The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-02-02
ALDERMEN
 REQUEST
 TAX BOARD To Appropriate no Money for Twenty Year Water
 Contract. RESOLUTION
 IS ADOPTED BY
 UNANIMOUS VOTE

The Water Company Can be Taxed at Full Value and Is- sue of Free Water Can Be Tried Out.
 The board of Aldermen by a unani-
 nous vote last night put itself on rec ord as being against the continuation
 of the obnoxious 20 year water con tract and voting to request the board
 of Apportionment to refrain from ap-
 propriating the $12,O0O the city has paid the last two years to the Bridge port Hydraulic Co.,, for the privilege of connecting it's hydrants with the mains of the company.
 Whether any water is drawn from the hydrants or not the water con- pany collects at the rate of $12.50 a year for each hydrant.
 Last year the appropriation went through the board of Apportionment, although several members were du- bious about it, and after committee from the board of Aldermen had wait ed upon them. The members of the board said the matter was brought to JnOlT dCIGut1Cu dC SUCH SlAOIl AOIlSC that they did not have time to con- slider it.
 This year the matter will go before the tax board at its first meeting this evening. M ,
 The matter came before the Com mon-- Council in the form of a report from the committee on miscellaneous matters, which was signed by all of the members, and recommended that the board of apportionment "shall not" appropriate the $12,0OO necessary to perpetuate the 20 year water contract. The words "be requested'' were sub stituted for "shall not" on motion Of Alderman Wilson.
 Alderman Hartley the only alderman remains in the Common Council, said that he was glad the matter was com ing before the Common Council in the form that it was as he wanted to vote for it and felt that he could in that form.
 The fight for the adoption of the re- port was led by Alderman John H. Me- Murray who spoke in so convincing manner that he won the support of the new aldermen in the council, who. were not aware that the city was al- lowing the Bridgeport Hydraulic Co.,. exemption from taxation on the bulk of it's property and at the same time CHdTS1HS lOI fly LII oi1C COiiAASNeiOAA0 whether they were used or not. They were also not aware that whenever the Hydraulic Co. wanted to open a main it used the citys hydrants with the same freedom as it would if it owned the plugs themselves.
 The aldermen at the start off became a little kinked in their ideas as to the verbiage of the report and Alderman Gould said he could not vote for the measure as he did not believe that the Common Council could ''resolve' that the Board of Apportionment do any thing.
 Alderman John N. Near regarded the Board of Aldermen as the mouthpiece of the people. He continued, Some cd the right to lay pipes through the streets of this city, with the right of selling water to it's inhabitants In return he was to give us water for nothing. The Bridgeport Hydraulic Co.,, is operating under the same char ter. What are we getting from the Hydraulic Co.,, in return for this fran chise. which is now worth many times what it was when Greene was willing to pay something for it? Nothing! On the other hand we are paying for what it was originally intended we should get for nothing. We have slu1nbered and this octopus has grown
  nish us water as cheap as it is fur nished to any other city by a private But New Haven and other cities get water for municipal purposes free of charge and therefore we are not getting it as cheap as it is furnished to other cities.
 tYou all know !this contract was signed behind closed doors.
 s"The city attorney has told us that we have not got to continue this con- tract if we will only stop appropriat- ing this money. I say that at this time. when the city needs all the mon ey it can get that it is a shame to the of this s12,O00 to continue. I don't see how any man can stand up here and say a word in favor of this prop osition. I am Missourian and you will have to show me why we should pay s12,OO0 for water that we are SUD- posed to get for nothing"
 Alderman Primrose moved that the renort be referred to the city attoney to ascertain the rights of the Board of Aldermen to direct the Board of Ap- pcrtionment. He explained that his reason for so doing was that the Com mon Council had voted an increase in salary to the members of the police de- and the Board of Apportion- ment had refused to provide the mon ey.
 Alderman McMurray said in part 'HThe city attorney has given an opin- | ion that the city of Bridgeport cannot l make contracts for more than one 1 year. It has been decided by the Su l oreme Court in the garbage collection l contract case that the city could not l make a. contract for more than one l year. I don't think the question here 1 tonight is concerning the relative l tights of this board and the Board of l as much as it is | question of how the members of this | council stand on this water question We all know that the Nathaniel Greene l charter is not being lived up to. W. | nave tine power to remove the Board |