Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-03-11

members Of the council to defeat the
adoption and ratification Of the proposition.
Up to this day l have not yet found any
one Of these gentlemen able 10 explain to
me why they submitted the proposition to
the people and then Joined the electric
light company and did all they could to
defeat it.
one of the republican candidates for
mayor is a professed IL not professional
municipal ownership man. I have heard
him, and l presume many Of you also have
heard him, denounce public utility cor
porations and assert that we shall never
have honest and efficient municipal govern
ment until the city owns all these utilities,
but when that issue was presented squarely
to him fifteen months ago he also turned
back on his own professions and Joined
the cappers and strikers of the electric
light company to defeat the proposition
under the pretext that an issue of bonds
for the municipal lighting plant, which
would have cost at the furthest $500
would prevent or retard the acquisition
of the waterworks. That was the fimsest
excuse | have ever heard. The waterworks
proposition will involve an outlay of not
less than 100000 and possibly 1t may run
up to S6,OOO,OO or 100000 and the expendi-
ture of $4,000 for a lighting plant could
not possibly have interfered with the pur-
chase Of the waterworks in the least
Dollar Gas Blum.
The same gentlemen who defeated mu-
nicipal lighting plant fifteen months ago
now want to give us dollar gas. They
voted a five-year contract with the electric
| light company to prevent the acquisition
Of an electric light plant any sooner, while
at the same time the general manager of
| Mr.. Bensons campaign, Mr. Howell, who
is also a sham reformer, assured us that
| the city would have the water works
within twelve months, IL the municipal
light proposition was voted down. The
| true inwardness of that fight fifteen months
ago was that the electric light company
spent over $4,000 to corrupt the voters of
Omaha and furnished the campaign fund
| TO elect Howell as member of the Water
board How much IL will contribute to
| Mr.. Benson's campaign now l cannot even
guess, but Mr.. Howell and his adiutant,
| Tom Blackburn. know how TO reach the
! general manager 1 take it that this hum
| bug and bunco game about the water works
| will be re-enacted for you before this cam
paign is over.
II is now three years since the Howell
water purchase bill passed the legislature.
| When it was enacted the pretense was
lnal the Hldypt anu CITY COuilCll WHY llOl
willing to act promptly in having the water
| works appraised and purchased. The How
ell bill was to be step for the immediate
| acquisition of the works. The bill was in
| troduced the first day of the session and
| railroaded through without friction into
| the governors hands, and was by him
| signed almost before the ink was dry. II
had slxty-seven typewriter pages and, as
| / understand reached our good governor
Saturday night. The following Monday
4 morning at 3 O'Clock. wired that / would
be down to lincoln and endeayor to ex-
| plain the unconstitutional and objection
able features Of this bill, which violated
the principle of home rule in It's most vital
form by taking away from the citizens OF
Omaha the right to say whether or not
| they wanted the works purchased and who
should conduct the purchase and operation
of the plant. The governor had already
signed the bill. Now, we all know Cover
| nor Mickey is a very good man. He never
does official business on Sunday and would
| not thislk of reading such long bill as
that on Sunday. Qaughter) So when he
signed 1t on Monday morning he must have
signed 1t without reading 1t. When
| reached the capital few house later !
asked him whether he had submitted the
bill to the attorney general. We'll" he
said. II did not think about that, but !
will do it next time" Uaughter.) So the
bill became a law.
Corporations Always Win.
You who have lived in Omaha these last
twenty or thirty years, and you who have
lived here less, have never yet heard OF a
| proposition affecting the moneyed interests
of one of the public utility corporations in
any proposition that would reduce their
income, ] mean any proposition that would
reduce their income or be injurious TO their
interests, you never yet have known OF
their keeping still and letting such a bill
or ordinance pass through. They always
have their representatives at the council
chamber. they have them on the floors and
in the corridors. and even down town al
the Merchants hotel bar room They have
them everywhere any councilman or mem
Der of the legislature is likely to go. In
this instance the water works bill was
sent to Lincoln and Mr., Hunt, the manager
was sent TO California. The water works
bill was logrolIed through as easily and
quietly as the crime Of 1873, like the tread
of a cat in the ght-time-not a ripple. II
went through without the slightest opposl-
ton on the part Of the water company. and
yet Howell pretended all the time that fl
was done to force the water company tC
turn over its profitable plant 10 the city.
As soon as that bill had been put through
the legislature the city council, by in
spiration, suddenly became convinced that
It had to obey the law to the letter. Mos
OF the laws they do not care 10 obey at all
Qaughter), but this particular Law they haC
70 obey instanter, Under the law they had
thirty days TO consider, but no, they ha6
to do It instanter. They met and resolved
that II was necessary for the city to &C
quire the works on the three-appraiser plan
They at once notified the water board tC
name one appraiser, the water company
the second one. so that the two NIGH
choose the third. and II was done almost ir
jiffy BY this act the city was hand
cuffed. in fact. bound hand and foot and
delivered over TO the water company.
sham RefOrmer'S Promise.
The great champion Of sham reform
who is now managing the Benson campaign
for municipal ownership told the people
, that his bill would result IN the ownership
of the works in few months. Thirty-sil
months have now passed since the Law
passed and We are no nearer 20 the owner
ship than We were three years ago. and III
bunco game has continued. We have hat
junior water bill. as well as a seniol
water bill TO make sure that il woulS
stick Oh. yes; they have accomplish et