The herald., 1898-01-20
GALLERY PLAY AND so FORTH

9ALLGhI FLA AIN - ~ EOh1a
The principal criticism against Mayor
Snyder and Councilmen Grider and
Hutchison. who are posing as the only
patriots in the city government, is this;
They want to pose too much. Their
methods tend toward political agitation.
Figuratively speaking, they want torch
light professions and brass bands, dags,
banners and transparencles, red fire and
the booming of cannon. They want in
fiammatory speeches, red-hot denun-
Citations of a soulless corporation,
threats of wreck, ruin and confiscation
and general houp-la to inflame the pub
lie mind. They want to organize vast
body of indignant and excited citizens
to proclaim their exalted patriotism ana
bear them along to political preferment.
This policy The Herald recognizes as
the most arrant demagogy, and has not
hesitated to say so at every stage of
the proceeding.
The water question is business mat
ter of large proportions and vast i'm
portance to the city and to all parties
concerned. 1t is matter that must be
settled under the terms of written and
binding contract. If not settled by ne
gotiation or arbitration then it must be
settled by an appeal to the law. 1t is a
situation that calls not for f1amboyant
agitation but for cool-headed business
Judgment and an insistence on the city's
stipulated rights and prerogatives. In
discussing this question many months
ago The Herald submitted the PROPOSE
tion that, in accomplishing trade of
this magnitude, the first essential for the
city's advisers and agents is to keep cool.
OF two parties engaged in an intricate
negotiation the one who gets excited and
ratified and who makes hasty and ILL
advised moves is the one who gets the
worst of it every time.
Perhaps Messrs. Snyder, Grider and
Hutchison are not so much concerned
as to how the city fares in this import
ant deal as they are to create a great
, fanfare that shall result to their po-
litical advantage. Now The Herald is
not at all concerned in the political for
tunes of these worthless, but it is very
desirous that the city shall possess it's
own system of water works; that it shall
acquire such a system at the earliest
date possible and at the lowest price pos
sible. This desire has been expressed
in the columns of The Herald time and
again. We are just as much concerned
in the carrying out of this program as
Messrs. Snyder, Grider and Hutchison
can possibly be. We differ with them
only in point of the method of going at
1t. In this we are opinionated enough to
believe that The Herald's plan is the
better. At any rate, experience up to
the present time has demonstrated the
correctness of our position. Had the
plans of these self-proclaimed and only
patriots been adopted by the council,
the city would have made two or three
serious blunders first off.
1t would have attempted to force an
fore the expiration of its contract
something which could not be logically
demanded or legally maintained under
the terms of the agreement. If the city
had tried to do this it must inevitably
have gone into court on the proposition
and would have suffered defeat After
thorough canvass of the proposition
before the water supply committee the |
city attorney, the city's special counsel, |
an attorney for the advocates of this /
peremptory proceeding and legal rep
resentative of the water company par
ticipating, it was decided that the prop
osition laid down by The Herald is cor
rect. Arbitration could not be forced
at this time for the reason that the
status of the water company's improve
ments might be materially changed be-
tween this and the close of the contract
A formal arbitration partakes of the
character of judgment by a court. No
court would attempt to fix the amount of
of such damages. No court would fix
approximate damages and leave subse-
quent damages to be determined and
settled under the same decree. No court
would enter two or more judgments to
settle damages accrung under single
contract. A judgment or legal arbi-
tration under contract must cover the
whole ground and determine the whole
status of the case in one decree. This
is crystallized common sense. 1t is like
wise good law.
Secondly, if the hot-heads had pre-
vailed in the council they would have
submitted proposition to vote bonds I
for the construction of either com
plete system Of water works Or at least
pf headworks in advance of a determi-
nation By axhitration or otherwise of the