Arizona republican., 1899-01-24

the purchase of fire apparatus, these
 bonds to run ten years. They are now
 nearly one year past due and not one
 dollars worth of them have been can
 celled And now it is proposed to add
 $2G5, ,O00 more of bonded indebtedness
 with annual interest charges of $13,5OO.
 Even now we are running behind
 every year. There are now outstanding
 a total of some S40,000 bonded indebt-
 edEess, and S35, 900 in city warrants
 bearing ten per cent interest, and
 your revenues are not sufficient to
 meet the annual expenditures.
 Another thing I don't like about
 this business is the star-chamber way
 in which it has been managed. Why
 have not these plans been openly pre-
 pared and the subject discussed in the
 newspapers for months, as is usually
 the case? There has been the same in difference and star-chamber work in
 connection with the registration The
 men at the head of the city govern
 ment allowed only three days for reg istration when they could have given
 twenty or ten days just as well, and
 of the 1,200 votes of the city only 491
 have been registered. I have exam ! ined this list and name after name ap- pears thereon of men who do net pay one dollar of tax. I oppose such meth- Ods I say again 1 favor a city water
 and sewerage system, but I do not be-
 lieve the city is ready to take
 this leap in the dark. I be-
 lieve those of us who havp labored
 here fer twenty years or more in
 building up this community are as
 much entitled to a hearing and to con-
 sideratiOn in this matter es a man
 yUN Nn managed thrCugh the aid by subscrip-
 tions of the older citizens and taxpay-
 CTS to build . hotel
 Judge Baker then turned to the legal
 obstacles, claiming that he did not he lieve the contract with the water com- pany could be broken quo,ing from decisions Of the United States supreme
 court in the 95th and 115th U. s. Re-
 ports, and from decisions of the su-~ preme courts of Tennessee, Iowa and Illinois. He closed with sensational charge in which he declared it his be- lief tha, the mayor and president of the water company had a thorough understanding and that the whole proposition to issue bonds was a gi- gantic deal by which the city was to purchase the present plantS
 C. F. Aims worth, president of the water company, was in the audience and immediately there was call for him. MT. Ainsworth declared that there was no deal on between the mayor and the water company. "but our plant is for sale,' he said, and if you vote these bonds the result will be that you will buy our plant" Mir Aims worth called attention to a very re- cent decision of the United States sU- preme court sustaining an injunction of the Walla Walla Water company against the city of WalIa Walla. | Washington, preventing the city from building an opposition water works. | He maintained that the Walla WaLa | case was counterpart Of that Of | Phoenix and that the city's contract | with the water company could not ba MT. Ainsworth declared ! that under no circumstances could the | clty secure water worl-s during the life | or the present franchise except by pul> | chase of the present plant. MT. Aims worth then presented figures showing i the cost of operating his comDalv. placing the amount at S1, ,160 per month. | Placing the cost of fuel at the sano | hgures fer the city, he gave the ex- pense for engineers irerlen,s etc, at higher figures, making the total monthly expense unGer city control for operating his company at $1.475. To this he added the S3,S5O per annum paid by the city for hydrants and SI3,5O0 interest on the bonds, making a total of $35,050 ger annum, which, he said, it would cost the taxpayers to run plant similar to that of his com pany should they not buy in his com pany's property. And yet the mayor tells you that with municipal owner ship he is going to reduce the rates. The present income of the water con- pany is in i0Und figures S2. coo a month. With operating and interest charges amounting to $3,000 a month how ;n the world are the rates going to he re- duced under municipal ownership?"
 The speaker then read from the or din2nce granting the franchise for water works, showing how beneficial it was to the city and what good thius 1t was to all the residents to be per mitted to pay $24 year fcr water fot the use Of an average house. He showed how the city only paid s. $50 3 year for hydrants which were rarely used, and in return the wate- furnished water free to tha public schools and obligated itself ta furnish free water for one pubic drinking fountain in each ward, be- sides giving water to the gold fish in | the city hall plaza. He followed this l. up by giving in some detail the man- ner of watering the sock of the com pany to the extent of $350,O00. the in | nCcent bOndhOlders still whis ling for ! -he interest on the bonds representing this watered stock. As financial or ! 9ration it was certainly a success-2c- to his statement-this enlara- Ii Dg the bonded indebtedness from $G0.- k poo 70 $350,000 without making Im- F CT enlarging the plant.
 MT. Ainsworth grew facetious and in It his exhileration declared that if the eity owned the water works a resident | would have to pay for water all the |; year whether he was at home through E the summer or nOt, while under the |! charitable operations of his corpora- ton If enc went away for two months lt he could have the water turned of Ii and not pay for it during that time All this change would be an increased burden IepOn the dear taxpayer. He next read from the ordinance the ;lause providing for the purchase of his n q n fDT L.