The City Council vs. The Chamber of Commerce

The Tacoma city council took no definite action this evening regarding the reduction of salaries of city officers. A startling feature of the session was a report from the finance committee: 'The tone of the report of the committee of the Chamber of Commerce, recommending 50 per cent reduction in salaries, would indicate that these gentlemen had lost faith in the future of Tacoma. But the city council has acted on the theory that we might expect continued future growth. It is well to remember that no body of men in this city has been as anxious for the city council to appropriate money by ways not at all times strictly legal as has the Chamber of Commerce, as for instance, the Fourth of July celebration, the editorial reception and the World's fair pictures, and it is as well to remember that they were the strongest advocates of the purchase of the light and water plant at a price in excess of what the city council said it was worth. Your committee also reports that they desired the Chamber of Commerce committee to go to the Tacoma Ledger and see if they could not obtain a reduction from the exorbitant price being paid for city printing, but for reasons not known to this committee, they have failed to do so.'