The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1907-10-14

| SnOulQ nave some prOleCtiOu III LII
money that he has spent TO get or de
! velop water and to beautify mis- prom
ises. With city water he is not di
rectly interested, save for tie fire pre-
We say to such a ma1, We will asl
you to pay for the fire protection, sa.
10 per cent of your annual fire insur
ance premium, and no more.
| His neighbor has no water at all
We say to him, since we furnish yol
with city water for all uses at a nomi
nal price, we will ask you to pay an az
Valorem water tax which also include!
fire protection. This man pays fol
| what he gets aad also for the genera
installation of the system which be
nef1ts him all around. His is class B
Both Glass A and Glass B pay fol
what they get and use, and no more
OF course class B will constantly in
crease, for there are large numbers o.
people who have water rights with al
abundance of water for every purpose
except where elevation is required, OIL
pressure These latter can now only
be had by the use of rams, every one
of which is an imposition upon the
City sewer system that will not be tol
Grated indefinitely. A great many will
voluntarily transfer to Glass B, retain
ing their water rights for irrigating
and the like, so as to get the pres
sure and the many other desirable
features of a city system, until even
tually practically all of tae property
owners will have city water, when, of
course, the system will be self-sus-
tanning and then some.
Under this plan, absolute protec-
ton will be given the business and
residence districts as regards fire,
and the reduction in insurance pre-
mfums from the present figure will
equal if not excel the special tax i'm
posed upon Glass A. and in the long
run there will be only the single
class.
''The great trouble has heretofore
been tnat the many who have invest
ed money in water rights and private
systems, have opposed all PROPOSE
tions for municipal waterworks be-
cause it appeared to them that they
were to be taxed for the benefit of
the other fellow, negaJizing all of the
investment, often made at great sac
rif1ce, that they have put upon their
places. AS soon as they are shown
Ii,
them pay for something they don't
want, the opposition of practically all
of them will disappear, and if the
proposition is fairly put the bonds
will carry by big majority.
'Of course the water commission
has a big work before it. To get at
the work with any intelligence, it
must take a water census of the whole
town and find out just how many
will take city water, or in other words
VINO will be in Glass A and who il
Glass B. The underwriters books will
make the figuring of the income from
Glass B merely a clerical matter, tho
of course there are many minor con-
ditions that will have to be consid-
cred in fixing the special tax.
81 am not Informed as to the legal
status of this plan, but do know that
it has been successfully used in other
places, and I firmly believe that in
its application lies the success or fail
ure of the coming water proposition.
|sThere is a chance to apply it now
as never before. for there is evident
now a get-together spirit that gives
l5eUter promise to Roswell than any
thing that has ever come up before,
since it unifies all of the elements in
a way that can only work for the
good of the whole people. which just
at present is inseparably connected
with the installation of a water plant.
Personally" said Mr.. Robinson, 81
am against any kind of municipal
ownership, but like Captain Poe rec
ognize that private ownership is i'm
possible here owing to the peculiar
natural conditions, AID the sensible
thing to do is to take the kind that
we can get, which is municipal. l
have absolute confidence in the COM
mission selected, and believe that un-
der the plan they will propose that
the people will vote the bonds, and
that in doing so they will confer the
very greatest benefit upon themselves
and at the same time insure the con-
tinued growth of Roswell.
'AThe remaining portion of the
bonds that will be voted '.pon at the
same time are scarcely less import
ant, that for the city's part of the
ditch work being matter of Ponor
that should be considered personal
by every taxpayer il the city. The
street improvement bonds are scarce
ly less important-bu of course you
are after water news now, and I nave
given you my views as clearly as 1
could" concluded Mr.. Robinson.
c. j. Hoke left on the auto this af-
tenoon for his home in Santa Fe,
after spending a few days here on