Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-12
DECLARES WATER
RATE IMPOSITION
SECOND WARDER MAKES A
VIGOROUS KICK
Man Who Stands Near to City Officials
Says Lesson of Minimum Rate
Proves Municipal Owner
ship Failure

"My water meter for December in
dicates 1 used % cents worth of water
from the overflowing reservoirs of the
municipality owned water SYSTEM"
said a Second ward resident to one
of the new city officials who has just
taken his place in the city govern
ment.
You may not use my name at pres
ent," said the citizen to Herald re-
porter later, but 1 don't mind telling
you l agree with the water consumers
who have been making a protest
against the minimum rate.
Just why municipal ownership fails
in other countries is not difficult to
discover If one makes a study of the
question.
For the 400 cubic feet of water I
used in December 1 pay $1-that is
the minimum charge in my district
According to the mathematics used by
the department, four times seven is
one hundred.
when the water department was
under the management of a private
corporation we used to hear much of
the rapacity of corporations.
"Now we still have some of those
old monsters in our midst, but 1 con-
fess their mathematics are not half
as weird as those Of the department.
Looks to owens River
"The gas company is still privately
owned, but 1 do not pay for a cents
worth more gas than 1 consume.
This minimum rate business, of
course, hits the poor man the hardest.
He loses from 81 to $40 a year on the
minimum charge swindle. These peo-
pie who are preaching municipal own
ership of public utilities had better
clear up the minimum charge swindle.
They will make little headway in con-
vincing people while that wrong eX-
lists.
people in European countries where
the municipality owns everything from
the milk output to the street railways
are in revolt against conditions. A
large deficit each year without any
in equipment or facilities
is causing people of English towns and
cities to wonder what they have
brought on themselves with this ex-
perimenting on affairs of that sort.
Here in Los Angeles the water
overcharge goes to build up a bureau
where the officials get 'toppy' salaries
and fat snaps where work is light.
If the Owens river supply will help
us every one should favor the enter
prise. I shall not hesitate to support
the Owens river project, as 1 look to
that as a measure of relief to the
people.
Fine Political Mechanism
'I have grown to look with alarm
on any proposition for the municipal
tiles to take over any utility from the
dog pounds to sewage farms. Here in
Southern California we have plenty
of glaring examples of what a fine
piece of political mechanism can be
made of a simple utility, such as
gravel bed or a little water reservoir.
"It has been the custom in the past
to cloud the issue, whenever a protest
was made by crying water famine
but now with water knee deep in our
streets and a plethora Of the same In
our cellars the calamity cry is hardly
effective.
at has been shown that the mini
mum rate is pretty sure to produce
a wasteful consumer. If he's charged
81 for 2S cents worth of water actually
used he is likely to let her rum to
get even. Would 1T not be better to
allow consumers to pay for what they
use?
'It is such evidence as this that
makes the average man shrink from
any further extension of munlclpal
ownership in any direction.
Before we hand over any more of
our public utilities let us see how this
thing is working at home and abroad.
MANY persons who are not partic-
ularly opposed to municipal owner
ship in the abstract make a terrible
roar when the thing comes home to
them in concrete form.
"Most of us are willing to let the
other fellow have the fun of expert
menting with dangerous things, and
i am pretty we'll convinced that those
who have played with the government
ownership bee have been badly stung."