IDA T FAVORED CONTRACTOR I Editor of The Herald Republican There are some things in the present campaign that have struck slime of us rather forcibly We Ve have read lead your articles on taxation ta taxation and aud we con confess confess conless fess less that they the have opened our eyes a bit to the conditions that obtain in Salt Lake We knew that tho ho t city administration was extravagant but we 6 had no idea that things were were as bad as you yo show them to be We wore were rather surprised this year when the tax levy was waa raised from thirteen to fifteen mills and we arc are more mere surprised at the tho attempts of some of the American party speakers to show that the responsibility of this should be charged to the Republican county administration We all understand that there is no truth in that statement Your insistence that three millions of dollars have been filched from the taxpayers of the city in five years has set me and my neighbors to thinking and we think we know where some of that money has gone goneI I do not know k ow Mr Editor whether you remember when our favored city contractor was a poor but honest plumber I remember it very well Six years ago this favored contractor who has his pockets full of scrip issued to him by the city was a plumber making an honest living as a best he could although I do not mean to imply that this plumber is not honest now There is quite a difference between his bis condition now nov and the condition in which he was placed five or six years ago Then he was a poor man with nothing but a good reputation Now he is worth half a million of dollars he is the owner of several pieces of good property on Main street he is a banker and has a prominent influence among the financial councils of the city His wealth and influence in the city is such that he be is is consulted if I anything of an important nature is to be done in the city The poor Irish plumber of five years ago is now tl emai n bulwark financially fin of theY the tho theY thoY Y M C A and is said to be keeping it in its home Dome Do you suppose that his great profits could have h ve come out of hat three millions that have bave been Leon taken from the e taxpayers Y A TAXPAYER