Franklin's paper the statesman., 1912-01-20
Poor Basis for Municipal
Water Plant

II matters not what position one
took in the franchise fight OF the Den
yer Union Water Company, he cannot
but be amazed at the slender thread
of fact upon which the advocates OF
municipal ownership relied when they
followed the lead of A. l.. Fellows;
who now is a member of the water
commission and has been the engi-
neer, whose estimates have been the
basis of opposition to an extension OF
franchise. Mr.. Fellows, in his testi-
mony before the United States COM
missioner, who is adjudicating one OF
the suits that has arisen out of that
election, has admitted that his data
was old that some of it was not his
own, being appropriated wholly from
the work of Mr. Hunter; that he has
not made a thorough examination into
water right values, but has taken
much for granted. All this tends to
disprove the reliability of his work as
consulting engineer and would cast
doubt upon the municipal project and
when one reads further In his testl-
mony where he contradicts himself,
where he either denies or quallfles
statements that were freely used as
arguments for municipal ownership,
amazement gives way to disgust that
the people have been tricked into
costly litigation and endless elections
for the sole reason that such course
gave life to an election machine.
1t is not the purpose OF The States
man at this time to defend its course
in supporting the franchise of the
Denver Union Water Company, but to
show the need of real thinking on
n
one side of question commits the
city to such an indefensible course as
that it is now pursuing, remember it
is the taxpayer who pays the bills.
Had Mr.. Fellows said under oath be-
fore election what he has said in the
last ten days, the other arguments for
an extension of franchise would not
have been needed.
The Statesman urges it's readers to
90 slow about joining in with the peo-
pie who advocate a commission form
of government We do not say that
there are not some good features in
the project, but by no means does 1t
follow because it is not wholly bad
that it is wholly good. Because there
are faults in our present charter it
does not follow that nothing can be
worse Yet such is the conceit OF the
movers of these so-called reform"
Is, that they abuse and villify all
who are not in agreement with them. !
The ability of the people TO govern
themselves is seriously in doubt when
they lend themselves so readily to
the schemes of agitators. They must
learn to put the test OF logic and OF
facts to all propositions. Now that
Denver has been goldbricked and
swallowed whole the fairy tale about |
a seven-million dollar plant that will
be better than the fourteen-mlllion |
COLLAR plant, that was offered them
for sale, the people must feel cheap to
have their Moses admit on the wit !
ness stand under oath that his knowl- |
edge was meager, both of the water
rights that would be needed, and the
price that would have to be paid for
them. If his estimates of the cost of
pipe, labor and the like are not Just
as much a matter of guess, it is not
because he is a thorough-going reli-
able engineer.
In the while that the courts are re-
solving the water situation into some
thing simple that we all can under
stand, Denver will have to make many
decisions effecting it's government,
and we cite this case, which is the
clearest of proof that the people can
not afford to leave their thinking to
others, but must weigh well each step,
regardless of the cloud of abuse that
some people raise to obscure the es
sence of the matter