Bisbee daily review., 1902-05-09
ACTUAL NUMBER PRINTED TO-DAY. lI5O.
THE WATER FRANCHISE.

The first important matter to comej before the city council. or the mosq important that has yet received thei attention of that body. is the grantingj of water franchise to the Bisbee Wesq company. It is safe to assume fron the start that the city desires a larged and better water supply than is at present enjoyed, and when the Bisbeei West company manifested desire tol relieve the present shortage, the coun- cil was disposed to enter at once into an agreement that would reach that result The first meeting to grant a franchise proved failure. the bone of contention being whether or no the water pipes of the company should re vert to the city in the event that the Bisbee West company was unable to furnish the city with water for the en- tire time of the franchise asked for.
 The proposition plainly stated is this: Bisbee at the present time af- lords a lucrative field for the advent of another water company. Recogniz ing this fact. the Bisbee West com pany asks the city council for fran chise, offering on their part to furnish the city with water so long as they have it, and beg that the franchise be granted for a period of twenty-five years, during which time, should their water supply prove inadequate, or should it fail entirely, the franchise to be forfeited and the company have the right to remove their pipes from the city limits At this point the city council interposed an objection, de manding that at any time, should the Bisbee West company be unable to sup ply the city with water, during the life of the franchise, that the pipes and water mains should revert to the city. This the company refused to accept, and there the negotiations ended, for the present at least.
 The Review Is opposed, on general principles. to granting valuable fran chises to . company or individual without the city receiving some ma tsrial remuneration, but the demands made by the city council on the Bis bee West company are not within req son. and it is safe to assert that no company will ever build water line into Bisbes under the conditions at present imposed by the city council
 The Bisbes West company believe at the present time that they have bounuful water supply. and are will ing to 90 ahead and invest their money on this belief, but they do not care about forfeiting their investment, through failure of the supply. through no fault of theirs.
 Water sources in Arizona are uncsr- tain at the best, but the Bisbee West company is willing to bring this pres ent water supply to Bisbee. and they should be allowed to do so. The city has nothing to lose thereby. but all to gain. If the water supply fails then the franchise is void. For the time being we would have q water supply at least.
 It is well for the city council to guard the city's interests in a jealous manner, but they should not go 10 such extremes that will block the de- sired results. Suppose the Bisbse West company accepted the conditions imposed by the city council, and the water supply should fail at the end of three or four years? The pipes and the mains would revert to the city, but what would the old pipes be worth without water to feed them with?
 The city council should ask and re- ceive free water from the company for sprinkling and for fire plugs. This would be by far . more valuable asset than . lot of old pipe and no water.