Morning journal and courier., 1881-10-27
Price Four Cents

| they had common interests with all mankind | History tells us that it is bad policy to trust that men will act against their own pockets. | and the conduct of the Water company has failed to convince us that human nature has recently changed.
 I We think it would be safer to have tbe whole population of the city have direct pecuniary interest in the waterworks than to have only few persons have such an inter- l est When a city owns waterworks every citizen owns part of them, and as every man is interested for his own good, there is no antagonism between the city and the stockholders of 8 water company. There is one marked difference between private and public ownership of the water works. A private company can only make water pay directly from the water rates | city, however, can make it's own water works both directly and indirectly profitable and often the indirect advantage is greater than the direct revenue private companv has no inducement to do what will be of ever SO great Indirect profit to the city; it merely thinks and cares for it's own direct profit Waterworks should be managed with prim ary reference to three things:
 First-The health of the city by furnish I ing abundance of as pure water as can practi ! cably be obtained. Besides the distress if | causes, sickness IS very expensive, both di- | rectly and indirectly. A reputation for being ! an unhealthy place is bad thing for city | reputation for good sanitary conditions is a great help ! to a clty's prosperity. We need plenty of good water at such low cost that the poor est laborers car. have it. not alone for cook l ing and drinking but also for bathing pur- poses. The city is now at considerable | yearly expense to build and maintain bath houses which are only available to compara lively small part of our population for part \ of the year. The cost of these bath houses could be used to better advantage in chean city water all the year round. Cleanii- ness IS a great preventive of all kinds of diseases, especially of those con- tagions which originate in filthy quarters and then spread desolation throuph, out the best portions of the town We need water to wash out the sewers in dry times Greater care should be taken to protect the sources of our water from malarial influences. rom poisoning by filth being poured into them and from the bodies of dead animals
 Second-The safety of property by a well distributed and ample supply of water for extinguishing fires. We have millions of value which is exposed to fire and the Water company has never furnished an adeouate supply of water. Now, on the eve of cleo tlon, 1t has suddenly discovered that the water mains throughout most of the city are too small. plain mind might inquire the cause of this new born zeal Our chief en- glneer has called attention to the fact that he would be badly crippled for want of water if O SA Sdb uIo OCCuITou The clty pays large sum yearly for fire insurance. The better our waterworks are the lower this sum will be. A destructive fire in New Haven would probably cause an advance in the rates of all the insurance companies Chicago paid enormous sums for fire insurance until her business men said: 'Let us lower our insurance by having the city give us more water to put out fires water is cheaper than insurance"
 Third-The promotion of the prosperity and growth of the city by insuring manufac turers and citizens plenty of water with as low water tax as possible ThesWater com pany has charged such high rates that some manufacturers have been driven to pumping water from wells and many poor people use well water as measure of economy
 Plenty of cheap water will start new facto- ries and bring additional population and wealth to New Haven.
 If we now abandon our right to purchase the waterworks at a low price we shall lose all hope of ever attaining the objects afore- said. For next years water for city pur- poses alone, the Water company demand a price equal to one-t third interest on the whole sum for which we can buy the works Let us buy out the Water company while we can do so to advantage. The waterworks should be controlled by the whole people and managed for the benefit of all New Haven
 JOHN W. PHILIPS,
 JOSEPH SHELDON.