St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-03-22
NOT TO SELL.
CONTINUED from 1st page. ]


opoly? They have got to furnish US
water and furnish US enough. The
terms and prices are all fixed in the
contract You were afraid they
were fixed too high. If the rates are
too high, then reject the contract. 1t
is apparent that the rates are not
high compared with the rates in
other places.
II has been said in public print
that this corporation has made mil
lions of dollars. If they have, it has
not been made out OF the citizens of
st. Johnsbury, has it? (Applause).
This is no reason why we should
adopt the contract, but it is rea-
son why we should not look askance
al it. We are not SO proud of our
Academy, our Athen9um. our Mu
scum and our beautiful churches as
we are Of our numberless thrifty
homes. (Applause) tell you this
contract has been put to you In a
wrong light.
This tax clause is another catch
word. No one can tell just how
much the tax is. | tor one don't
take any stock in this catch-word
and l tell you it don't make any
difference at all. Exclusive franchise
is not given to the Aqueduct Com
pany. Any one can bring water
into this village and supply his
neighbors, provided they share the
expense OF piping. etc. Or the legis-
lature could grant charter tor an
other plant in this village. But it is
not likely that another charter
would ever be asked for if the Aque-
duct Company fulfilled their contract.
Suppose we adopt the special COM
mittee's recommendations. Then
where are we? We will then have
two systems. We will then be IN
position where we cannot do what
we can do today. Then it is settled
that we have the very thing that
everybody laments-two water sys-
TENS in this village.
| have heard of one other scheme
and that is to take the property Of
the Aqueduct Company by eminent
d )main." That is to have it con-
demned, appraised and then taken
1t means that next fall after the
Aqueduct Company has spent $780,
900 they will be asked to surrender
their rights to the village. Do you
think they will do it without con-
test? You will then have a big fight
on your hands.
IF we do not accept this contract
we are in for 80 or 40 years of two
systems. If you are so fond of NUM-
cipal water works you can vote not
to sell, but if you can hire some one
to furnish your water and bind them
to do it isn't it better? There is a
prejudice against the whole ma tier.
My vote for the contract will not
be because l think it will please the
Fairbankses, but because it will
please me and my children if they
live to grow up in this village.
(Applause).
During Mr.. Stafford's address he
was constantly interrupted by one
of our citizens, but his contradict
tions were promptly met by the
speaker bright with repartee.
Mr.. Sweeny still insisted that this
motion admitted of no discussion.
A yes and no vote was all that could
be taken. He believed that the
whole matter had been fixed up
from the start and that it was the
duty of every citizen to place them
selves on record as opposing this
contract.
The chair again ruled that the
motion could be discussed and recog-
nized Matthew Caldbeck.
Mr. Caldbeck did not believe the
village ought to sell it's franchise. 1t
was too valuable property.
Alexander Dunnett was the last
cDoo1zo,- ,1I cr0Iya h,-,aQ1-
Capt. HOvey's motion. He declared
that there ought not to be any pre-
judice in the matter. l stand here
today, he said, to say that the Aque-
duct Company represent So, 100000
and if they do not get a good con-
tract from the village they belittle
and besmirch the corporation itself
Private property they can give
away, all honor to them for their
muniicent gifts, but as corpora
ton they will work for the corpora
ton. l regard this as a complete
give-away and that is just what l
said about it at the last meeting
(Applause.) | assume that the trus-
tees have the interests of the village
at heart and that the Aqueduct
Company have their own interests
at heart. That's business. But
there is too much business on the
Aqueduct Company's side. ZAP
plause).
The village has spent about $685.
O00in piping our streets and these
pipes are now in better condition
than when they were first laid down.
Our rents incr eased every year until
1888, when they were over $4,000.
Last year our system was materi-
ally increased and it is IN better con-
dition today than ever before. 1
know what l am talking about.
This village has laid out more in
the last II years than the Fair