Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-10-05
POLITICAL POINTERS
Politics is What One Hears on
 Every Corner To-Day.

Democrats of the fifth ward held a meeting last night at headquarters and talked over plans for the battle of the ballots Monday. Short ad- dresses were. made by people from the different sections of the ward, all indorsing the present administra- tion and expressing the hope that Mayor Thoms will be continued at the helm for two years more. Dur ing the session it was stated that the lnoms administration has brought about. more practical reforms in municipal work than any of its pre- decessors. When MT Thoms was elected, private individuals had to bear the entire cost of constructing sidewalks, although they didn't own foot of the land on which the walks were built; people 'n tenement blocks paid 3 cents for hundred gallons of water, while occuoants of mansions and owners of large cor porations received 300 gallons for half cent; the superintendent of water or the superintendent of streets couldn't take hold of 9. small job and put it through even though 1t meant big saving to the ytaxpay- CTS, simply because their hands were tied by charter provision which obliged them to do everything by contract, with the result that prac- tically all the money raised for pub lie improvements went to outside labor. It is quite different now. Private individuals pay half the cost of building sidewalks and the bal ance, together with what it takes to keep them in repair, is net by the public. The whole expense should be borne by the public, and will in time, but Mayor Thoms helped con- 1siderably by removing half the bur den from individuals and placing 1t on the shoulders of the whole peo- pie. The big consumer who has been getting water for half cent is now paying a cent, and the little fellow who had to come down with 3 cents is now let off for 2. The large and small water consumer should pay the same rate, but you can't get every thing at once, and when you consid- CT that the old water schedule of prices held for nearly forty years, although people knew it was wrong nobody dared trifie with it until Mayor Thoms appeared on the scene. It will be noticed that he has done we'll in this respect and may be trust ed to make another move during the next two years. z.. {.
 How about that contract system that has robbed Waterbury of so much money and practically pauper. ized men who look to out of door labor as means of making living? At the suggestion of Mayor Thoms, a legislative enactment was passed at the last session of the general as- sembly which authorizes the city to do certain kinds of work, such as constructing water mains and such like, provided it has been demon. strated in advance that The work can be done to advantage. In this way a large share of public work heretofore performed by contractors from Massach Isetts, New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia will be at. tended to by our own people, and the local clothier, merchant, butcher, baker and owner of teneroeut prop erty will get share of it. Tn this contract system law Waterbury has been tied hand and foot. so much so that people from other places could not understand why it was so. The city has been paying the highest price for everything and not always receiving the best service. How could it be otherwise when the de- partment of public works and all the other boards were at the mercy of a few contractors? Mind you, the city was denied the right to submit bid for constructing sewer or laying a water main. What you'd you think of board of directors of some pri- vate concern who would have a law passed denying its officials the right to keep it's property in repair, build additions to the plant and such like, even though it had been demon strated that they could do the work cheaper by the day than it could be done by contract?
 John Elton's administration baked at that sort If thing and one of the departments during his regime boasted that it had ignored the con- tract law in the interest of the tax payers. But they didn't make any effort to hays the law repealed, and 1t remained there until Mayor Thoms showed that it was a serious handi- cap to the different boards. These and other things that might be men. tioned show that the Thoms admin istration is progressive, enteTprising and conservative. The fifth ward appreciates. this and will roll up a big vote for the entire democratic ticket.
 The ,-off1y boatba or, q, -.ro.a tr