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Show THE LEGISLATURE SHOULD ACT. We beg once more to call the attention of the Legislature to the fact that this is becoming too large a city, that its requirements, now and in the near future, are too important to be trusted to the handfing of such a company of men as make up our city council. Some of them, the most of them for that matter, mat-ter, are kindly and honest men, but they have neither the capacity nor the time to handle city matters in an intelligent way. Then a good many of them are afflicted by 'that attribute called narrowness. nar-rowness. Then some of them are Church and partisan par-tisan bigots who think more of their church or party than they do of the city's best interests. Now this ought to all be done away with. For instance in-stance there is a measure pending before the Legislature Leg-islature to appoint a water commission to insure a sufficient water supply for this city for all time to come, and certain of the council are trying to kill this because there is not proper consideration in the bill of the dignity due the Salt Lake City council. After the failures of the past two years, these men have the gall to rear their crests and to disapprove dis-approve of a needed measure because they are not enough considered in it. They have evidently been looking through a magnifying opera glass at their own pictures. If they desire to realize the exact estimate which the people put upon them, they should look through tho opera glass from the other end. But it is useless to discuss their status. The truth is this city needs a competent com-petent city government, in the hands of broad-minded broad-minded property owners. This should be established, estab-lished, and there is no power except the Legislature Legisla-ture to bring around the reform. The men who do this work should be paid such salaries as will induce them to give their best thoughts and all the needed time to city affairs. The city has millions of dollars at stake. For instance, if it could be positively established that this city has secured a water supply ample for half a century to come, that fact would in a day enhance the value of property here vastly more than the water supply would cost. The city should be graded, sewered and paved-The paved-The fire and police departments should be doubled doub-led in the number of employees, and in the apparatus appar-atus for fighting fires. What is needed for all these things is thorough sagacity on the part of the men in charge. This the Legislature should make possible. It is in their power to revolu- 1 tionize our present city government. tt is their duty under their oaths to bring about this reformation. re-formation. The Legislature has no right to adjourn ad-journ without giving this city, which pays so large a percentage of the whole taxes oi the state, such relief. The council should be reduced to four - men, paid a fair salary, their work should be ap. ' portioned between them, then the work of each one should be subject to the' approval of all the rest and of the Mayor. |