The Portland daily press., 1893-03-03

men who love the water company OF men
| who hate it. There are two questions
pending between the city and the water
company. One is the matter of rates to
| individual water takers. During Mayor
Melcher's administration Mr.. Edgar e.
| Rounds, who was then Republican coun-
| Gilman from Ward and is now the Re-
| publican candidate for alderman in the
| same ward, introduced on order for the
| appointment of a lwater commission by
| the city to take into consideration the
! question of individual rates charged the
| company. The order was passed and
under it a board composed of the Hon.
Geo. f. Emery. DR.. Fl. S. Burrage and
the Hon. HI. III. Burgess was appointed
This board met the water company and
an agreement was effected as to rates to
| be charged for water for manufacturing
! purposes. They were unable to agree on
| rates for thelwater takers for general pur-
poses, and the matter was referred to a
| commission composed of Judges Peters
and Foster for settlement, their determi-
nation to be binding on both parties.
This commission will give final hearing
on the 1iLh of this month, and then will
adjudge and determine what the rates to
| individual water takers in this city shall
| be.
| No vote thrown in Mondays election
can have any effect whatever on this de-
termination. That is obvious to every
man of ordinary intelligence.
The only other question spending be-
tween the city and the water company
relates to contract entered into by the
two parties some years ago by which the
former agreed to pay the latter $4,000 a
year for water for certain municipal pur-
poses. Mayor Ingraham has set up the
claim that this contract is illegal, in vlo-
lation of law, and therefore void 06 IN
tito. The question raised is one of law
purely, and cannot be determined outside
the courts; and the water company
have offered to submit it to the courts
for decision. 1t cannot possibly be af-
fected one way or the other by any vote
that may be thrown on Monday. 1t the
question were submitted to the people
directly as to whether this contract was
legal or Illegal and every voter in the
city should declare By his ballot that he
believed it illegal it would make not a
particle of difference. The only tribunal
/ that can decide the matter is the courts
and there it must go, no matter who is
| elected Mayor and who compose the
next council.
But it is said that the people of this
city owe debt of gratitude to Mr.. In
| graham for bringing the latter question
to an issue. Possibly some people do,
OF will if the court declares the contract
void, but they will not be the people the
Argus and Mr.. Ingraham are appealing
to. By the agreement between the city
and the water company in 1868, which
agreement is the one under which the
reference to determine the water rates is
proceeding, it was provided that
! The rate charged to water takers shall be
| reasonable, as compared with the rates in 9th
er cities, with due consideration to the cost and
! income of the works. ees
1t will be seen that the income of the
works has an important bearing on the
rates that may be charged to individual
water takers. The agreement clearly in
tends that the company shall be allowed
a fair and reasonable income on their
outlay. The two principal sources of
income are the receipts from municipal
ties in their corporate capacity and the
receipts from individual water takers
Now it is perfectly obvious that it makes
no difference to the water company
where their income comes from, whether
from municipalities or individuals. The
amount is all they are interested in.
But it makes great deal of difference to
| the individual water taker of small
means who pays little or no taxes wheth-
er the company gets good deal of
money from the city in its corporate ca
pacity, or very little. The company is
entitled to fair income under this
agreement in any event. and only fair
income. The more they get of that fair
| INCOME QUIZ u Guo municipality LILO itSS
balance there will be to make up that fair
income to be charged to individuals If
Mayor Ingraham should succeed in get
ting the $4,000 which the city now pays
annually to the water company thrown
off the result would be thai the
commission would make less
reduction of the individual water
rates than would therwise be the case.
This $4,000 is now paid by tax payers.
If it was thrown off from the city in its
corporate capacity it would then have to
be paid by the individual water takers,
many of whom pay mo taxes except a
| poll tax which is not affected by the
citys tax rate.
TO illustrate this let us suppose that
| the water company now receive from in
dividual water takers in this city $780,
! 600 annually and $4,000 from the city in its
\