Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1903-11-26

water. Factories will be crippled
through lack of insurance, business
men carrying large stocks of goods
will be put to great Inconvenience as
their stocks will have to be greatly re-
duced, because of the lack of insur-
ance.
Works May Close Down.
ALREADY questions regarding insur-
ance at the packing plant have been
asked. They want to know what pro-
lection we have. Now if the fran
chise is defeated, not only will similar
inquiries be made of every one, but
there will be Wholesale cancellation
of policies. 1t is . condition 1t will
take months to get over. Take for
instance our plant. If the franchise is
defeated, we will have to ship out a
large amount of stock and not take
any in. 1t will be necessary to do this
to equalize the amount of stock we
shall have with the limited amount OF
insurance we may be able to secure.
1t would mean that we would nave to
lay off 500 men, if not still greater
number and what applies to the pack
ing house, applies to every line OF busi-
ness.
The Purchase Clause.
"Now the objections raised by some is
that the waterworks company Is hold
ing the city up, that the city will be un-
der the power of that corporation, but
this is not the case, as the city has
the privilege at certain intervals of
purchasing if the proposition can be
financed. So there is nothing given
away. grant the purchase price is
l 4 in, S,flo lorr,
should pay, but remember we were
in a peculiar position. We would not
be permitted to put in our own water
works and for want of water, our
works may be compelled to shut down
and we might be left in a serious con-
dition.
| Cancellation of Insurance.
Certainly there will be cancella-
/ tion Of insurance and 1t seems to me
1 that if there were no other reason for
the adoption of the franchise, this
4 should be sufficiept Then the rati.
! fication of this franchise is the only
1 means by which the city may pur
4 chase the plant. The terms / believe
are such, that it will make good pur
chase for the city. We will have
cheaper water and better water than
we have now. Aside from all this
however, it is necessary to take moi
what we like but what we can get
And we are not going to mend mat
J ters by refusing to entertain the only
proposition left before us. The fran
chise seems to have been carefully
drawn up, covering the issues. There
| have been evidences of good faith or
|, the part of the company and while
| realize that there has been a laxity or
the part of the company in not living
!, up to the part of their contract, be
! lieve that in the future, the company
, will do better. They are bound tt
do better or lose their revenue. So fol
|, my part, don't see where the city
: would make mistake in ratifying the
, franchise and hope campaign OF ed
ucation will be carried OH, SO all viii
, know what the conditions are and will
{ be able to determine whether the!
{ will vote for ratification or rejection
Captain Jaques Talks.
Chairman Foster then called upol
City Solicitor Jaques for few re
marks on the water question. Cap
: tain Jaques said in part:
"Mr. Chairman and fellow citizens
: There is no politics in this question
: and there is no religion. There il
nothing in it but to determine what t,
! do for the best interests OF the cit.
: of Ottumwa. When an occasion O
that kind comes up, no man should al
low personal feelings to influence hin
! in any way. He should do what b
: thinks is right for the entire people.
: Opposition Has No Plans.
r "Now what better do the peopI
!. want in the way of franchise? In tn
s best arguments presented by person
V opposed to the franchise have yet t
n hear one scheme advanced by whic
the city may be given relief should tn
franchise be defeated.
= 1.-THE water company owns its plan
d just as much as you own your house
$ and they can close down tomorro,
v should they desire. There is no cour
n in the land that could compel them t
d operate.
t Is Not Monopoly.
o "More than that there is anothe
h thing that a great many of the peopl
j. have not thought of. This franchis
# does not gi.e Underwood & Slinglui
Q a monopoly on the water business
You can turn around tomorrow an
e grant a franchise to another corpora
0 I tion or you can build plant. Blu
g what shall we do now? Why we hav
/, bound the company by the stronges
n of terms. Indeed doubt if any othe
d company would be willing to accept
s waterworks franchise from the cit
O of Ottumwa.
Regarding the Intake.
3 "The council bound the company t
provide an intake at Turkey islant
This is to be the first work done by til
i, company and this will provide tn
+. purest water. There is no othe
= source of water supply than the De
n Moines river, unless it is possible
). get water from gravel beds at Turke
:. island and it will be taken there if
g is found possible. At any rate th
g city is assured as good water as it
l. Continued on Page 4 Column IL