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Show TIIJS HO NO CRAB. , Th Trilitine jtlu.'iv.s h;is hfOn rra'ly to hiipport nfodcil puMic improvements. lL hfta been equally rv;ily to oppose them U'lif'ii I hoy have, not been neeIrd. In tho prevent v;ir i r u-Ls t he most ter-liMe ter-liMe this i-ountrv bus t'arftri in halt" a ( nnttiry-- Thfi Tribune adopts n position ivhirh, wo believe, roinmemls itself to tho taxpayers. There a if many things all of its would like to have for our city. We would bo delighted if londitions por-inittoij por-inittoij us to nmko many extensions of our pa in sysl em ; 1 o build splendid boulevards and buy new park sUea; to grant every ' mpiet of individual property prop-erty owners for improvements on certain cer-tain streets; to huild new bath houses, aerpiiro all tho water right we iould utilize for a generation to come; to expend ex-pend money lavishly t'ov the beantifiea-tbtn beantifiea-tbtn of tho eitv, so that the stranger within our gatos might be profoundly impressed and go on. his way. glorify- ; ing ns. In times of peace all of us, even the overburdened taxpayer, could look upon burh a programme with moro or less equanimity. Bn t , t heso are war times., Tho government needs every man's labor la-bor to win tho war. H needs our money, and wo shall be compelled to give of our money in taxes and by tho, purchase of bonds. More and more will be asked of the taxpayers and the ultimate ulti-mate consumers to whom much of the tax burden is shitted. At such a time economy is essential, and the best way to economize is to cut out superfluous publie works. We do not argue that the country will not be prosperous in tho sense that high prices will prevail; that demand will outrun supply, and that there wilt be labor for all. But incomes will not lioep pace with governmental debt burdens bur-dens and taxes, and even the corporations corpora-tions directly benefited by war demand will find it difficult to show net profits, because of the fact that everything a corporation buys to use. in its business has gone to a high price level. It will be argued that some of the improvements are needed. Many things w hieh the individual needs he must forego iti a self-sacrificing spirit, so that his government may triumph in the war, so that his country may continue con-tinue to be free, so that permanent peace may be secured for a sorely afflicted af-flicted world. If the individual must economize, the public corporations must economize. Whatever money is spent should be spent with tho merchants for the necessaries of life. That tends to keep business prosperous. But to create cre-ate extra work in eoniotition with the government, to keep men in the. cities who should be ''doing their bit" for the government in the mines or on the farms, is disloyalty. Everything that the city will purchase pur-chase with the money derived from the bonds must be purchased at. terrifically high prices. A few years from now the work probably can be done cheaply. If lumber is to be purchased the city-must city-must compete with the government, which is demanding millions of feet of lumber for wooden ships. If steel is to be purchased the city must compete with the government. If labor is to be had it must be obtained in competition with the government, directly or indirectly. indi-rectly. Labor will not want for work at high prices. There is more than enough work for all. "In Utah more men are needed in the coal mines, in the metal mines. If superfluous work is created the city will bid to keep the men in the town, j shall be told that some of this work ) is necessary, but most of it is not nee- esary in any absolute sense. Tt is not j j,elc?savy when it is a question of the I life or death of the nation. Tt is not j necessary when it can be postponed to 1 a better time. . Everywhere the wealth of the world ! is being reduced by war. Thousands of tons of goods are being sent to the bot-torn bot-torn of the sea each week. The labor , of m in is being employed to make nm-j nit inns, and tho labor is being blown 1 ! away at the mouths of gun?. Not only I is the world's stock of good' utdiitf re- i j duced, but. Ihe ability to rcidciii-h the : -toi'k-i d'fs not exist, because millions , , of men are in tho t rem-he-;. Other mil-j j lions are engaged in producing mate- i rials which are ground up and destroyed de-stroyed by tn' war machine. T'uis iu the explanation of high priced, of tho high price of food and of all the necessaries of life. All of us must pay those prices until tho v. ar ends. And. lirst. of all, wit nnL and saouid pay : the in for tho es-'jiUlai ihii-gs of our daily life. Hut our city commission would have us pay these exorbitant prices fur things we '-an do without. 1 'erha ps v. r. cannot do without them permanent ly , but su rely we can do without tS.em until the war ends. We must, not lose sight of the fact that a!! of our labor needed to re- place what war has destroyed and is destroying. If wo fail in this duty, prices will continue high and tho world will face a day of accounting. W'o must iO lace tho war's wate after we havo used every ounce of labor to meet the requirements of war. Our city commission, however, would have us create extra work which will deflect labor from productive fields, v, hich will take it away from the factories, fac-tories, the mines and the farms. Jt will create extra work for which we musf" pay exorbitant prices in every purchase that is made. We believe that we have stated some compelling reasons why the taxpayers should go to the polls on Tuesday, .June 2b', and vote against the bonds. W'o believe be-lieve that these arguments will appeal with force to property owners who are already overburdened with debts and who, nevertheless, muut give more and more of their substance that the government gov-ernment which protects them may survive. sur-vive. Loyal Americans do not want to see their cities competing with the government, govern-ment, for labor and materials in wartime, war-time, for they ronVv.e that such competition com-petition is nothing more nor less than help given to the enemy. |
