Spend The Money For Labor

From a glance at the treasurer's report, it can very clearly be seen that Ann Arbor has uot much. money to spend this year arid it behooves the.conn cil to go slow in spending it. Upon the policy which should govern the expenditure of the street fund, the Argus has a few remarks to offer as to why that policy might well be made to differ from that which has controlled for the past few years. The times are undeniably hard. Never before have the laborers of Ann Arbor had less work. The building of sewers during the past few years has done much to prevent thern from feeling the f uil force of the period of flnancial depression through which we are passing. It does not seem now probable that there will be very much of this sort of work for them to do this fiummer. What can the city do without injustice to the taxpayers, of whom the laboriDg men form a large proportion, to alleviate the inevitable sufferïng which must result from the lack of work? It can spend money in the street funds for work in which labor enters largely into the cost, and it can do this the better this year, for it is just the kind of work that needs to be -done. Let the aldermeD, in considering all street appropriations, take this policy into consideration. Let us apply this rule to a few ordinary expenditures. For some years a large number of street crossings have been put in. There are a number of others which are needed, but the general statement may be made, with truth, tbat the street crossings of Ann Arbor are better today than they have been for some years. Now in making the street crossings, the main cost is that of the brick, which goes to partie outside of the city and fails to benefi to any great extent our laboring peo pie. Tlie city has spent a good sum o money in opening streets. It is in no condition to do so this year. Tha money should go to the regular stree' work which has been so long neglect ed. We have failed to take the prope care of the streets we have. Why should we be continually grasping after new ones, the money going into the pockets of a few and reducing ma terially the amount which can be paic out for labor. It is all right to open streets, but let any of the work done this year be assessed upon the property to be benefited by the opening. The city has been building cross walks and tearing them up for sewers and building them over again, only to be again torn up as the streets are properly fixed. In the meantime ou streets were never so muddy or dusty as now, never so full of holes, never so inferior even to ordinary country roads. So the Argus advocates spend ing the money this year upon the streets, largely for street labor.