The Richfield recorder. (Richfield, Idaho) 1909-1931, 1909-11-11

A friend OF the Recorder sends in word that he will be forever
lacking IN the list Of those present. at the paying OF Their
bills Tor subscription to this great family journal, unless the
family journal takes up, edit0rally, the granting OF the 81
year franchise to the RIcntIeld water works company lie does
not shpulate how the matter IS to be treated-whether with
fear, or love, or contempt, or nnpersonally as one would treat
the statement that some one had seen the same moon twice IN
tie same week.
The Recorder was not in the confidence Of either the village
council, or the water company, when the ordinance was pend
ing; and IS perhaps very little to blame Tor what was or what
WAS not done-~fIfty years does seem ike a long time Tor d
franchise affecting the welfare OF the people; and maybe the
council shouldn't nave made The time 50 long.
But there are very lew questions That DO not have at least
two sides; some have more even than that. TINS water question
is one Of these.
1t is easy to say that the city should own its own water works
All these public utilities should be owned by the people them
selves, 50 that by no possible chance could private greed ever
harm the public along these lines. Like rivers, roads, streets,
postofdces, court houses, capitals, the people should own them
absolutely. Butt isn't always 50 easy. Here IL Rlchfleid,
for instance, up to the present there has been not a cent Of
municipal revenue, save from licenses and possible fines. IAeIe
Will be very little even next spring; bonds based on the future
growth Of the village will have to provide for most of the muni
oipal Improvement. It is easy, now, to issue bonds; the village
has water works, concrete sidewalks, and other evidences OF
lermanency and prosperity. But the village lad nothing to
ing just that kind Of a start. Speaking for itself, the Record
er would not be here with /. dollars investment. if there had
been no way TO get water works save through municipal taxa.
ton or bonds. Life is too short to waste III waiting Tor these
things TO come Of their own accord. even one wear. or two or
three or ten years, is a lot too long a time for the Recorder, or
nlne-tenths Of the business men even Of Richfield, to go dry.
The town, as a read town, is here because it is possible to get
water long III advance Of the municipal water works possibility.
There ISM a farmer on this tract, who would come here and
clear his farm and make a home here t he were to be limited
~ g tDbHtot VI ~ J(NtE, VI - gCHf1t III IL lNbhDt iOb bDhg
would give RichfIeld a pleasant look if the ownership were to
be restricted to even 80 years, at the end Of which time they
had to turn the stuff back to the public. Yet the farmer stands
stands to win twice, thrice, five times the profit that the best
water works system ever earned. If the belief Of most Of the
settlers is correct, the lands here that are selling for $3.50 an
acre, cart e made by planting to selected fruit, to produce 5000,
5000, even s 1000 per acre a year. Why, the Perrine orchard
in this county has produced Johnathan apples that retail at
s 1000 a year, for each acre. Lands in this county, producing
alfalfa seed, have produced as much as $3.50 worth Of seed per
acre per year, and a crop Of hay and the straw from the thresh-
ed seed crop TO boot. ii the present water company could ever
get 20 per cent a year-the far more usual rate for such com
panies IS less than one-half that after they get to the paying
stage, and usually nothing at all for the first year or two-it
would be voted a real monopoly, a hydra-headed trust that
needed killing. Yet the farmer, and the buyer Of town lots,
the merchant, expect and normally will receive an annual
profit OF 70 to 1000 per cent on the original cost of his invest
nent. If a man raises chickens that sell for IS cents a head,
and the birds have cost him but % cents for the summer, Ire
made 200 per cent in less than a year. And the law doesn't
his rights in his farm, or his business, or his birds, to 80
years.
Fifty years may be considered as beyond The life period Of
any one now concerned with the waterworks Of Richfield. 1t
S of course true that municipal and state franchises are valua-
Die, and that they should be so bestowed as to serve the best
interests Of the people; to limit their life, or provide for a per-
entage Of the profits should these be more than a fair return.
md to see that they are not too onerous to the public at any q
ime. But the laws Of Idaho provide for the regulation Of i
yater rates by a commission that is largely in the hands Of the Il
people themselves; it is not possible for a corporation to rob S
he public without recourse. This feature Of the state law is it
perhaps not as clearly understood as it should be. In Justice d
0 the village council, and to the company, it should be said o
the rates for water for house use, $100 a month for an u
ordinary house, are far lower than in most other towns in the II