Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-11-15
ANOTHER GLORIOUS vICTORT--PRo-
VJDED.

VIDED.
The Water board has won another
victory for the citizens Of Omaha. The
high priced special attorneys have scored
decision from the federal court that
will compel the water works appraisers
to separate the head and tail of the COW
| from the body OF the animal that the
lawyers have been milking, although the
milking process is to continue for 'steen
| years TO come.
Under the decision the plant must be
appraised as a whole. but the Florence
| distributing district, which constitutes
the main plant of the works, viz. the
! pumping station, the power plant and
machinery and the settling basins, is to
be computed separately, and then added
up against the city, provided
| And the valuation of the mains, stand
pipes and hydrants and their ap-
purtenances in South Omaha, Dundee,
East Omaha and Benson are TO be
Topped Off, as it were, after they have
been appraised. and the residue will
constitute the correctly appraised value
of the water works. provided
1t is also ordained that in making the
| appraisement the good will and going
value of the concern should be COM
| puted, in addition to the value of the
plant segregated-in other words. when
it has passed. through the skinner.
! On this spot the glorious victory was
won and a monument should be erected
by the taxpayers to the battle SCARED
! heroes Of this hysterical scrimmage.
| To appreciate the import of the vic
tory one must remember that the con-
tract between the city Of Omaha and
the water company expressly provides
that in case the city decides to take the
works before the expiration of twenty
! FIVE years, the period of the contract,
that nothing shall be paid for the I'M
expired franchise of said company"
which, in plain English, was intended to
mean that the city shall pay only for
the standing value of the plant and not
the going value, which usually includes
the element of good will
! With the appraisers instructed to take
into consideration the going value and
the value of the good will, the water
company will have no ground for inter
posing any serious obstacle to a final
adjudication, provided
But the end is not yet, in fact, we
are only at the beginning, as it were, of
the famous Iowa calf case.
The lawyers Of the water company
have taken exceptions to such summary
proceedings, and the case will go to trial
on its merits, in the sweet Bye and
Bye" and when the merits of the case
have been divulged and thoroughly di-
J gested and the COW MIXED some more
by the special lawyers on both sides, the
arena of the controversy will be trans
planted to the court of appeals, where
the whole subject will be reopened, re-
argued, resubmitted, rearbitrated, pro-
| vided-
When the judges of the circuit court
of appeals have wrestled with this
liquid-a-shun problem several moons and
some suns and the salient points have
been extracted, passed through the set
Ting basins and pumped into the legal
reservoir, exceptions will be taken by
the lawyers Of the party OF the first part
or the parties of the second part, or
both, and finally in the course of years
the residue will percolate into the grand
reservoir Of accumulated wisdom, under
the dome Of the national capitol, where
bearded men in flowing robes, with due
solemnity and decorum, ponder and re-
ponder over the uppermost twentieth
century problem of whether the tail of
the COW goes with the hide Another
glorious victory will then perch on our
banners.
In the meantime, Greater Omaha will
have grown much greater, and South
Omaha. Florence, Dundee and Benson
will all have been annexed, and posi-.
bly,, as 1t were. the whole controversy
regarding the head and the tail may
have reached settlement by referendum
even at the risk of cutting off the
Water board from everlasting glory and
the lawyers from everlasting revenue.
|
The fine imposed upon the cattle
barons" amounts to about 2O-77 OF ]