The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-12-19

Il
and Water company, Mr.. Torrey went
on to say, is too large and complex a
subject to be made the matter OF
written report. In line with the opin-
ions expressed at the last meeting by
some of the citys most eminent legal
| minds, he, however would say, that Il
Is quite safe to accept that the COM
pany has not an exclusive franchise,
and that it's rates are subject to the
| supervision of the courts as to their
reasonableness, according to the capital
| involved.
A motion by Colonel +. L. Hitchcock
to receive and file the report and dis
charge the committee, with the thanks
of the board, was provocative of n
| lengthy discussion as to whether or
not it was becoming to discharge the
committee at this time The motion
was finally agreed to. Mr.. Dale and
Mr.. Lansing both spoke in favor of
| discharging the committee, believing it
had fulfilled the task to which 1t was
assigned.
Mr. Dale took occasion to say the
committee was very courteously re-
ceived by Mr.. Scranton and that they
| found him not only ready to discuss
| the matter they presented, but inclined
to go into a detailed discussion Of the
water question, which, of course, the
committee was not prepared to do,
even though such was within the scope
of its authority. Mr.. Dale created a
laugh by quoting Behold, how great
! a matter a little fire kindleth" and
| paraphrasing it: Behold, what ten
| dency to rush into print and what a
| lot of letters a little water doth pro-
woke"
THEY ARE EXPERIMENTAL.
Mr.. Lansing added that Mr.. scran-
ton had mentioned that the present
rates were in way experimental and
| that relative changes would not be
| definitely determined until about April
| /.
Mr.. Stelle thought the committee
should be continued. To discharge it
at this time, he believed, would be n
confession that the board was too ready
to give up the campaign 1t had
| launched
Colonel Hitchcock thought different
| ly. The committee has carried out the
work given it and was now without
a mission unless the board felt like
directing it to take up some other fea-
ture of the question-municipal. own
| ership for instance.
| "Mr. Scranton is to be commended" ;"
| Colonel Hitchcock continued, "for the
magnificent work he has done, but still
| there is a question as to whether or not
| the city would not profit more from
the ownership of its own water supply.
| Considering the present condition of
our city government that is the last
| thing we would want to do just now.
The time may come though when We
may have a decent city control, and
the consideration of the question may
be desirable for the future ia not for
the present"
President Keller then announced that
the secretary had statement to read
concerning the water question. Secre-
tary Atherton read as follows:
MATTER OF WATER RATES.
Notwithstanding all that has been
| said and written recently, rela-
tive to the water rates to manu-
facturers in this city, and notwith-
standing all that may be said in the
| future, relative to this important queS-
| tion the Scranton board of trade con-
tends, and hereby reaffirms, that the
water rates to manufacturers in the
| city of Scranton are too high, and that
| the card rates of the Scranton Gas and
| Water company are inequitable. This
statement can be substantiated by an
abundance of good and reliable evil
| dence.
The future of Scranton, and of the
Scranton Gas and Water company, de-
pends upon the industrial growth of
the city. It's industries should be di-
versified There is certainly no argu-
ment on this point. In order to do this,
we should be placed I'm a position where
| we can compete with any city in the
| country, especially in the East. We
believe that a five cent cut uniform
rate to manufacturers would be fair
| and satisfactory. We therefore ask the
Scranton Gas and Water company to
| make such rate, believing that by so
doing they will materially advance the
Interest of the city. We believe that
| should there be less than the much
| talked-of four per cent. CD profit on
! water furnished to manufacturers
under the five cent rate, the loss would
be more than made up on the domestic
consumption, the rates 1Or WnlCn we
believe are commensurate with the SER
vices rendered.
At our November meeting this ques-
ton was ably discussed by a number
| of our most prominent and respected
citizens, men who have been emnently
| successful in both business and pro-
fessional careers. The sentiment that
| the rates to manufacturers are too high
was unanimously indorsed 1t was
| stated in general terms that water for
steam purposes cost about as much as
| fuel in certain establishments. This
| statement. while possibly made to en-
phasize the fact of the high water
| rates, was absolutely true, and can be
proven.
SOME COMPARISONS.
Following is a statement from the
books of the Scranton Bedding COM
pany, which needs no comment on our
! part:
| Yearly rate previous to putting in
meter, SS1 per year; per months G 7E
Meter rate October, 1899, with no
steam used in heating building .$2l go
Put down we'll on premises)
Meter rate November, 1899 with
building heated by steam, re-
quiring (estimated) one-fourth
more water than October Well
IN use '.'.'..''..'.,.,...,.,, 0S