The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

poor inhabitants of any city if they have newspapers like ours-'
 And then the audience did break loose and cheer. In closing MT. Carl son made mention of the attitude The Call had taken in this controversy and that was another signal for ap- plause.
 Before resuming his seat MT. Carl son offered the following set of reso- lutions, and moved their adoption:
 Whereas. All the political divisions in October, 1896, pledged their several noml- nees for municipal offices to work for the public ownership control and operation of the water-distributing plant now held by the Los Angeles City Water Company under lease; and whereas, provision should be made whereby the city will be enabled to purchase the betterments to it's plant at the expiration or the con- tract: therefore be it
 Resolved, First-That he citizens of Los Angeles, in non-partisan mass-meeting assembled, deprecate the division in the City Council on the policy that should be pursued in making preparations for the purchase of the improvements placed in said water system by the water company. Resolved, Second-That the Council be requested to forthwith legally notify the water company that the improvements placed upon the system beyond what is necessary absolutely for the maintenance of the same until the expiration of the lease IS 10 puDnC DOllcN, ana as many of the improvements are entirely unnecessary for the said purpose of maintenance and do not accord with the plan for the water system for the mu- nicipality as outlined by the engineer in charge.
 Resolved, Third-That the council be requested to invite the Mayor and the City Engineer to participate in all fu- ture negotiations with the water com pany.
 Resolved, Fourth-That inasmuch as hn Df x-ata ic nf vital importance to each and every citi- zen, to the end that an entirely adequate and complete system may by obtained, at as early date as possible, under mu- mcipal control and operation, it is deemed advisable that a permanent organization be secured to represent the citizens di- rectly In this important matter and to cooperate with the Council. to bring about the result without any unnecessary delay. Therefore a committee is hereby named, to be known as the Citizens Committee on Municipal Ownership. '' said committee to consist of one mem- Der from each ward and the chairman of this meeting to be ex-officio a member of the committee and to name such com mittee within reasonable time.
 Resolved, Fffth-That we lend our thanks to all public officials that have thus far in this struggle upheld he rights of the people and remained true { to their trust and their pledges, and that we extend our thanks to all newspapers, whether published here or elsewhere, for assisting the people in this contest.
 Chairman Hazard, as soon as the resolutions were read, asked if there was any discussion or suggestion in the way of amendment
 There was absolutely none, but there were loud cries from all over the hall, Adopt them, adopt them" This was then done.
 The next speaker introduced was Ed ward L. Hutchison, the Councilman from the Eighth Ward. MT. Hutchison took a pronounced stand in favor of the Council at once taking the neces- sary action to have at hand the money to buy the water companys improve ments to the city's plant at the expira- l tion of the lease. The speaker re- ! ferred to the abuse which he and his confrere, Councilman Grider, had been | subjected to by the water company's local press for their efforts to cause the corporation to come to terms under i conditions of their contract.
 MT. Hutchison said: The Times Herald and Express do not seem to be l worried about the people, but they are worried for fer the Water Company is not going to be accorded its legal rights. If every paper in the city will simply fight for the rights of the municipality you need not have one l bit of fear about the water company enforcing every right that is guaran- 1 l press need not be alarmed on this score"
 And then there was tremendous ap- plaGse.
 At this juneture Chairman Hazard announced that he had had some ex-
 perience in the manner in which the water company secured defenders He said when he was Mayor of the city ar endeavor was made to defeat an issue l of sewer bonds and the water company had actually secured the Attorney | General of the State to come from Sac ramento and defeat the will of the peo- i ple. The Attorney General Mir Haz. ard said, afterward admitted to hin that he had appeared here in the mat ter at the instance of the secretary o1 the Los Angeles Water Company
 This" said MT. Hazard, shows you how easy it is for the water company to secure defenders in high places"
 Ernest Abs Hagen, the civil engin- eer, was the next speaker. He first 1 quoted the following statement printed
 by the Times: "The present water system of the city is the result of far sighted sagacity and enterprise. Every feature of this system represents the most serviceable material and mode o1 construction obtainable; the service fol all purposes never fails.'
 Commenting on it, Abs Hagen said | This Is the statement of the water l company's advocates, who counsel de lay m acquiring the same for city pur-
 poses Let us look at the other side
 Of the picture, and we find that the sizes of the mains are below the mark
 that the condition of the mains is ex- tremely bad, that poor and cheap ma lerlals were originally used, that the
 service is inadequate for any demand
 thereupon. These results were found
 by the city's investigation, which
 proved that out of 30S miles of mains
 not less than 241 miles are mains ot two, three and four pipes, or total ot
 ts per cent. It must be borne in mind that a water plant, complete in all its
 arrangements, has a main of moi. less than six inches, while the present l plant has ITO miles of two-inch pipes