Wilmington daily gazette. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1872-1874, 1874-07-25
The New Reservoir Loan and the
Water Supply.

Water Supply.
The new reservoir loan was defeated on Thurs
day night by one vote. The ordinance required
two-thirds of the whole number Of members Il
pass it. 1t received twelve votes; seven votei
were recorded against il, Of these six were Dem
ocrats and this it was found defeated the project
Mr.. Baker then changed his vote from aye to nay
He did not furnish any reason for this action
The vote therefore now stands twelve for the or.
dinance and seven against it. Mr. Baker, it ID
said, got on the fence In order that he might drop
down on the other side II necessary. Being q
weighty man perhaps the idea struck him just
before the vote was announced, that he might in.
crease hi7 importance by assuming this eqnivocal
position.
SO this as it may the credit of the defeat OF
the project is wholly due to the Democrats, as no
Republican voted against the ordinance until 1t
was found it was defeated Messrs. Fonlk and
Green were absent Both arc Republicans and
the former, We have no doubt, would vote with
It's party. We have no idea how Mr. Green
would vote. But with the aid of Foulk and b.
ker the ordnance could be passed there being
twenty-one members and fourteen would be two
thirds. We wish it distinctly understood that
not single vote Of the Republican members was
cast against the project of Capt. Gallagher and
Messra ebiscr and TieEel. The Ring, there
fore, were sustained by their party; the party,
however, divided on the question to postpone
commencing the work until September. This,
it is now intimated, was caused by some appre-
hension that the site ia not rs desirable ns it
might be, and because the work would be found,
after it was commenced, to be entirely in the
power of an engineer who has been educated in
the celebrated Philadelphia Ring and may be up
to all the political tricks by which that city has
been engulphed in such tremendous expendi.
lures.
II Democratic Council is elected in Scptem-
her we will guarantee that it would be shown
to the satisfaction of the mass of the people that
our water supply is ample for Eve or ten years
to come, and that work on the new basin need
OF be commenced for Eve years.
If the Democrats should elect q msjority to the
City Council in September and propose to build
The new reservoir, the gentlemen now favoring it
rs necessity would turn round and oppose it on
tic ground that it was not necessary, and assert
that the supply OF water was ample and Of
good quality as that of any other city, which
wa believe is fact,
The Council acted IN this manner when Msssrs
i6toT DUPONT and George ". Sparks were up.
pointed q commission to erect basin some years
go and there is less need for new basin now
Ian there was then. Indeed the need for q new
reservoir Is imaginary altogether. our supply OF
water Is greater than that OF any other city in the
Union-it as in fact inexhanstible Yon may
open every distributing pipe leading from the
Lasins, fre-plugs included, and run Them all day,
and at night the basins may be found as full as
"hen the flow commenced, and during this time
only one pump Ont of fonr will be kept at work.
! he Chief Engineer said TO friend OF ours the
ether day that there was need Of fear from Ere
ior lie could supply more water than could be
used under any circumstances The works have
cost the city over one hundsed thousand dollars
IN thin two OF three years and We think II is time
10 pause while before entering on an expendi
ture that will result in adding over half million
dollars TO our funded debt
II majority Of the Council should be compos
I'd OF Democrats In September the city will, in
addition be saved from the expenditure Of one
hundred thousand dollars in two years for Paid
ire Department, which the Republicans propose
10 put in operation as political machine during
the next succeeding few months thereafter. Paid
Fire Departments are the bane of the great cities
they have not proved eqHal 10 the emergency
anywhere, and as a consequence millions OF dol
lars have been lost where only thousands were
under the old Volunteer system. Our Volunteer
Department is the most complete and economi-
cal in exrtence, and it is the greatest folly to
destroy 1t as is proposed 10 do by the Republican
City Council.