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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1885)
THE WEST SHORE. How to obtain an ample and cheap supply of water ia one of the moot important questions a municipality is oallod npon to decide, and ia unquestionably the greatest iuuiuut now bufure the people of this city. Fur your we have paid from four to six times aa much for water as other citiea of the same size, and our monthly contribu tions hare served to build an extensive system, to estab lish a rich corporation and make a few men wealthy. The same money would have given the city a complete system free from debt, and an ample supply to all con sumers for at least one-third the present rates. Our business men have been freoly criticised for their failure to establish or encourage manufactures, yot in this re spect their conduct is blamoloas when compared with the apparent indifference of the taxpayers concerning this water question. Before manufacturing can be success fully engaged in here, so aa to compote with Eastern cities, we must first render the necessaries of life obtain able at prioes somewhat comparable with those that pre vail elsewhere. Water rates are directly a material fac tor in the oost of nearly all forms of manufacturing, and indirectly so far as it affocta the wagea of workmen. So long aa the laborer, mechanic, salesman and bookkeeper must pay more for water than for bread, it is idlo to talk of manufactures flourishing in this community. The oost of flour per year for a small family does not exceed $120, while the same family must pay for one hydrant, a Uth tub and a water closet, the outrageous sum of $12. Water is, of all things, the great necessity of human ex istence, and should be obtainable at the least possible oost It is the duty of a city government to protect the people from extortion of water companies aa woll as to' procure water for public uses at a minimum cost There is being urged upon the city a water proposition gen erally denominated as the "Morey Scheme," by which certain parties hope to procure a valuable franchiso and bind the city to a oontract for the paymont of $40,000 annually for a term of twenty years, a total of $800,000. There ia but one proper light in which to view this pro position, and that is to disassociate it from the present company and ootnpare it with conditions found elsewhere. When this is done it is found that rates to consumers are extremely high, liy making this oontract we fasten those high rata upon ua for twenty years without ho of relief. Now we are free to help oursolveaj then we would be bound hand and foot; and for the privilege of being so bound the property of our taxpayers would be mortgaged for $800,000. The sum asked for would be sufficient to give the city a oomplote system of water works, while the revenue dorived from rates (50 por cent leas than the Morey schedule) would be ample to main tain it, pay interest on the oost and create a sinking f uud for extinguishment of the debt About this there can be no question. The experience of citiea everywhere in the United States proves it Nearly every city of the sine of Portland owns its own water works, and supplies its inhabitants with water at oneixth the rate, in some instances, that are now extorted from our people monthly. Long and costly experience by the older cities of the East has demonstrated the fact that every city should own its own water works, and that to do so is to materi ally lessen the oost of water to the municipal treasury for fire purposes, and to con6umora for domestic uses, manu facturing and the manifold purposes for which water is needed. Fortunately for us we are not called upon to be pioneers in this matter. Other cities have gone through all the experimental stages and have paid dearly for the whistle of experience. We are so situated as to profit by what has cost them so much, and it were the very acme of folly not to do so. With this end in view The West Shone recently addressed letters to the mayors of numer ous cities in the United States whose population ranges from 25,000 to 100,000, asking several leading questions in regard to their water supply. In response was re ceived a mass of letters, municipal reports, water reports, schedules of water rates, ruins, etc., that form a valuable collection of data upon the subject From these the table on the opposite page has been carefully compiled. Reports more or less complete were also received from Cambridge, Mass.; Kansas City, Mo.; Wilmington, Del.; Detroit, Mich.; Horrisburg, Pa.; Rochester, N. Y.; Pater son, N. J.; St Paul Minn.; Springfield, III; New Haven and Hartford, Conn.; Leavenworth, Kan.; Davenport, Iowa; Dayton, Ohio; Bangor, Me., and Austin, Texas. Of thirty-nine cities reporting, twenty-seven have their own water works and twelve are served by companies, rates in the former averaging much lower than in the latter. The table is clear and needs no explanation, ex cept to say that in reporting the oost of systems some cities have included the amount spent for maintenance during a series of years. Special attention is called to the fact that only in citiea having two to four times the population of Portland is the entire oost of maintenance equal to the sum the city alone would be required to pay undor the Morey contract Attention is also called to the excess of revenue over oost of maintenance of each oity systom, derived from rates far below those offered or now prevailing here. The table should be carefully studied by every taxpayer. In the light of such statis tics it is difficult to conceive how a man who expects to own property, do business or pay rents in Portland dur ing the next twenty years can approve of putting the city's neck into the yoke of the Morey scheme, or, what is even worse, submit quietly to the present burden. Now is the time for the citizens of Portland to assert thomselves and settle this question by providing for a oompleto system, to be owned and operated by the city for the benefit of the people. If, however, it be deemed inadvisable at this time to increase the burdens of the city, already groaning under excessive taxation, then let the taxpayers take the matter directly into their own hands, and deal with it as they would with any other subject involving their personal interests. We have sufficient ooufidonoe in their ability and integrity to be lieve that some plan will be evolved by which the people may be relieved from the payment of these enormous water rates, and provision be made for the ultimate pos session of water works by the city.
