Arizona republican., 1905-07-05
PHOENIX. ARIZONA. JULY 5, 1905.
The waterworks rluddIe.

Guided by fanatiCism and bad Judg- ment, the city council has succeeded in making a fine muddle of the water works question. Acting under ter ritoriaI law, the council two or three weeks ago appointed a commission of five citizens to handle the waterworlls problem-to sell the bonds hitherto voted, and to take all other necessary steps for providing the city with a modern water s--stem, the acts of .nis commission to be supervised by the city council and subject to the lati- fication of that body. Some ut the members of the commission lad net been among the original advocates of municipal ownership, and this served a few people with axes to grind as an rxcuse for finding fault with tho per scunef of the commission. Their criti- cisnr. carried to the council threw ;hat bod- into a panic. and on Mold1y night the action appointing the c0nr- mission was rescinded. and new commission was appointed.
 Mayor Adams. having nameI ;Ee first commission, properly construed the course of the council Monday night as a reflection upon his integrity md ,hc integrity of the citizens he had named, and he rendered his resignation as mayor.
 That is the situation at present.
 The council has gained absolutely nothing for the city 3y its foo';sh move; it has taken steps in the mat ter of selling the bonds which will cost the taxpayers thousands ot douars, and it has played. as if by arranged program, into the hands of tha own CTS of the present Phoenix waterwor',s. It Is obvious that the more the wa-e- question can be muddlad, the Iacre that bad feeling can be engea,lercI, and the greater the confusion among citizens. the better it will be f1- uie water company.
 The appointment of the first com mission was approved almost Unan- imously by the taxpayers, but there was criticism from three eiemenrs, eqln Of them small: CD the veil meaning fanatics who cannot nelisye that an.- man can be true to the pub- lie interest unless he mas at all times subscribed to their views; CD the pro fessional politicians who are anxious to see the city administration a fall ure; (S) a small cotorie of men who would like to have hand in building the waterworks with graft for them selves as the first consideration.
 The masses of the people were en- tireiy satisfied but complaint from these three elements stampeded the council.
 In obedience to the clamor whi ;h made up in noise what was lacking in numbers, the council has attempted to throw discredit upon five of the best citizens of Phoenix, and has ap- pointed a commission that is not near Iy as good. Some of the new men ap- pointed are excellent selections; of ot',- CTS the less said the better for the public comfort.
 The council seems to have proceeded upon this line of reasoning: Whereas, our former action does not please ev- erybody, and whereas, we ourselves are incompetent to supervise the com mission and protect the citys interest, We hereby surrender our functions to anybody who will make noise enough to throw us into a panic"
 It was said on behalf of some of the councilmen yesterday that the appoint ment of the new commission was more a matter of pique than anything else; that they had only learned recently that the mayor did not have the exclu- sive power of appointment. If this te SO it is a sad reflection on the intel Iigence of some of the councilmen. It is a fact, of course, that the com nis- sioners were Mayor Adams personal selections. but they were appointed by the council on his motion. And in talk ing the lead in naming the commits sion, the mayor was merely perform