The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-11-26
WANT THEIR
SUGAR BACK
Lawyer Edwards Demands
the $500 Water Rents
Paid to the City.
VIOLATION OF CONTRACT CHARGED
Threatens an Investigation Of
the Water Rate ,Sys-
TEN of Jersey City.
Says That the american Sugar
Refining Company Will Main
lain lis Rights in
the Trouble.

Mr. William D. Edwards, counsel for the
American Sugar Refining Company, sent
a letter to the Mayor and to the Street
and Water Commissioners this morning
respecting the difficulty over the water as
sessment of 500 per 81 100000 gallons. The
letter, which puts the Sugar House in
very strong light and incidentally has
Gig at the East Jersey Water Company
peremptorily makes a demand for the
$4,000 or thereabouts paid by the Sugar
House people for back taxes on the under
standing and agreement with the Mayor
and Street and Water Board that the
water tax should be reduced 10 the old
rate of $50 per million cubic feet of water
used by the company.
Mayor Hoos when the communication
was received, was in consultation with
the members of the Street and Water
Board, Chief Engineer Fowler, Water
Registrar John Kenny and Water Pur-
veyor Coar, respecting the water monies
due to the East Jersey Water Company,
and when Mr. Edwards letter arrived 1t
was -ead aloud to the persons present. 1t
was as fQllows:-
On November TO- 1897. my clients, the
American Sugar Refining Company, paid
to the Water Registrar the sum of slS,soS
in settlement of metered water furnished
to them from May l. 1897, to November l,
1897 This payment was made on the
faith of a promise made by you at
conference held in the Mayors office
few days previous thereto, whereat, in
considerat ton of such payment, without
litigation, at the rates fixed by the city,
you officially agreed that from and after
November 1 instant, my clients should be
charged for metered water at the rate OF
671b cents per thousand cubic feet, or
slightly above $50 per million gallons. Ii
is true that your board did pass the nee
essary resolution for this purpose at its
meeting November Is, and that Your
Honor to consummate the settlement,
did sign the same Still, on November
1s 1897, with the money of my clients
in the City Treasury. paid on the honor
of the city, your board, at the command
of the Mayor. and, as I believe, against
its better Judgment, rescinded this reso-
luton and repudiated the settlement.
Jersey City never before repudiated its
obligations. The action is unique in the
city's history. This settlement was not
arrived at hastily. The city had the mat
ter under consideration for over two
months MY communication of Septem-
ber, 1897, clearly pointed out the un-
fair rates charged to my clients. This
argument. until recently kept secret by
you, has never been answered; in fact,
it cannot be answered In my presence
the Mayor verified the figures and ad-
mitted the results. Permit me to re-
call them.
The city is now purchasing from the
East Jersey Water Company about 261s
million gallons per day, at cost of 81
per million gallons. making daily cost
of ses0.50 and yearly cost of 1857 zoe
The total water revenue of the city for
the year ending May l. 1898, will be $685.
1923, whereat S460. 1867 will be derived
from house rates as assessed, and SSO4,-
3ss Sc from metered water at the present
rate of consumption.
Out of the daily consumption there
must be deducted the water used for
public buildings and for fire and the
public services; this has been estimated
by Captain Hooker at ~ million gallons
per day In my Judgment, this is an
overestimate
Now. if every person in Jersey City
paid exactly the same price for water
used the city should receive for each OF
those 25 million gallons per day the sum
Of $685., yet you ask my client, pur-
chasing at wholesale, to pay 800 per
million gallons, or sl6.15 per million gal
Ions more than the average consumer,
thus discriminating against them about
20 per cent In fact, you discriminate
against each user of measured water
About ~ million gallons are sold daily
by meter, yielding an annual income of
s3o4. .36s. Sc, or an average of STILLS per
million gallons. On the other hand, 1I1a
million gallons are furnished at fixed
water rates, not -metered, yielding an
annual income of $3.50, 1867, or an aver
age of only s721s per million gallons.
In other words, you reverse all your
business habits and sell your water at
wholesale for * per cent. more than
you do at retail.
As a result of these figures, when my
clients paid the city slS,903 for six months
water rents they paid about $4,000 more
than private consumers would have paid
for the same amount of water. or about
$500 more than their fair share.
Even at the reduced rates agreed upon
but repudiated by you. they would be
required to pay nearly SIS per million
gallons more than the average house
holderSa Sand about ss.15 per million gallons
more than the average water payer.
You will, therefore, see that we have
not even asked for full justice and
equality. On behalf Of the city and on
its retainer. have advocated, and,
in the opinion of many advanced
the cause of equal taxation. I
now, with equal right. advocate a fair.
division Of the burden of the water rents,
It was urged at our conference that,
through waste and leakage, the city lost
several millions of gallons of water daily:
before reaching the consumer and not
Including the waste BY the consumer. 81