Municipal Beggary

Warren, Ohio, grimy steel mill town on the muddy Mahoning River, 20 miles from Youngstown, last week went begging for enough money to buy two tires for the single fire department truck it can afford to keep available.

For two months this city of 40,000 has paid neither its policemen nor its firemen. Last week the local council decided to close one of the two fire stations. Public spirited citizens, who realize that most of the business section is of old, highly inflammable construction deemed good enough for the trade of immigrant steel workers, have pledged $10,000 to pay some wages to remaining firemen. The council, too, voted to discharge the entire police force, sad-eyed Police Chief B. J. Gillen with his 16 aids.* Sheriff Al Weaver promised to patrol the city. But the local magnates knew that he had but one chief deputy, one office deputy, one plain clothes deputy and four uniformed roadmen to prevent all the county's crime and to catch motor speeders. So they asked Chief Gillen and his platoon to remain on duty, will guarantee them some wages out of the pledged $10,000 until police court and traffic fines and city license fees will bring sufficient money into the city treasury for full payment. Warren's present beggary is the catastrophe to overspending which U. S. municipalities do not seem capable of resisting. Last year local governments assessed taxes of $5,100,000,000, an increase of 76% over those of 1919. But even this huge sum (the highest Federal taxes ever levied for a single year were $5,069,000,000 in 1919) was insufficient. Local disbursements exceeded receipts by $2,300,000,000. To get this money, state and municipal bonds were issued for $1,399,637,992 last year ($1,398,953,100 in 1924 )/-. Remaining deficits came from short term borrowings. In general, municipal securities are safe. Some accident of prosperity seems always to occur to make new borrowings possible, if only to repay old ones.

*His ranking subordinate, Inspector Harry E. Laukhart, was bound over to the Trumbull County grand jury last week, accused of accepting a $40 bribe to ignore town speakeasies. /-The cost of U. S. government, federal, state and local, was $10,975,000,000 last year (N. Y. Trust Co.'s The Index, July, 1926). In 1924 it was $10,252,000,000, which meant 16% of the income of all the people, or $91.47 for each one, or $400 for each family [American Exchange-Pacific National Bank (Manhattan) August monthly letter].