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Show former Bioghamite Says Majority Satisfied With Present Conditions Editor Tribune The man. A. W. Wills, claiming to be chairman of il committee appointed at a regular meeting of the Miners' union to make war on gambling In Bingham, having been given much space lii Tho Tribune in which to stato his ca3e, no douhL In a spirit, of fairness you will give "tho other side" a chance to bo heard. Mr. Wills having succeeded In stirring up a good deal of feeling In Bingham slates that his committee was appointed at a stated meeting of tho union. Con-trarlly, Con-trarlly, it Is asserted that the committee commit-tee was named, or at least the resolutions resolu-tions published in The Trlbuno wore passed, at a special meeting of the union attended by seven mombers, and that the action was decided upon by a bare majority, Mr. Wills presumably casting tho deciding vote. It Is also said that a large number of the members are Indignant In-dignant at tho proceeding, and trouble Is brewing In tho union because of It; that a majority, especially of tho old-t old-t Imers and men who helped to organize the union, do not Indorso Mr. Wills as a leader or as an Individual. Leaving sentiment and personal feeling aside, if Bingham were to hold an election elec-tion tomorrow It would cast two-thirds of the vote In favor of leaving, present conditions alone. There arc reasons for opposing any change, which are entitled to consideration. The administration of Its public affairs has been. Is and must continue to bo very expensive the outgoes out-goes being largely met by income from licenses li-censes and fines. The conservation and careful distribution of its limited water supply is at once Its grave concern. Revenues to date havo been largely drawn upon to wipe out .a bonded Indebtedness In-debtedness and an overdraft Incurred in Installing waterworks. Thj." mains have proved faulty, as they are of wood, banded with malleable Iron, which Is being be-ing weakened by the action of sulphuric acid In the soil, and will soon have lo be taken up lo replace the bands with cast Iron. Besides, an additional large reservoir of concrete Is to be built, and the capacity will then be barely ado-ouate ado-ouate for the needs of the community. Owing to lawlessness of the alien population.- a large police force, In connection con-nection with a number of deputy sheriffs, sher-iffs, has to bo constantly maintained. That It Is offlolent and active is proved by the fact, that though Bingham Is famed as a booming camp and within an hour's run of Utah's metropolis, which its newspapers report Is Infested w 1 1 h thugs, thieves and holdups, there Is less violcnco and trouble among the civilized portion of the population than In any other busy mining camp of the west. If a crime Is committed It Is by some person with an unpronounceable Greek, Austrian. Dago or Jap name. The city maintains first-class equipments for two fire companies, which costs: while the expenses on the roads and creek form a large constant Hem. The freshets of last year entailed expenses of over 55000, and these disasters are liable to recur at any time during the spring and summer seasons. A new jail Is also soon to be built, to replace the small affair that has served to date. Over GO per cent of Bingham's 0000 population is made up of low-down foreigners, for-eigners, many of whom exist on what would gag a rooster, and who do not spend a dollar in this country except for tho cheapest clothing, grub, booze, and now and then a dollar at the games. Their money, as fast as earned. Is sent out of the country, never to return. The Bingham postofflce In a single day this month sold International orders and registered reg-istered letters to the value of IllfiOO, and conservatively estimated the transactions of tho postofflce, bank anil express office of-fice Include an average of over $60,000 a month, sent through them to foreign lands. A considerable proportion goes to Japan; and as the Japs themselves havo received orders from their government govern-ment to return home by not later than October 1, It may be they will sooner or later come back to fight this country In ships built, with money they arc now sending away. The citizens and taxpayers of Bingham, Bing-ham, being only about -10 per cent of lis population, would havo an unbearable unbear-able load to carry with a revenuo derived de-rived solely from taxes levied upon business busi-ness men and proporty holders, and the camp might become a county charge again to avoid hopeless debt. Income from saloon licenses and gambling fines seems the only plan to touch the un-Amoricanizcd un-Amoricanizcd foreigners for their legitimate legiti-mate share of the expenses. But for them the police force might be cut in two. Shut down tho saloons and gambling gam-bling and tho uncivilized element would not give up a nickol except for tainted sowbelly and overalls. This communication Is not a boost for gambling, or in the slightest dCKrcc a stricture on the Miners' union. I have myself been a member of a trade union for the last fifty years, and then some. .T. B. GRAHAM. Bingham, July 2S, 1010. |