The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1885-10-10
THE WATER SERVICE.

Complaints are very common re-
garding the way the water rates are
being cXacted. In the first place,
neither landlords nor tenants have
been given the usual commercial
privilege of a bill for their indebted
ness. This has caused great deal
of needless annoyance and con-
fusion. Some tenants pay their
water rates in their rent others are
aware that they have to deal directly
with the Department for their water
supply. A great many, from 4
loose bargain in renting their homes.
have taken for granted that the
water was secured with the houses.
Moreover, for some years past the
Waterworks Department has dis
charged its duties in 4 very slovcnly
manner. Tenants have come and
gone, proprietors have changed.
over anu ONcI iStlIl. III tllS SuSSS VI
many properties, and no water rates
collected. This year, however, the
Government was hard up for money,
and. having exhausted all the usual
sources of supply, happily hit upon
the water service as a means of re-
plenishing the treasury. As every
dollar tells, and every day is of
vital Importance, under such strait
ened circumstances, the Govern
ment, it seems, could not afford the
courtesy of sending water bills
round in advance, as the practice is
in cities blessed with self-govern-
ment. Instead they stuck an adver-
tisement in the papers, warning
everybody in general and nobody in
particular, to pay up arrears and to
pay further rates in advance. The
fact that there were arrears con-
demns the laxness that hitherto had
governed the department. This
newspaper notice was all very well
for old residents and proprietOrs
who had been used to paying rates,
although probably many of them
were a little startled to find that the
department had enough life left to
look after its money. But to very
large proportion of the residents,
for whom the warning was intended,
it carried no interest, because they
never dreamed, for the reasons
given above, that it referred to
them. This they found out after
ward, when squads of laborers, in
some cases natives who could not
make themselves understood by
speech, vent round shutting off
water. In cases where an uncer-
tainty existed as to who was respOn-
sible for the rates, landlord or ten
ant, this summary method of deal
ing compelled the tenant, under
pain of famishing for the indispens-
able element, to compromise his
case with the landlord by paying
for the service on the instant.
Other cases there were, where the
occupants of premises, by tenancy
or proprietorship, were compelled to
pay rates extending back for months
and even years before they entered
upon the premises. A case was re-
ported to this Office to-day where a
tenant, who had the landlord bound
by lease to supply water, but being
taken, by surprise with the advent
of one of the native gangs and COM
PEELED to pay the rates on the
moment, was yet subjected later on
to the annoyance of having the gang
begin digging before his door to
turn the water off, while the receipt
was in his possession. Now, all this
annoyance and confusion could have
been avoided by a business-like ad-
ministration of the service. The
water rates should be cleared off the
books every year. If the depart
ment cannot collect the rates for
particular properties in given
IA .ln,,Il not lnua tho ,,n.vap