Show UNJUST reflections THOSE who are unjust are also prone to be inconsistent former city councils have been criticised criticized unsparingly on the alleged ground that they did not establish nor encourage public improvements and in the same breath in which members of the present city government have expressed thia sentiment ment they have cast reflects upon previous councils because they did not tax the salt lake city railroad company this inconsistency was displayed in the city council friday i april alth many times s during the discussion of the resolution granting a franchise on certain streets to the rapid transit company was the immunity from taxation enjoyed by the old company referred to in a maenner manner to reflect upon the predecessors of the present council the reasons which can be urged in support of a tax on the rapid transit company did not exist when the franchises of the old company were granted at that time the population of the city was small compared with the present money was scarce among tho classes who would otherwise have patronized street cars the cost of the plant was greater than now and the revenue bore no such relation to the expenses as it does today in the early years of the street railroad in this city a light alight tax would have been sufficient to extinguish the enterprise and the policy pursued of granting it immunity from such a burden was in line with a commendable public spirit now all this is changed the city is a populous rne metro and money to is abundant in comparison with what it was in former years the cost of operating rapid transit lines has been greatly reduced by modern invention and the profits of such a plant may now be made to far exceed what was possible a few years ago last evening mr hall moved to amend the pending resolution so as to make the per capita tax to be paid by the rapid transit company one anti and one fourth instead of one and one half mills and said mid in support of his motion mr mayor two and a half mills is one twentieth of a five cent fare and one twentieth of anything is five per cent of it now five per cent 00 comes moo pretty near being tithing anti and if an anything has kept this country back tithing has I 1 I 1 am op opposed to 8 such u a high tax on the gross revenue of the company mr halls motion was agreed to by the council A fow few later in speaking to another phase of the pending matter mr cohu stated that as early as some time in the seventies the city council had provided for the collection from the old road of a per capita tax of five mills mr hall rose and asked I but bat was the tax ever collected T Is in it not true that every year a representative senta tive of the road would come before the council and declare it was too poor to pay the tax and is it not true that thai the council always remitted it these interrogatories i were put in a kemt sneering manner and mr cohn made no reply these particulars dicu ticu tic ulars lars are given that mr hall may see himself as others see him as he was probably unconscious of having stultified himself and crossed his own record within the space of a few mor moments we repeat that those who are unjust ar are i e also prone to be inconsistent |