Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1909-05-04
CITY COUNCIL.
TAKES ITS
STAND
Delivers Ultimdtum to the
Water Supply Company
-..Flsh or Cut
BdIt.
THREATENS SUIT TO
ANNUl fKANGHISt
Thirty Days Notice to be Given
by City AttOrney-ReSultS
From Report OF Spec
idl Commit
tee.


have been floating out of the may
ors Office and lowering in the air
about the aldermen's long table in
the library building burst forth last
night. when the special committee,
appointed to investigate the rather
strained relations between the city
administration and the Water com
pany, made it's long-eXpected report.
The report was nothing If not ex-
plicit and detailed. 1t covered so
many pages of closely typewriter
matter that it was almost midnight
when j. b. McManus. the city clerk,
mopped the perspiration from his
brow and finished reading the last
exhibit.
BY a vote of to ., Alderman
Learnard being absent, the report
was adopted and the city council
handed the Water company it's ulti-
matum by instructing the city attor-
aey to serve notice on the proper OFF,
cials of the company that unless the
improvements in the water supply or
dered by the council to date, were
begun within thirty days, he would
at once file suit to annul the fran
chise.
The members of the council who
voted against the adoption of the re-
port were Aldermen Hanley and
Wroth. These gentlemen explained
their position in voting. That part
of the report which approved of the
action taken by the city attorney in
writing to the bondholders of the
water company, they said, was OBJ
jectionable to them and that while
they thoroughly approved of forcing
the water company to fulfill its OBJ
legations to the city, they would not
vote for the adoption of the report as
presented.
Aldermen Neustadt, Beaven, Coen,
Auge and Conroy voted for the adop
ton of the report and for the motion
TO serve final notice on the Water
company.
Alderman Beaven, who was chair
man of the special committee max
ing the report, made the motion to
serve the thirty days notice on the
officials Of the Water company. The
mt ton was seconded by Alderman
Coen.
Used Plain Language.
Although it had been currently re-
ported that the committee would take
up the water company question last
night, the meeting was not largely at
tended as in the past when such a re-
port was rumored Nevertheless, those
who did attend were interested
enough to sit through the entire read
ing of the voiuminous document
1t must be admitted that the spe
cial committee showed no inclination
to dodge the issue and that so far as
the language of the report was con-
cerned the committee called "a
spade a spade" and backed every as
sertion with plenty of Exhibits" and
extracts from the records in the office
of the city clerk and other docu-
ments.
When the report itself had been
finished, Mayor Lester said that he
desired to have the entire matter
laid before the council and the peo-
pie so that any action taken thereon
could be done intelligently and with
full understanding of the conditions
as the special committee had found
them. Thereupon the city clerk was
instructed to read each and every ex-
hibit which ne did in full, and the
members Of tbs city council listened
TO the entire compilation, now and
then breaking in long enough TO ask
for such information as the members
desired. The exhibits were too nu-
merous and too lengthy to be publish
ed, but they are equally as interest
ing and emphatic as the report itself,
consisting of everything from cita-
tionss of the city clerks records. to
copies of letters to and from the
Water company together with petit
tions from water users and others
who said they would gladly use water
II they could secure II. Some of these
latter petitions were decidedly inter
esting not only because OF the asser-
tions they contained but because they
were signed by well known property
owners and citizens
support the Mayor.
on the whole. the report of the
committee and the action OF the coun