The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-25
THINKS 1T A MISTAKE.
Authority ON Water Meters AIIudes
TO SaVannnh'S Action.


to SaVannnh'S Action.
The Engineering Record of New York
and London takes notice of the recent ac-
ton of Savannah's water commission in
abandoning the meter system in comph-
ance with the demand of a number of
citizens and property owners and COM
ments at some length upon the action of
the commissioners and the arguments adj
vanced by the citizens committee for the
abandonment of the meters. In speaking
on this subject the Record says:
'The arguments presented by a commit
tee of the citizens are of the stock type
formerly common before the justice of
the meter system was clearly demonstrate
ed. These arguments have been refuted
in the earlier volumes of the Engineering
Record, but it is interesting to run over
them again briefly.
1.-The citizens committee stated in their
petition that the people deem it danger
Gus to trifle with the health of their
city. This is protest made by flesh
and blood: the next protest may come
from the gaunt specter whose very name
is terror to every southern city" The
evident trend of this argument is that
the use of meters tends to restrict the le-
gitimate use of water. This is directly
contrary to the facts in the case.
Meters are now about as accurate in
their registration as is necessary, and
the manufacturers are just as anxious
as consumers to know that their instru-
ments are working properly. The Savan-
nah petitioners stated that their meters
were so defective as to give rise TO serious
irregularity and injustice, but before such
statement is accepted as accurate the
meter should be tested properly by an un-
prejudced party.
1T may be accepted, then that the me-
er is fairly accurate instrument That
1t will restrict the legitimate use of water
is an idea evidently due to a confusion of
the terms legitimate and unrestricted The
use of water for necessary purposes is
highly desirable from a sanitary stand
point, and we would oppose strongly any
action tending to restrict 1t. But when a
family has used all the water it really
needs for cooking, washing and other such
purposes, and wants an extra amount for
lawn sprinkling, washing carriages, wash
ing sidewalks and other uses, we believe
that strict justice demands that this water
should be measured with a fair degree of
accuracy and paid for by such measure
ment. If the family is careless and al
lows water to run to waste, or if the
plumbing is poor and leakage occurs on
account of it, the same plan should be
followed. If ii is not, and the fixture
assessment system of rates is in vogue,
then the economical, careful householder
is forced by reason of the higher general
water rate to help pay for the shiftless-
ness of the others, and all domestic con-
sumers unite to pay for the outrageous
waste of such business consumers as the
grocer's boy, who plays a hose on a side
walk rather than clean the latter by an
energetic manipulation of a broom
The citizens of Savannah probably hold
fast to the excellent idea that water
Ennnl6 a a a hut lo-n Gfo Of
the fact that coal has to be bought to
force water from the wells to and through
the mains; that salaries have to be paid
to men competent to manage the plant,
and that the people who furnished money
to the city to erect the works did not do
so for sweet charity's sake, but expect and
will demand to be paid interest on their
loans, for that is, of course what a
bondage Indebtedness really amounts to.
All this money must be raised somehow,
and It remains for the citizens to decide
whether they will raise this sum by charg-
ing every consumer, public and private,
according to the amount of water actually
used by each, as determined by fairly
close meter measurement, or whether the
careful and economical portion of the citi-
zens can be bulldozed or stampeded by the
others into paying for water due to the
latters neglect, extravaganza, bad plumb
ing and other causes. The meter is not
an inaccurate instrument, 'gaunt spec
ters" have nothing to do with this mat
ter, and the use of the meter has moth
ing to do with the question of the city
deriving a revenue from it's water depart
ment, an outside issue dragged into the
discussion by the citizens committee. We
regret that the water commissioners have
discontinued their trial. which was in
fact, merely the semblance of trial. and
suggest that they study the experience
of Atlanta with the water meter system
and give 1t another chance on a larger
scale to prove its efficacy"