St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-03-08


St. Johnsbury was below the aver
sented. Being asked how the water
plants paid in these different cities
and towns, Mr. Turner replied that
he did not know.
Mr.. Turner then took up the Joe's
pond project. Allowing $15O,OOO
tor the cost of the plant to St. Johns
bury, $3S, 900 to lay the pipes in the
village and $4,000 tor land dam
ages, the total cost of this system
would be 100000. He allowed S12,
900 for interest on the plant, $4,000
to operate it and then supposed the
village would retire $4,000 of its
bonds each year. This would make
an annual expense of $50 900 and
the only receipts would be in water
rents unless the village proposed to
have its taxpayers make up the de-
fcit every year as they had done in
the past. AS far as E. &. 7. Fair
banks & Co. were concerned they
were not willing to pay one-hfth OF
this probable deficit for water which
was so hard that they could not use |
! it in their factory. He did not be- |
lieve any citizen thought the village |
| could make money on a $4,000 |
plant at Joe's pond. If the village |
did not retire $4,000 in bonds every !
year, bat charged up instead $275O |
each year for depreciation of the
plant, its annual expense would be
be $17,75O year, which he firmly
believed could never be met by water
rentals alone.
Mr.. Turner said the corporation
which he represented did not come to
the village as beggars, nor did they
want to force their system upon the
village. The matter was first pro-
posed by the trustees and not by the
Fairbanks Company, and the latter
did not favor it at first, but were
now willing to make a contract with
the village. They had not bought up
the trustees nor anybody else, and
they had no axe to grind or any
scheme to foist upon the village. If
the majority of the citizens did not
endorse this plan he, as citizen,
would cheerfully abide by their decis-
ion.
: Marshall Montgomery then intro
duced the following amendment to
r Mr.. Blodgett's resolution:
Moved to amend the pending resolu-
) ton by appointing a committee of seven,
selected by the president and the clerk,
e who should look up the matter, inspect
the properties, consider any other propo-
sitions and report at an adjourned meet
ing two weeks from today.
9 John Mcdonald then waxed elo-
. quent on the beauties and reputa-
J, ton of this model village aad hoped
oi irh he
made chairman of this committee.
+ Alexander Dunnett said he did not
q want to have the water works con
5 trolled by any corporation. He be-
n lieved in municipal ownership of the
a plant. He believed it was com
T plete give away on the part of the
village if they accepted the proposed
s contract He wanted to have a
e committee of three and proposed
k Henry c. Bates, o. P. Bennett and
d T. c. Fletcher.
d DIR. Bullard said he did not fail to
appreciate the philanthropy and
V munihcence of the Fairbanks corpor-
r alton and its individual members,
g and he was not opposed to this con-
d tract because it was the Fairbanks
Company the village was dealing
V with. But he firmly believed that a
n water system owned by a private
d corporation was an absolute failure
f. He did not believe it was right for
:. the village to sell its birthright to
:, any corporation. He moved to dis
n miss the whole matter.
b The remarks of Dr. Billiard were
V loudly applauded by some in the
hall, and for moment it looked as
V if the vast audience who had listened
t. patiently to nearly two hours o
d speechmaking would dismiss the
t whole question and thus come nc
It nearer solving the problem than
l. ever.
e 1t was a this critical juncture that
e Mr.. Stafford jumped upon table
Y and by his eloquent speech turned
V the tide and vigorously supported
n Mr. Montgomery amendment
l. He said be spoke in his own individ
s ual capacity and not as anybody s
n attorney and he suggested that the
le village try and buy out the Aque
-e duct Company if the village did not
v want to sell to them.
d Col. Fairbanks was called out tC
g tell the citizens if the Aqueduct Com
d panv would sell out He said sew
V eral different boards of trustees haC
ir discussed the water problem with
IS the corporation Of which he wa:
T. president and as result of all these
f. interviews this contract had beer
id drawn up. Col. Fairbanks said the
m corporation would entertain any
,e proposition the special committee
T. might make, but he was unable tC
~ 81 y ,Nyi-t.t her ht. rnrDDT4tior VVOulf
n sell TO the village or not. He heart
rs ilv favored a committee and woulC
a like TO confer With them.
at DR.. Bullard was induced to with
draw his motion to dismiss th'
I