Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1896-08-28
WATER OR NO WATER.

"The thing that the city wants is
compliance with the franchise-plenty
of water. That is all the people want,
and that of course is what any company
must expect to furnish" So said the
STAR two weeks ago, and the Herald
last week declared: "That statement
is absolutely false.'' The Herald is
certainly nothing if not shallow in its
discourtesy. If that sheet would first
find out what the ordinance calls for
it might have sense enough not to call
somebody liar just because it's editor
happened to be too full of venom to
feel good natured toward anybody.
When the STAR said that tho city
wants compliance with the franchise"
it said all that the city can ever COM
pei of the Water, Light & Power Co.
All that any honest, fair-minded and
Intelligent man will ever ask of another
i'll business deal is compliance with Il
contract. One who would do anything
different simply because it might be
within his power, is wholly dishonest
and too corrupt to speak for more
than himself.
1t will hardly be out of place to here
give space to little dissertation on
''repudiation" from the Herald of Feb.
25th, 1885:
"Thepolicy of reputation advocated
by some of our people should be reso-
lutely frowned down by honest people.
Reputation is the refuge of shirks and
people who are morally warped. The
doctrine put into practice is foul
blot upon the name of any community
and should dnot be even limited much less
preached. Obligations made should
be religiously kept. Just be
cause we are in u tight place does not
signify that good business tactics calls
long and loud for disreputable evad-
ing of the payment -four debts. Stand
up manfully, gentlemen, for the honor
and fair name of our CITY,"
AS matterof enlightenment for the
present Herald man we will simply
state that the STAR in 1892 urged, week
after week, that the city council should
permit Hot Springs to put in its own
water system. We urged this against
two factions-one from each end of
the town-that we're then after the
franchise. We wanted the city to own
this franchise and have it's own sys-
TEN and obtain pure, cold water; we
urged it strongly. 1t could have done
SO then, but the council pulled and
hauled for five or six months and
finally gave the franchise to Messrs.
Phillips, Dudley and Petty, who after
wards sold it to the present company
so that from the very start the fran
chise was made source of specula-
tion, but very likely both factions we're
satisfied, whether the people we're or
not. The city was bound to that fran
chise, that contract; and now all that
can be done is to enforce it, or else
have it revoked entirely, if our council
desires such to be done. But if such
should be done what are we to have in
its place? There's no use in being
foolish about this matter. If Hot
Springs doesn't want asystem of water
works at all there may be some sense
in the jumbled gibberish that the Her
aid is inflicting upon ITS readers. If
we do want water works the STAR did
not falsify when it said "the thing that
the city wants is compliance with the
franchise-plenty of water" We might
have made our statement more to the
point, perhaps, had we said "that is all
the people ask under the present fran
chise."
The STAR is only interested in this
question as is every other citizen-in
having water. Otherwise we should
ignore the harpings of our contempor-
ary. With record for urging the city
to retain every franchise that it could
and especially its water franchise; with
a record urging the council to see that
its franchise called for pure, non.medi.
cinal water-and this at time when
the question could have been settled
right and honorably-the STAR is in q
position to object to such petty efforts
as are now being put forth to shut our
city out Of water completely.