Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-05-02
CLOSING ARGUMENTS
continued from page So

<,,, with proper ana WeiSHty Soi'iu
,,;o,s to descend to stigma 10 'ioieh'
,ao+arization of the men VINO came
I'D through the assistance they pro-
- mart of them our own citlzels'
.ho,p citizens of our fellow city
Ph' .,,5 men whose very names at
,i,,e meant business success meant
Inv -, through of enterprise, meant
I'M - of what they undertook-Gov.
w Iii ubose memory yet nolos
Y creen place in the hearts VI az 49,
y Io.dinc business men OIL tnis CITY,
MANI ,11 With them and as their
All" a.. acknowledged head, stood
Aail"- 'i'' .u, tbe neishbOrinS city of
t''"l W. Geo P. Wcscott, foremost
w ..a.,. if not quite. in the enter
"'ii''a ,hjs state, one of those born i'm
~ - far-seeing men VINO can dis
-, tuture and who are born with
Germ ti1 that boldness. that dares
thdl .ho future. He with the others
To "Ho- -u.od this enterprise. procured the
nav, and their names, the weight of
their opinions, the kno"ieuse VI men
t'''- ding business ability, enabled this
,om,any to start secure ana 10 star. on
,,rue,,al basis-sccure or having It's
-,,itaI But at that time it was an en-
,,rn,tse of a different nature from what
it is today.
r-bor no matter who furnished the
,,,,it.l and as we shall see later, it is
,,,+ir.Iv true as counsel has said in
,,,rte Of his address, and forgotten in
mast parts of it, that this is to be con-
,f5.red as a corporation and an entity.
,ybot.ver is invested here is invested;
- ro,tt..rs not whether the investment
,.,mp principally from bond or stock,
T,o rnmpany invested it; the orlSl-
,,,..,r. ,f the company comprised all its
i,,,.oe,o,s by whatever security they
hI3 ,boir investment, and the money
,,.,s nrorlrcd at a time when the whole
history of water companies, as applied
IN the state OF Maine, ana to Il con-
siderable extent to the other states OF
the Union, was purely an experiment.
anI, a few far-seeinS minds with IN"
E,cIlu.e, and courag e to trust to the
fuyllrc dared invest in them, dared I'M
d.r,oke them. In 1886 when this Com
u,nv was started there were not more
that two or three Water Companies in
thn State of Maine; | am not able to
>Yv The precise number but you could
count them on your fingers ana on very
few of YOUR fingers. The city of Port
land had her system; one or two others
had Il system, adequate or inadequate,
feeble usually, and yet the counsel says
that the men who undertook this, tho
men who did what no one else here
would do or dare to DO, namely, cstab-
Iiyh public water supply here in the
city of Augusta and invest capital in IT,
or procure the investment of capital in
it. those men, our fellow citizens, and
Mr.. WescOtt, who was a their head,
drscryedy. counsel has seen fit to
characterize, and characterize not Eac-
cidcu.ally but repeatedly and insistent-
". AMI as he says deliberately and pur-
poscly. as having inaugurated this
scheme as robbers, of having conceived
! AMI executed it in fraud. i pray to
know of this Commission if their action
win Justify such unworthy attempts.
Ana the counsel says that Mr.. Wescott
is not Iiere present. The Court may
know, this Commission must know,
what is common public knowledge that
tn" gentleman to whose brains, to
whose business power the establish
WIS largely due, is now in wasted
health: that the EXTREMIST care is
needed to preserve. wn hope for some
years more the futtering of life's
r.,udlc ana yet tn" counsel here know
ilIi; rs all men know that fact. knowing
IS nj mon know that these men pro-
cured and inaugurated this enterprise
y h"u it would Otherwise have never
been inauguratcd for years at least il
At Al they procured and invested the
capital. knowing those things &nd
knowing that the man he was $thus
charging with infamy was the pffncl
pal proCurcr of that Investments and
that his last Gays-not his last days
hope. but his last yearS-WaS StiHfflut
t"ring in their close comes here and
charges things that in a court Of law
would have to he proved beyond a rea-
s"nablc doubt, without shadow of evil
dcnc", without a fact on which to sup
port them was panied to hear coun-
ST. 50 descend from that plane which
counsel such as he should fill. | read
nr'v it please the Court, another his
iory If the inception of this Compa ny
from what my brother now reads
" "''l lliiS ofnlany was lll1uSufdleu
II" WIS its counsel. as he stated yes
t"rLly. he WIS it's first treasurer; he
WIS l1ivy to their plans and Jealous
~ their advocacy. as he properly was
AMI properly should have been. and rs
'N''N good citizen in Augusta was
"'r'S"l SAYS thai the city was then 20
hi't"n'i with debt that it could not
"A'H"urat" this enterprise. Who evcI
heard that tn" city Of Augusta dreamed
90 mtuguratiNg this enterprise? Where
is ~" man that has come forward here
Ia |dy hat he was willing to put one
'"lar MT" this doubtful enterprise. int,
us Mcr" chance of getting some of II
hd'k Those were the early and the
infant days Of Water Companies. Al
tie same time or at about the same
''ln" wealthy inhabitants of that cit,
We're begged to put money into thei
own water company and refused. A few
tnlzehs here came forward. coupleG
WIN the assistance from our neigh.
hnring city of Portland. and Furnished
We money. The city of Augusta VII.
men in debt SO that it could not fur
pish the money. Has it cleared tina
peht since? Is it not under the sam,