Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-11-15
THE wATERwoRks QUESTION : n

There was large attenQdACO a. 49,
meeting last night called to near 'ne
report OF the citizens committee on
the Waterworks matter, an lndlcatlon
that the people are greatly interested
IN this problem confronting them, anu
desirous OF securing all possible 1n1or-
nation regarding this subject, It Is re-
alized that Ottumwa Is now ana mas
heen confronted with a serious situa-
tion. due to the inadequate and IN
vholesome water supply. Means must
10 fonnd of relieving this situation
and thus far no plan Of solving the
question other than for the city to pur-
chase the plant has been suggested.
No other means OF finding relief was
suggested at the meeting last nlgh.
and most of those in attendance Went
an record as favoring the purchase OIL
the waterworks plant by the city as tne
onlv way out Of the difficulty. me cltl-
oens, committee has recommended tne
purchase OF the plant, this report was
ratified at last nights meeting anu
the matter is now placed before tue
3neople for ratification or rejection az
the nolls. What remains to be done IS
- Give the neople definite information
on the subject before they are asheu
to vote for or against the purcnase.
There are two things the people
ought to know before they can act ~
telligently in this matter: ~,
First, the exact condition OF ln1
city's finances up to Nov, !. gong DacA
As far as is necessary to give the com I'M
nIete facts regarding the city's laplll-
ties at this time. 1t Is necessary ~
know this in order to decide WnetneI
the city can purchase the plant anu
maintain and improve it after sucn
second. How much Is 1t going to take
to nut this plant in first-class conul-
tion and give the city a WaterWor rl
such as it ought to have.
The people are entitled to detalieu
renort on these things. 1t is business
matter and the time we should Know
these things is before we buy and not
wait fill afterwards. This is knowledge
. business man would absolutely re-
nuire and would insist on knowing De,
fore he bought for himself. He Wouia
want to know his ability to pay ior ~,
and he would want to know What ~
was he was going to buy.
The report of the committee IS goou
as far as it goes. But the report IS q
conclusion that the committee arrlved
at after going over the detailed 1ntor-
nation that could be gathered. NOW
the people should have chance 70
study this detailed information the
same as the committee had, and the
council should compile the information
and publish 1t so that the voters Wo4lu
have a chance to see what II Is. by
that is not meant beWllderlng mass 81
of figures, but comprehensive recaplt-
ulation that the ordinary person can
understand.
now is due to the fact that the CITY
council, not this council any more than
former councils, have always conduct
cd the waterworks meetings in closed
sessions. and the public has never had
an opportunity Of becoming conversant
with the real situation regarding the
waterworks matter in the city The
process of negotiations have always
been kept from the newspapers so that
they were not able to give the people
any information.
But right now when the taxpayers
are going to be asked to pay the DILL
the object should be to give them the
most complete information about this
subject. The people have a right to
know and they should take enough
interest in this matter to post them
selves sufficiently to aid in the general
effort to get better and bigger water.
works and the city officials should
take this occasion to publish a COM
plete list of the city's liabilities.