Arizona republican., 1899-11-10
PINNEY & ROBINSON,

( hand that such meetings had been es-
sential to the growth and prosperity of
many other western towns older and
bigger than Phoenix. 1t had been
found by them to be the only way to
deal with city councilmen.
Last Tuesday the city of Denver
voted S4,7O0,U 200 bonds for municipal
water works by a majority of nearly
four to one. The proceedings in Phoe-
nix on Wednesday night were as a
quiet prayer meeting in comparison
with the means by which the Denver
city fathers were forced to do their
duty. For several years the taxpayers
of Denver had clamored for an oppor-
tunity to vote on a bond proposition,
but were thwarted by the same means
employed against the people of Phoe
nix. About four years ago a city gov
eminent was overwhelmingly elected
on a municipal ownership platform.
Then the council began offering ex-
cuses, suggesting delay and presenting
arguments why public system should
not be put in, just as the Phoenix ma
jority in the council did. A private
corporation had corrupted the servants.
The next year greater care than ever
was taken in selecting aldermen who
were in favor of public water works.
They. too. were bought up by the pri-
vate corporationA and there was no
bond election. The same thing hap
pened the third year and would have
happened the fourth if the taxpayers
had not succeeded in producing a
stronger argument than the private
corporation had in it's sleeve. There
was no public mass meeting, no reso-
lutiOns, no noise and no oratory, but
a. little quiet talking. The meeting
procured several long ropes with
nooses at one end-just as many ropes
as there were councilmen. The meet
ing then adjourned to the city hall
where the council was getting ready to
decline again to submit a bond propo-
sition. The attention of the council
was directed to the ropes and it was
stated that the disposition which
would be made of the ropes would be
determined by the vote on the pending
measure. The councilmen at once rec
ognized the advantage of a public
water works system and the PROPOSE.
ton was submitted without delay It
cost something for ropes, but the ex-
pSilSe, lIt taxpayers DSueNey Will
absorbed in the profits of the new city
water works.
Something very much like this hap
pened in Omaha some years ago when
the councilmen believed that they and
private corporation were right and
the taxpayers were all wrong. On
night when the council was about to
determine between the private corpo-
ration and the people, a lot of armed
men guarded every avenue of escape
from the city hail. A spokesman en-.
tered and told the councilmen that
several ropes with a moose about the
size of mans neck were pendent from
the telegraph and telephone poles out
side and that great crowd of people
was standing around engaged in con-
lecture as to whether those ropes
would continue to sway light, empty
and aimlessly in the night wind, or
whether they would sway heavily and
creak with the weight of human bod
les. The councilmen quickly decided
not to subject the untried ropes to a
strain and gave d verdict for the peo-
pie. This is an unchristian way to pro-
mote the growth of towns, but it was
believed at Denver and Omaha that
there was no other way.