Arizona republican., 1903-01-11
PHoENIx. ARIZONA. JAN. Il, 1903.
Ownership of the Water
 Works.

Works.
 There is much to be said in favor of municipal ownership of the city water works. From a theoretical standpoint, all the arguments are in support of the proposition. In the abstract, it is not business-Iike for the citizens of com munity to pay such water rates as will yield more than the operating expenses and the interest on the money actually invested in plant. When anything more than these requirements is eX- acted from the ratepayers the owners of the water works are receiving rev enues which should remain in the pockets of the citizens. In other words, municipal ownership means, ideally, an equal and undivided ownership by all the taxpayers of the community, under an investment honestly made, and business fairly and economically con- ducted. It means that the ratepayer, instead of paying rates which meet operating expenses, interest on an over-capitalized debt and something in addition for the stockholders, merely pays at intervals his pro rata assess ment toward keeping the concern going.
 As between a water plant con- structed at large profit for promoters and overloaded with interest bearing obligations, and a plant installed by the city without profit to anybody and carrying only an indebtedness repre- senting the actual cost of construction, the ledger should show a substantial balance in favor of the municipal plant. These are the considerations which have operated so largely to in duce the municipalities of the United States to take over or construct their own water works. It is regrettable. however, that in practice the ideal conditions are seldom realized. The degree to which they are approximated depends upon the people themselves. The evidence on the question Of results appears to be largely contradictory. One city will report complete satisiac- ton with municipal ownership of water or gas plants, and another city will report general regret at the change. In word, it is to a great ex- tent a question of public spirit and the exclusion of politics in the man agement of the plant
 To what extent the people of Phoe- nix, if they owned the water works, would permit them to be made the football of politics, may be uncertain But the experience of the past two or three years is not reassuring. The of flee of city councilman pays no salary. and the patronage connected with it is misunderstanding confined to handful of undesirable places in the police and fire departments. Yet, citi- zens have noted with astonishment the lengths to which politicians in the democratic party will go in order to control the city government The of- flee or councilman is sought for-by q certain class-with as much energy as if it were one of the greatest finan- cial plums; and after it is obtained, the incumbent fights to the last to re- tain it. In order to hold these insig- nificant positions, the city treasury is raided under the guise of street work and thousands of dollars are paid out simply in order to keep the riff-raff vote rounded up for election day. If such extraordinary efforts are made to control the city when but d few paltry offices are at stake, what would be done with the patronage and revenues Of the water department as the prize?
 Here is one of the problems which rehecting taxpayers of the city will carefully consider before deciding to own the water works. It may be that some practicable method can be de- viscd for protecting a municipal water plant from political grafters; if so, the prospects for the public ownership proposition will be greatly improved.
 Americas greatest humorist has re- turned from his honeymoon, and MT