The record-union., 1892-12-01
WHY DFLAYl

CA~A-@AA
There is not, probably, citizen of Sac
ramento of any degree of intelligence
commanding respect, now that it has
been shown how desirable levee work
was, how well and expeditiously and
cheaply it can be done, and how it con-
tributes to confidence and progress, who
does not deeply regret that the whole of
last spring and summer were frittered
away in unconscionable delays and ne
glect to take the vote the people were
anxious to cast, when just as well as not
the new levees could have been ordered,
have been built, packed, faced and made
complete months ago.
In the light of that regret, and which
we hear expressed on all sides, will this
city repeat its error? Will it follow the
old, worn and beaten path of procrasti-
nation by putting off. delaying and ling
ering until the eleventh hour, doing that
which, in the end, it must do and which
can be done so much cheaper and more
satisfactorily if done in season?
We refer now to the sewage disposal
problem. Why wait until spring is here
before making inquiry as to systems, cost
and adaptability to local conditions Z?
Since it will cost nothing to ascertain
what other cities have done, how other
systems work and what they cost: what
systems are best adapted to cities situated
as is Sacramento; what system most con-
serves public health; what are the rela-
tive merits of chemical deposition, sew
age farming, gravitation disposal, evap-
Grafton and cremation, the sectional sue
ton and pressure system of election of
sewage, and so on; why not now, this
winter, when we have time in plenty.
enter upon all the details of inquiry con-
corning sewage disposal for Sacramento? e?
If we do so, when the hour for action
comes we will be ready; we will know
precisely what to do and how to do it.
cheaply and well. We will have before
US and understand them, the plans, testi-
mony and experiences of many other
towns and cities, and such possession will
be of highest value. We know of one
city that spent s., 900 in sending its engi-
neer about the world examining sewage
disposal systems before it settled upon
and adopted one for its own use. All the
costly experience of that city We can
avail of; her surveys, table of cost, record
of current expense of maintenance. etc.
is at our command without expenditure
of dollar on our part, but we do not ask
for it, and the city officials do not propose
to furnish it unless we have the common
civility to prefer the request.
The REcoRD-UNIoN has suggested that
the Trustees name a Committee of In
quiry of five citizens to gather the facts,
compare data and suggest a proper sys-
tenn. This was advised two years ago.
again year ago, again last summer and
again few days ago. 1t has the approval
OF every property-owner who has consid-
cred the subject; not a solitary objection
has been advanced against it; yet nothing
is done. Nor will there be, probably.
Our Trustees, in the dignity of their Of
fetal character, will continue to let time
slip by, just as they did in the matter of
the levees. Spring will come and pass:
summer will be upon us, and nothing
done: pestilence will assail us. and then
with rush and a waste of money, be-
cause of the haste, we will endeavor to
ascertain what ought to be done, and will
spend thousands of dollars for advice and
knowledge that is now free to us for the
asking, and find at last that we have not
time enough left to do ought but suffer.
If the Trustees will not act in this mat
ter, if their conception of the need for it is
so narrow that it will not permit them to
inaugurate now the inquiry which must
be made sooner or later, then let the peo-
pie take up the matter Independently, as
they had to do in the case of the levee
improvements.
We repeat, the wise thing for Sacra-
mento to do is to inform herself thor
oughIy and settle upon plan OF sewage
disposal now, no matter how remote may
be the day when she will be able to put it
to practical use.