The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-02-15

|
 recollection.
 Are "my father and myself willing | as business men, to defend a contrac
 to run for 20 years, or for any othe term in which it is provided that tn
 city shall pay for a commodity whicl
 it needs, partly in cash and partly il 1 barter?
 Would we give our approval to
 contract between the city and a deal l CT in coal, in which the city agreed t. take through period of 20 years coal | from none other, for which it would pay partly in cash, partly in repair | upon the dealers plant and partly il relating his taxes, especially if W should find that the cash paymen ket price?
 How then do we defend a contrac for water, which runs for 20 years which names price partly in cash partly in repairs that ares a charter duty of the Bridgeport Hydraulic com pany, and partly in tax rebates?
 My father and myself" if we take the trouble to think. will find that th' opposition to the 20 year water con tract is not due to agitation. or tt agitators. The moral sense of their fellow citizens is arrayed against it. It is an attempt to evade the re- quirement of the charter which says that cities may not mortgage the flu ture by making contracts for more than one year.
 Let them read the opinion of Judge Wheeler. made when he was City At torney Wheeler, upon this point.
 The contract is moreover an unsuc- cessful attempt to evade the charter obligation. and meets the penalties that attend unSuccess.
 Upon this point let the opinion of the C11 1rf lo .Iarr I@r read by "rny father and myself' an6 let the opinion of the city attorney up on the power of the board of appor- tionment to annul the agreement be also read.
 The means that were used to make a contract that would successfully evade the charter law have been an active factor in producing the annoy ing state of public opinion.
 Let "my father and myself" scruti- nize the membership of the committee that advised the contract. Let. them note the close relationship that existed between some of these and themselves. They will find that they would. in the case of similar relationship between a suitor opposed to themselves. and men sitting upon a jury to try the cause, promptly challenge such jurors.
 The means that were used to get the attemPted evasion through the council, such as lobbying the bill with the as- sistance of servants who were also ser wants of the people and members of the council: the haste that was de- manded and secured. have helped to bring public opinion to the present point of hostility which has annoyed "my father and myself"
 The haste in which the bill was sign- ed. the manner in which it was exc cuted. without waiting for the sigma ture of the city attorney, and while in- junction was sought to be served, did not contribute to create a public feel ing that 'my father and myself were especially consulting equity and jus tice.
 Agitators are not to blame because contract has been made against cus- toms. proprieties and in outrage of the public conscience.
 Neither is it true. as MT. Warner as- serts. that the contract is 'feither legal and equitable. or illegal and inequit- able"
 Law and equity are not the same thing. The contract in question is per- fectly legal for each one year period in which the city renews it. It is abso- lutely inequitable every moment and all of the time.
 The wind and water in the Connecti- cut Railway and Lighting Company is legal, but it is immoral. The entire state is agitated over bill that will undo the legal wrong which gives a company in which t'my father is also interested the immoral right to take a million a year as profits on sums never invested. and that for 999 years.
 The situation by which a water con- pany claiming to be worth six millions is taxed on a little over one million may be legal. but it is not right.
 The situation under which gas
 
 terested. is worth but $500, 900 for pur- poses of taxation. and has securities upon which the public may be taxed that reach above the million mark, while it demands the legal right to issue million more. may be legal, but it is not equitable.
 If 'my father and myself will pause for moment tEey will perceive that if they have succeeded, no matter how they have succeeded. in evading the fundamental law of the city, and have made a '20 year contract they need not fears It cannot be broken. It is protected by the clause of the consti- tuition of this state and of the United States which says that nothing shall be done to impair the obligation of contracts. Nobody can break a legal contract in this country. even if it is not an equitable contract.
 If my father and myself" will read the opinion of the city attorney, and the opinion of City Attorney Wheeler, and the opinion in the garbage case, which might almost have been written with their matter in mind, and which goes a long way to help them out. they will perceive that they. as the net re- suit of all those improprieties. to use no stronger word. which have fixed public attention and excited public anger, have made only a contract from year to year.
 This contract the Board of Appor- tionment can renew from year to year. by making an appropriation under it. Every time it is renewed for a year it will be legal.
 From the standpoint of public opin- ion every such act of renewal will be act.
 Let 'my father and myself" submit to the plan proposed by Hon. John J. Phelan. a member of the tax board. which is to submit the contract to the people.
 Do "rny father and myself" fear the justice of the people? Mary Sixcy, an inmate of the School o+ alpxyil1n this