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.