The herald., 1898-01-19
Explosion of the
BOmbshelI
"A QUARTET OF MALcoNTENTs
CLAMoRING FOR THE SCALPS OF
THEIR COLLEAGUES
The Mayor, Councilmen Grider and
Hutchison and E. Abs Hagen
Exploited by Spreckels

Mayor Snyder, Councilmen Hutchison
and Grider and Ernest Abs Hagan, the
civil engineer, have rushed into print on
the water question. In Mondays edition
of Walter L. Webb's San Francisco
organ, the Call, they contributed signed
interviews to an article covering nearly
three pages, which Is intended to be SEN
sational and which Is an alleged state
ment Of the present status of the efforts
to secure for Los Angeles city the own
ership of the water works. The article
In question is more an attack upon the
present majority in the city council and
the press Of this city than fair and un-
biased account Of what has been done
in the water fight or what Is intended by
the council. The mayor has delivered his
opinions on this question before. but this
Is the first time he has done so in such
company.
THE ARCH CONSPIRATORS
If the article does nothing else it ex-
plains the secret conferences that have
been held from time to time recently in
his honor's private office. On Tuesday of
last week Messrs. Hutchison, Grider and
Abs Hagen were closeted In that office
nearly all afternoon. The mayor was
busy at the time with police commission
work and could not be with them. He
was asked afterward what the others
were doing in his private office, and re-
piled that he could not tell This and
other conferences led to the report that
something sensational was to be sprung
on the council either by Grider or Hutch
ison last Monday. but the session passed
without anything unusual being pre-
sented by either of these members. The
conferences were explained when the
Call arrived yesterday, for on the first
page of that paper appeared a picture
Of the mayor and a signed statement
from him as part of long -drawn-ou
and tedious effort to show that nothing
whatever had been done during the past
year in the matter of securing the munic-
ipal control Of the water works.
INSIDIOUS ATTACK
A part of the article, and probably the
excuse for its publication, is an attack
upon the members of the council. From
reading it one would come to the con-
clusion, unless familiar with the truth
in regard to the matter, that all the
other councilmen, the city attorney and
city engineer had combined against the
precious trio to prevent their securing
q water system owned by the city. Pres
ident Silver is viciously attacked and
the members of the water supply COM
mittee come in for their share of the
Calls condemnation, which, in the light
of that papers efforts to prove that
Walter Webb is pure as the beautiful
snow, Is considered by many of the
friends Of those assailed as a compli-
ment
THE MAYORS PLANT
1t is not openly charged that there has
been bribery or that those who do not
think as the mayor and his newly found
allies think on the subject are personally
interested in the company's side of the
case. Such charge would not be safe
for any person to make, but the article.
by inferences and guarded sentences.
charges that the present majority in the
council have violated their pledges in
that they have not secured the water
works for the city. The burden of the
song of the two councilmen and the
mayor is that nothing has been done;
that there Is great waste of time; a
desire on the part Of the majority to play
into the hands of the company and to de-
lay the final purchase by the city of the
water system. In his signed statement
the mayor says:
Twelve months have elapsed, and but
little has been accomplished. Every effort
on my part and on the part of others to
pring about settlement of the contro-
versy has been referred to by certain mem
bers OF the administration as gallery
play" and our sincerity has been other
wise questioned by these people, Procras-
tination In all matters relating to water
supply is the only action" If such term
applies, that escapes criticism. There are
some who seem to be doing nothing more
tnan TO look for stumbling stones to place
In the way. 1t appears to me as if the
water company were exerting every effort
to arrange things so that 1t may continue
In possession of the plant after the expira-
tion of the lease.
PIRATICAL POLICY
The mayor follows this by again as
serting, as he did in his annual message.
that If the matter is not settled at the
expiration of the water company's con-
tract, the city should 'take possession
OF the entire plant Of the water COM
pany"--in short, seize the property of
the company with or without authority
of law. 1t will be remembered that even
some of the warmest supporters of the
mayor did not agree with him in this
policy and that he had voiced such SEN
timent occasioned some surprise. Far
ther along in his interview the mayor
qualities this stand somewhat By saying:
The press dispatches made 1t appear that
In my annual message I advocated con-
fscation and other anarchistic measures.
have not said word about confiscation.
Why should I? The water plant Is the
Of the city of Los Angeles. and
under the contract all that the city has
to do is to pay for the improvements. / |
believe that the City Water company, after
having made millions of dollars out of |
a privilege granted by the city and for |
which 1t paid nothing, should be philan- |
thropic enough to assist rather than OBJ |
struct the efforts at an early settlement
1t is a plain case. Either the city or the |
water company Is to rule. If the CITY
doesn't demand its rights, the rock of ages
will crumble away before we are any |
nearer municipal ownership of water works |
than we are today.
HUTCHISON'S KICK
In the section Of the Call devoted to
Councilman Hutchison he makes this
assertion, which is given for what it is
worth:
Nobody but the water company can ever
snow how many people there are here, or
low few. who are under the thumb Of the
'a1d company for pecuniary reasons; but |
I Is certain that there are many officials /
2 ne city ana many private citizens who