Wilmington Daily Gazette

Municipal Extravagance.

The Commercial evidently feels the force of our remarks, and attempts to ridicule the charges we have made against the extravagances of the City Council and its evident disregard of the wishes of the great mass of the voters of Wilmington, because of the reliance the Radical party has upon the strength recuperative from the pew element which was introduced to the polls, for the express purpose of securing partizan dominion, and carrying out any high handed measures that might be resolved upon by party caucuses to 'be felt by us at the expense of many.'

And this is exactly the policy which the Radical party has been carrying out wherever it has had the aid of a strong and controlling negro vote.

We quoted yesterday, an article from the Philadelphia Ledger which showed that the people of Washington, right under the nose of the President and his backers in Congress, had been almost financially ruined by the extravagance of the Radical rule. The demands which have been made upon the people of that city have been so enormous, that they cannot carry on the municipal affairs, and talk of another reconstruction, and of asking Congress to take the control of the government of the city, to get rid of the scoundrels who are eating out their substance. The condition of many other cities where extravagance has reigned supreme, is found not much better.

Seeing this, is it any wonder that we should remind our people of it, and urge them to be watchful; to be careful to see to it, that the partizan spirit does not lead them into a like vortex of indebtedness? Are we for this to be ridiculed by the Commercial, which never once reminds the Council of the necessity of economy, but urges it forward in its course by articles abusive of the Gazette for its gentle and persuasive arguments, advanced to induce our City Fathers to return to the paths of municipal virtue, which were so faithfully adhered to by the men who inaugurated our excellent and economical city government, and who managed it on exact and just principles for so many years?

Few people would credit the statement that the city debt has been increased in the last five years nearly half a million of dollars, and that at the rate the Council propose to proceed it will soon reach a million of dollars. It is useless for the Commercial to say that 'honesty and economy must have control.' The Gazette cannot be more earnestly devoted to the plain and simple rules, when it makes it its chief business, to censure the Gazette for simply asking the people to elect a majority of Democrats to the Council, whom we will guarantee will give them a more economical city government.

We tell the Commercial plainly, that it knows its party depends upon the ignorant negro vote to sustain it in its extravagant course—that it knows that without that vote its party would be hopelessly in the minority. And we do fear, that as the negro vote has brought debt and ruin upon all the southern cities, it may do the same here and we insist upon the people making change at this time to escape the heavy taxes, which will inevitably follow the election of a Republican majority to Council in September. This is all we ask. We don't care a pin about the offices; only give us an economical and safe government.

The times are growing hard—and the people feel the need of all the money they can save, and the excess of taxes that many families are caused to pay, would prove very handy market money.