The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-02-25
PURCHASE OF THE WATER WORKS By
THE CITY.


thirty-fve or forty years ago, not so much, il
Is said, in the desire to confer q great public
benefit on the citizens of New Orleans. as in
the wish, on the part Of certain capitalists to
obtain charter for a company invested with
banking privileges. At the time the charter
was obtained, New Orleans had superabun-
dance of banks, and the Legislature would not
have been disposed to charter another, had
not the public good been the ostensible rea-
SON for SO doing. An application. coming
in such shape, that body could not well re-
fuse. SIS,
The Interior object as recited in the pre-
amble to the act granting the charter. was
eminently patriotic. The reasons assigned
for incorporating company with such privi-
leges, were, that ait would contribute greatly
SO the security of the city from fire, and to
the health and convenience of the inhabitants,
and the agricultural and commercial interests
of this State might be greatly promoted by
extending to said company the privileges re-
CURED" - cry
So the Commercial Bank Of New Orleans
was chartered, and the Water Works were
built. The city, at that time, had from fifty
to sixty thousand inhabitants, and, had the
affairs of the company been properly man
aged. according to the expectation of the
legislature and of the public at the time, it
would undoubtedly have been great public
benefit
The history of this corporation, however
has unfortunately been like that of many
others where there was no individual respon-I
sibility-where the great object was to make
money or to save it, regardless of the
general welfare. The company were re-
quired by their charter to expend hun
dred thousand dollars per year until the
old city proper and its principal faubourgsl
were supplied, requiring them to give
to the head of water an elevation of fifteen
feet. With an increase of the population,
there was demand for more water than the
company supplied. and ~st;e... zzAa- aan-ll
menced against it to compel it to extend its
pipes. The court decided that the charter
applied to the city as it existed at the time
the charter was obtained, and not as it after
wards existed, and that the company had
complied with their charter. ssss
With such o decision in their favor, the
company were prepared to resist effectually
all opposition to their administration, and all
claims for an extension of the benefits of the
Water Works to a rapidly increasing COM
munity. So great has been its negligence in
the Second and Third Districts, particularly
on the levee, in a dry time in summer, that
the water plugs have frequently been without
water, and the inhabitants have been obliged
to obtain barrels and supply themselves with
water (when there is any for the next day for
domestic uses; and, in case of large fires
especially in the Third District, immense
losses have been sustained in consequence of
want of water to extiuguish the flames. The
pipes employed have not, in other cases, been
Of sufficient capacity to supply the amount of
water necessary; and what has contributed not
a little to aggravate the popular discomfort
has been and is the fact that the company
has shown no disposition to remedy existing
evils. ata. 3inas 81. s-lI
The question now arises: Shall the Water
Works remain under the control of the
present company or is it the part of wise
policy, as the period of the expiration Of its
charter rapidly approaches, for the city gov
eminent to become their purchaser, and take
the control of them into its own hands2 We
shall invite the attention of our fellow-citi-
zens to this subject in future article or
articles. In the meantime, we are glad to see
that the subject is engaging the earnest atten-
ton Of the City Council, and we believe it
will come up before one of the boards this
evening