CHICAGO FACES CHAOS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 881, 27 January 1930, Page 9

CHICAGO FACES CHAOS

BUSINESS MEN RAISE FUNDS TO HELP CITY FOR ESSENTIAL SERVICES United P.A.—By Telegraph Copyright Reed. 10 a.m. NEW YORK, Sunday. A group of Chicago’s wealthiest citizens is disturbed by the comment all over the world about the seriousness of Chicago’s plight. These men have agreed to raise among themselves £6,000,000 as a temporary loan to the city, to be used exclusively for the purposes of paying employees, purchasing coal and supplies for the hospitals and public institutions, and maintaining other absolutely essential services. The City Council made an appeal to this group for £10,000,000, but the latter refused to comply with the request for a larger sum. One day last week the financial crash in Chicago was heralded by Mr. Silas Strawn, a lawyer, who described the financial difficulties of Chicago as constituting the most serious situation which has ever confronted an American city. These conditions he ascribed to reckless financing over a long period of years. The political leaders had failed utterly, and had been impotent to govern the city, the county, or the schools. Later it was disclosed that the municipal employees, including school teachers, have six weeks’ wages due to them, totalling 11,276,000 dollars. No funds are available, and therefore attempts by the- city to sell short-term securities —namely, tax anticipation warrants —totalling £ 8,000,000 dollars, for immediate funds, failed. No bank would underwrite them. The hospitals, particularly those housing tubercular patients, the parks, and the other roost necessitous of public services are in danger of being closed. For instance, 1,200 nurses will probably leave shortly unless some provision is made for their pay.