The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1901-04-02
R0CKAWAY FLOW.
Jersey City Water Supply
Company Will Ask the
City to Modify the
Contract.
TO FACILITATE PROGRESS OF WORK
Rivers Whole Flow to Be In
terpreted as Whole Flow
AS 1t Stands Today.

IN a day or two the officials of the
city concerned in the making of the con-
tract to give Jersey City new water
supply will be asked by the Jersey City
Water Supply Company TO amend the
pany may surmount the difficulties raised
by the recent action, or rather, inaction,
of the Legislature with respect to the
Morris Canal, and go ahead with the
completion of it's contract to give jersey
City better water.
1t will be remembered that a bill was
introduced into the Senate to abandon
the canal. 1t was hung up in commit
tee. Then another bill was introduced by
Senator Reed appointing commission to
inquire into the whole subject. That bill
was held up by the House, leaving the
subject, as the lawyers say, in statu quo
ante bellum. But this state of things is
extremely embarrassing for the company,
throwing, as it does, a serious obstacle
in it's path towards settlement of financial
matters. Bankers and other men of
finance are unromantic people and won't
embark in schemes when they see cer-
tiorari and other dreadful legal proceed
company to effect modus vivendi, and
that is what it proposes to do by asking
for modification of the contract, which
stands today in peculiar light.
1T is just this way" explained an off,
cial of the company today, IF you had
a contract to build a twenty-five foot
house and you had your plans ell drawn,
contracts made, foundations out and the
work well under way and you found out
that the ground was only twenty-four
feet eleven inches, what would you do?
The twenty-four feet eleven inches house
would be just as good as the other, but
you had your contracts and plans drawn
on that basis and to change it you must
have the consent of the other party. It's
an easy matter, and the city in this in
stance has to do it,
What change would you suggest
should be made?" he was asked by a
News representative
''Well, simply this. That in the con-
tract the whole flow of the Rockaway
River must be interpreted to be the whole
flow as it stands today, and if the Morris
Canal Company shall take any water out
lit only takes very little any way-that
uOesSn dII6CI US. we mean TO nave the
whole flow, eliminating the claims of the
company. We only get 70,0O0,OD0 gallons
out of the river. and there is more, of
course; but as the contract stands now,
with the whole flow clause, supposing,
when our contract was finished, the
works turned over, bonds issued and so
forth, and the Morris Canal should take
a spoonful or million gallons, from the
river, would we be delivering the whole
flow? Along would come some fellow
with a certiorari suit and-why, there's
the rub. Theoretically and practically we
would be giving the city the whole flow,
the water being used by the canal, in
finitesimal as it were in quantity, but le-
gally we wouldn't and we could be at
tackled. Now, capitalists, of course know
that, and with such a possibility in view
the finance end of the project is made
difficult All could be removed by the
modification of the contract as 1 have
suggested
The application will be sent to the
Mayor and Street and Water Board, it
is expected, by next week