The Cordele dispatch. (Cordele, Ga.) 19??-1971, 1916-08-02
TESTING OUR LOYALTY.

and to fight the man you didn't want to
be mayor or member of council and
to help defeat bonds for the electric
light plant because those now in pow
er are not your political bed fellows,
is to do your city an irreparable in
jury. The issue is of such tremen-
dous consequence as to demand that
we forget all else and fight for pub
lie ownership of the light plant 1t
is moment which if lost will become
a community misfortune. Defeat for
bonds in tomprrow's eleltiOn will make
it doubly hard for you to win on this
issue when you try it under a mayor
and board of aldermen of your choos
ing. Don't say you do not believe
your town should own its light plant.
Be fair with yourself. Go in with de-
termined purpose, but with a royal
good feeling for your fellow and re-
speet for his opinion about the thing,
no matter what he may think
And don't charge up your sometimes
rough experience with the water de-
partment to the efforts to get the cleo
Uric light plant for its rightful owners
You get the largest dollars worth of
water on the American continent and
besides have at least such strict ac-
counting of the affairs of the system
as every year returns to your public
treasury $1,000 to $4,000 with which
you help pay public expenses. You
would not have it any other way, But
for this your taxes would bear more
heavily upon you
Remember, you would not have this
property in the hands of private own
9rs. You would NOT agree to sell it
now for twice what you paid for it,
Why?
What you might term raw deal in
water charges is too small thing to
make you register yourself against
your owning the light and power plant
that would be colossal mistake
This public service interest as a MOI
~ maker is worth twice as much as
The water plant. Once you own it,
you'll never agree for it to pass into
private hands again.
| We need not take over this fine
property by confiscation. Our vote to-
morrow for bonds does not mean that.
although there is not sufficient
mount of money in the issue of bonds
We are asking with which to pay the
private owners what they will wan,
or the plant, there is enough to make
hem hear us when we go to them and
make them fair offer. There is
enough to make the first payment. on
if we get it at fair price. There
IS sufficient money in the issue for us
o build our own plant to be operated
II connection with the water plant If
we are not permitted to have the pres
ant plant at a reasonable price.
To carry the issue tomorrow will
0rove our determination to run our
)wn electric lights and power in such
| way as to turn the future profits in
our public treasury j. G. White
Company will know that by our action
we have determined on public owner
ship for this public service interest
and they will know by our act that
they must deal fairly with us in a mat
ter of fixing sale prices of must them
suffer for their folly.
The present owners are not going tC
make any fair offer of disposition un
Ill they know that is the last thing
! We could have no selling proposition
from them until they have first seen
us vote the bonds with which we in
tend to build for ourselves such plant
as we want. And all that is perfectly
human and natural
But with the bond issue at our dis
posal, whether ever dollar of the
issue is validated or not, we will have
the only persuasive argument TO which
the private corporation will ever lis
ten Let us have the bonds and ther
: buy the local plant. This is not fine
! spun theory. 1t is possible and more
than that 1t is the only way to pro
coed with assurance that we are no