Morris tribune., 1891-09-30
Councilman Wilson On Water
Works, or Good VS.. Poor
Water.

lent supply OF 1t has been great
drawback to the settling up of this
county. Especially is this true in re-
gard to the tardy growth of the vii
lage of Morris. Had we had from
the start a good quality of water we
would have had in the county double
and perhaps tribble the population we
have today; and our village would
without any doubt have double our
population. presume there is hard
ly person living in town today but
what can call to recollection some per-
son or family who came to Morris
with view of locating here and
wonld have remained but went away
on account of our poor water. A
stranger never enters our village but
what he speaks of the poor quality OF
our water. Had a system OF water
works been put in here, say six or
eight years ago, our population today
in the village would no doubt number
1900 inhabitants, and the expense to
the people for water would have been
no greater. Thousands of dollars
have been paid out by our citizens
annually for the hauling of water
from the river, and l have no hesita-
ton in saying that if system OF wat
er works were put in the village now,
whereby its citizens could be sufficient
ly supplied with pure quality OF
water, our present population would
double inside of three years, to say
nothing about the convenience and
the advantages derived from it as a
fire protector, a lower rate of insur-
ance, etc.
Now as to electric lights. Were an
electric light plant put in here the
difference in the cost of lighting by
electricity and the prevalent way by
lamps and oil in business houses and
private families would be if anything
but very little. For lighting the
streets it would cost the village per-
haps trife more than under our
present system of lighting with oil
and lamps. Then again take into
consideration the difference in the
light. Under our present system the
lamps burn sunshiny days and moon
light nights, while during Ithe night,
and especially dark and stormy nights,
we are left to grope in darkness I'm
der an electric light system our entire
village would be Lit up, while now on
ly portion of it is lighted at all; be-
sides people passing by here in the
night on the different trains and see
ing our village nicely lit up by cleo
tricity, would at once conclude that
some one was living here.
Now there are two ways of putting
in water works and electric light.
One is by bonding the village for the
required capital, which means mort
gage on your homes, and the plant
put in, owned and operated by the
municipality. The other way shy the
franchise plan; that is to say, the vii
lage grants to some local company
franchise for period of years, gener-
ally from thirty to fifty years, who
furnishes its own capital, put in the
plant at its own risk and expense, op-
crates and carries on the business
the same as any other bust
ness is conducted. The latter way, in
my opinion, is preferable for various
reasons, which l will here endeavo1
to explain. AS near as I have been
able to ascertain, the two different
plans in vogue are about equally di-
vided; that is to say, there are about
as many plants put in under the fran
chise plan as by the municipalities
and if water works are put in this vii,
lage at all, say inside of eight or ter
years, it would have to be under the
franchise plan, as it would be an ut
ter impossibiitiy for the village with
it's present Indebtedness, amounting to
something over $4,000, to float suff.
cient bonds at anything like reason
able rate of interest to put in the
plant. But supposing the village
should succeed in bonding for the re-
quired amount; would it be policy fol
the village, any more than for an in,
dividual, to engage in business en-
terprise .on borrowed capital, which il
or he knew nothing about? Such
business ventures as general thing
have but one result-failure.
| It is argued by some that the vii.
lage can put in the plant as cheaply
as a local company-own it and run il
and reap the full benefit of profit
there is in it. In the first place q
municipality never gets work of any
kind done as cheap as an individual
or local company. By the way oi
an illustration I will take our present
wind mill well, which is in one sense
water works on asmsll scale. A local
company or private individual
can go to work and put in well
and equipp the same with lwind
mill exactly like the onewe have
right beside it for one-half the
money the one we have cost the
village. And if the village could dis
pose of the well today to some private
Individual at half its cost to the vii