The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-11
'Ew FORK GIFTS WATER.

All hnSotNcu nnu n better nueistNhuih
Of tho Case ON the Part ut The Public.
To THE EpIroR or Tn SuS-SD: believe
the TIM has com when the angry. absurd.
and for all one knows. hurtiul hallucination'
regarding the relations OF the Ramapo Com
pany TO New York city and to the Legislature
can DO laid before the public with general adj
vantage. No community can be benefited whom
one OF its most important interests. that OF
water supply. is choked with the prejudice,
ignorance and error that seem to have beset
New York 4 for the past ten months. The hour
for reason has arrived. and l beg for an oppor-
tunity to set before the public certain facts
which have been for some time buried beneath
tho turmoil OF anti Ramapoism. but which are
essential to a correct understanding OF the
case. ! have not the faintest Interest. personal
or political. direct or Indirect. In the Ramapo
Company or It's friends. I also make no claim
10 infallibility. But after careful examination
OF the affair on both it's sides. l submit my
conclusions as worthy Of attention.
As good q method az any Of explaining the
Ramapo case will be to take the remarkable
letter recently addressed by Governor Rooss-
welt 10 the council OF the Merchants Assooia-
ton. which has been thoroughly hostile to the
Ramapo Company. and has been most ener-
getic In giving It . bad name. Governor Roose-
welt I vote for and admire. Mr.. King, the Prssl-
dent Of the Merchants Association. | conceive
to be one Of the most public-spirited citizens Of
New York. 30 there Is no prejudice against
them In ny mind. With this preface. I intro
ducs the question with the drst few lines Of
Governor Roosevslt's letter and follow with
other passages:
FrsdSuek B. DO Bsvord, EN. hrehdntS Awoeta-
lion. NsU Ysrk ". y;
Ny DEAR SIR: thank you for your letter Of the
2sth ult. The veto by the Mayor Of tbs Pailov' bill
and the passage. over his veto. Of the bill against the
practically solid opposition Of his party representa-
tiyrs in the Legislature has emphasized the wisdom
OF following out Jus, the course we followed this year.
The work already done by the Merchants Associa
zion has brought about two most valuable results:
First. the Fallows bill. the principle Of which was
sugs es,ed BY you In November last. and tho passage
Of which your agitation made practicable.
The Fallows bill was not the product OF the
Merchants' Association at all. 1t was an out
come OF the Mazet Committee Investigation.
II was introduced on the assumption that 1t
was In the power OF the Water Commissions
to make a contract with a private company
with the approval only OF the Board o! Public
Improvements.
Mayor Van Wyck vetoed the bill on the
ground that It was I'M necessary legislation. be-
cause the existing charter. as interpreted by
the Supreme Court. requires action on any con-
tract by the Board OF Public Improvements.
the Municipal Assembly and the Board OF Esti-
mate and Apportionment and the Mayor 10
make such contract valid. The Fallows bill
provides for action by these boards, and prac-
tically for nothing else. Tho Merchants As
ISOLATION approved the Pallows bill. but did
nothing to aid In its passage until it found its
own bill, the Morgan bill. could not be passed.
Second. the exposure OF the true character Of the
Ramapo scheme. whereby you have checked It's
present and made future remedial
legislation certain. You have thus achieved present
prote elton for tho city, so that the immediate urgency
Is past.
The Merchants Association told nothing
about the Ramapo water scheme that was not
already known when the association began to
take an interest in the natter. The situation
to-day is the same az It was before the Mer-
chants Association took hold OF II. and the
same as it was before the Meeting OF the Leg.
stature.
The true character OF the Ramapo Company
scheme IL this: IL 10 a scheme to sell water to
New York city and to make electricity to sell TO
anybody who wants to buy II. there being a
good big profit In working the two things to-
gether and. practically. It's friends at least say.
no profit in working either separately.
very earnestly hope you will continue your work
ard will CO operate through your Committee on Water
Supply with the Charter Revision Commission, so
that II may pront by your wide and exhaustive study
Of the question Of the water supply OF the city Of New
York a study wider and more exhaustive than has
ever before been made, and wholly free from any
oficial bias or prejudice You can supply the Charter
Commission with data Of the utmost value. and hope
that your special committee will continue It's work
with this end In view for you would thus render an
additional and important service. Your work should
be continued; for al The next session Of the Legls-
latuic laws must be passed which will AFFORD, not a
temporary, but a permanent remedy.
The study OF the water supply by the Mer-
chants Association committee was not begun
until the last OF November. It's study can
hardly be wider and more exhaustive than any
ever before made. Chief Engineer Birlsall OF
the Water Department has been studying the
water supply OF the city and State for upward
Of forty years. and he knows where every drop
Of water in the State il located and a~pproxi-
mately how much it will cost to get It to New
York. As to the Merchants Association in
vestigation. the following from the last circular
the association issued gives some light:
OCTOPUS RAMAPo.
How the octopus got It's power = It's add.
uonal powers were obtained In 1898 through shrewd
mani liquidation.
who gave the octopus It's powers' . . . II VA,
signed BY Governor Levi 7, Morton. . : Gen.
Benjamin r. Tracy Of the law nrm OF Tracy, Boardnau
q Plat was President OF the Ramapo Com pany. II.
advised Governor Morton by cable from Paris 10 sim
the bill.
who tied the city's hands The Greater New
York Charter Commission struck out the nigh, Of
eminent domain formerly possessed by the city. Tn.
Hon. r. F. Tracy, former President Of the Ramapo
Company. and the Hon. Silas n. butcher, present
prehden, OF the Ramapo Company. were members OF
that commission.
The Merchants Association knew that Seth
Low was the author OF the watar part Of the |
new charter. Other headings Of the circular
are as follows: rs the party In power for the |
octopus or the ~peopler" why party leaders |
object TO resisting the octopus" Party pro. |
lection against New York but not against the |
octopus I return to Governor Roosevelt's |
letter;
Islso hope that your committee will push for .
judicial decision. both as IN the precise powers under |
the extraordinary grants to the Rama DO COMPANY. |
and as to the exact effect n the phra seology In tn.
charter which brought about the b-lief in the n.ces
sty for the Morgan bill.
There was a case pending. not the work o,
the Merchants Association when the Governor
wrote his letter. 10 which the courts are
asked to pass upon the constitutionality OF
the Ramapo legislation. II was begun by |
President Edward NJ. Grout Of Brooklyn