San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-06-09

and then expect to save a
dollar from its general revenue for
public Improvements. This condi-
ton Of affairs is one of the fruitful
causes of our accumulated floating
debt, and if persisted in, financial
embarrassment must continue to
increase, and at last, ruin will be
the inevitable consequence. Some
remedy must be provided to check
this evil, and for the good of the
city it cannot be provided too soon.
| know of no better means of check
ing it than for the city to come in
competition with the water works
company by erecting its own plant,
not for a tax or revenue, but to
free the city and the people from
what is now a burdensOme and
Onerous tax. Believing that this
can be done with the means still
left at our disposal, l will now at
tempt to further illustrate it:
A conservative estimate of the
receipts of the water works, eXclu-
sive of the receipts from the city,
will amount to $4,000 annually.
1t is thus made to appear that
should the city issue bonds to the
extent of 100000 to own and con-
trail its own water system, that it
would have to pay annually there
on $4,000, the same being . per
cent. for interest and per cent.
for the sinking fund. This last
amount Cat the rate water mains
are weekly ordered by your honor
able body will very soon balance
the annual amount of interest
and the sinking fund on the en-
tire investment cancelled by
the amount of rent we are now
paying the company. The city
would then have a margin of COM
petition with the company on its
receipts of $225,000 from the citi-
zens. The city could then afford
to reduce it's rates to one
half Of the amount now charged
by the company and produce an
amount sufficient to pay the inter-
est and the sinking fund and have
a wide margin left for running eX-
penSes and the extension of mains
as the city would continue to en-
large. There would no longer be
an annual estimate of $4,000 in
the budget for water, increasing
each year as the city increases, it
would be saved to the people and
at the same time their water rates
would be greatly reduced.
| know that every thoughtful
and prudent taxpayer would be
10th to make this large investment
without reasonable assurance of its
success, and, therefore, one of the
first questions asked will be, from
whence is the supply of water to
be obtained In answer to this |
might say, open your eyes to the
spOuting geysers of pure and linn
pid waters that rush to the surface
at the bid of the drill. If water
can be hidden to rise at the COM
mand of a private corporation,
why not also at the command of a
municipality? Unto Moses was
given divine power to smite the
rock amid Horeb's burning sands,
unto you is given financial power
smite it then as Moses did, and it
will yield the flowing water to
make gladness in the land.
| would not advocate a vote for
or issuance of bonds for the pur-
chase of water mains, machinery,
ETC., until the supply of water is an
assured certainty. | would carry
that question beyond the domain
of speculation. But as a prelimin-
airy question to it's ascertainment,
l do advocate that vote be taken
upon the issuance of bonds to the
amount of $4,000 to be as sewer
and water works bonds. With
this amount the question of an ar
tesian supply of water can be fully
tested and demonstrated. Not
only this, but it will be amply
sufficient in my opinion to make
all the maps and prOfiles and other
preliminary work needful to re-
duce the question Of cost, both of
water and sewers, to its last analy-
ises. When the water is thus OBJ
tanned the further question can be
brought before the people upon an
intelligent and comprehensive
basis and with an exact realization
Of what they are to expect.
AS auxiliary to the water sup
ply that may be obtained from an
artesian source, permit me to re-
mind you of the fact that the city
now owns the property upon the
San Antonio river from which the
water works company now derives