The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-03-06
TACOxA'S GREAT WATER JOB.

TACOMA. March 4-[Special. &c. B. Tai
bot has agreed to furnish the city with .
supply of pure mountain water for $751;
500. For this pr,ce he agrees to furnish
10000 600 gallons day. He also agrees to
double that guaranteed supply at any
time, or. in other words, he agrees to fur
nish 40 1000. 600 gallons daily supply on
demand. Mr.. Talbot's proposition is
.$607, 800 less than the price asked
for the present water plant. Besides, in
order to secure anything like pure sup
ply by using the present plant, $500. 600
must be expended. Therefore Mr.. Tai
bots proposition represents saving of
81, 297 500 to the taxpayers of this city.
Mr.. Talbot sent his proposition to the city
council for consideration at the meeting
this evening, and of it he says:
Our source Of supply ID not the Mashell river.
We shall get our supply In the Cascades, and 1t
is - pure ~ mountain spring. will not say
Just where the supply comes from, because il il
in the nature OF discovery, and We do not want
others to bother US IN our find. We will bring
this water in q 36x4sinch dume to within
eighteen miles OF the city, and from there q steel
conduit will DO used. We will also agree to
have the supply ready for use inside of fourteen
months from the date the contract is made.
After another new ordinance for the
purchase of water and electric light plant
had been put through. 10 yeas and nays.
in the council this morning, and was all
fixed up for submission to the people April
II. Councilman Steinbach passed up the
Talbot proposition. It was given but
glance and was then quickly bundled of
to commi ttee. The council did not even
look into it far enough to learn whether it
proposed to furnish supply for . song or
. million or two million dollars.
When the council convened tonight tho
following telegram and communication
were presented:
The telegram was dated Portland, Feb.
o. 1892:
Robert Wingate. Toooma: Will the city coun-
Gil accept from W within . few days bona
dde offer to supply Tacoma With water works
OF 70 100000 gallons capacity from Mashell
river and put the offer before the people to vote
on a. an alternate proposition to the purchase
OF the plantf r. g. MooR..
The communication was from Mr.. Win
gate to the city council, and read:'
inclose You . COPY of . telegram Just re-
received BY me. can personally assure you Of
the entire responsibility aud good faith of the
parties inQuiring. They have built most of the
spring Valley Water Works. of San Franciaco,
and are now about to build Portland's exten.
sion of its system to Bull Run. If they con-
tract with Tacoma the people OF this city
will get all the contract calls for. This l will
guarantee. Now. a. q citizen and taxpayer, I
ask that An opportunity be given those Iespon-
sible parties to make an offer to supply this
city with pure water, and that the people be al
lowed to choose what is best for the city.
would respectfully request that this telegram
and communication be submitted to the city
council at the first meeting
Mr.. Wingate's proposition Jared no bet
ter than Talbot's. It was sent to the fire
and water committee. Before passing q
new water and electric light ofdinance q
sop for votes was thrown out by passing q
sewer ordinance or two. This was done
in spite of Controller Slaughter's state
ment that there would be no money to nav
for sewers If the water and electric light
ordinance was forced through. Ap-
psrently on behalf of the light and water
company, it was announced that premiums
on water bonds would be enough to pay
for sewers.
If the water company does not own tho
city council, some of the heaviest taxpay-
ers say, then that council would not hest
tate to cut the present water rates Just
about in two. If this were done the ad-
vocates Of the immediate purchase of that
plant would be deprived of one of their
strongest arguments. Those making this
lame argument say:
A. result Of tho water company's fees, 1t 10
able to pay II per cent. on an investment of
81, 100000. Why should not the taxpayers have
the benefit OF this profit, and, q result, reduce
the water rates and keep that money. now going
TO the water company, in their own pockets7
And an official of the water company
adds:
If NJ Wright does not sell to the city he will
sell to private concern, which already owns
City plants in the United States. and it will
cinch the city. It 10 its record to DO that
Indeed, the principal arguments in favor
of the sale are that the city would then be
able to save such amounts as the company
is now realizing. and that then there would
be no private corporation to cinch the
city.
Such,arguments have no weight in fact
1t is variously estimated that the Tacoma
water rates are from two to five times a.
high as they are in other cities of CORE
spending size. This being so. taxpayers
may be expected to remark that, as a BUSH
ness proposition. if the council is not owned
by interested parties, it would serve the
purposes for which 1t was elected and,
among other things, reduce the water
rates. As to new ownership and posi-
bic management ''cinching" the city. it
will no doubt succeed in proportion to its
success in controlling the council. In
regulating the price of water, the council
has only to see to it that tho company is
given rate such as will warrant reason
able profit on the money invested.
If these were boom times the taxpayers
would not squeeze their dollars so hard.
Still those interested in disposine Of the
water and electric plant to the city pro-
pose. on the basis of the present valuation,
to bond the city to its last nickel. Under
more favorable circumstances this might
be passably good scheme. but the circum-
stances are far from favorable; they are
just the opposite. II. c. Clement says:
1t does not seem possible for the plant TO take
care OF its coupons and provide 4 sinking fund
to pay the principal until the city has three
times the population and wealth 1t now has.
There may be a sinking iund, and probably will
be, but not for the benefit of the taxpayers. The
political party " hich happens to be In control