The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1917-08-09

'utHFf manu- the rouufllmen are not
lnfalllbie ana h members who have
held the balance % power and have
seen ~ to override the mayors veto
have not always been right. There
has been too much boss play In
handling of our city affairs. Instead
|of acting like mature men the coun-
cIlmen have. IN several Instances. on
dncted ihemselves like children. How
over. "a uss q ume-worn expression,
we believe n 'eivlns ',he devil his
due" and II Is our opinion hat the
mayor was perfectly Justified Ia Veto
ine this ~~prinklinF ordinance.
Nobody will dispute the fact that
Albuquerque streets need sprinklinr.
and we are not In nny way trying 80
hinder The carrying out Of such =
commenda5 bic and necessary prosram.
The absence Of rain this wear ha
made thu situation such that artificial
means should be rescrtcd to keep
down the dust. bur 20 pick out the
|Iowlands as was done. and not extend
the service 20 the highlands. savors
strongly 90 mvortism. regardless ~
the fact that the councilmen who
have been fostering the idea nay
have been by entirely proper
motives and never thought that the
proposal would meet with such Wig
orous opposition.
II certainly cannot be claimed.
with any deg ee Of justification. that
there IL sreater need Of %sprinkiing
service west Of The railroad than east
of A. The character % the soil In
both parts OF the city ~ practically
the same. The gentle zephyrs which
prevail here M times are no respecter
Of persons or localities. They vent
their fury on one part OF the city the
snme as on the other. Getting down
to brass tarks. we are 81 the opinion
that IL u Is absolutely necessary to
sprinkle-nnd most everybody will adj
mi; that u is--the highlands. from
the standpoint OF sanitation and
heaith--shouid have the dust kept
down in preference to M iowiands.
owing TO the fact that the majority
Of the healfhseekers arc puartered on
the mesa. However. we would not
consider IL Just and equitable -
sprinkle the highlands and not the
iowiands. o. vice versa.
Is Is a fac that most any plan
which has for its object the improving
OF a city IL opposed. at least By some.
at first. Albuquerque Is no exception
in this respect. II is generally neces-
sary for somebody 10 take the lead
and literally force the innovations on
the people, We do not mean by this
that everybody In Albuquerque op-
poses progress. We have MANY wide
awake. progressive citizens. The ma
.jori;y of them are Of that type. But
there are a few here. as well as In all
other cities. who by thei- obstructive
methods detay civic improvements
and the work OF town building. We
do not wish TO leave the impression
that the good citizens who have OPP
posed sprinkling are obstructionists
On the other hand. It Is our opinion
that, under the circumstances. they
were perfectly justified in assuming
an antagonistic attitude.
IL IS not improbable that no matter
what kind OF a zone the council pre-
scribed for s%prinkling purposes many
people would have voiced their OPP
position to the proposed plan. How
ever. the fly In the ointment in this
particular case seems 10 be that the
|%sprinkling was 10 be confined TO the
.|lowlands; II. for instance. the terri
tory TO be s%prinkled west OF the rail-
road had been made half It's present
size and the same area had been taken
In east OF the railroad, there would
undoubtedly nave been complaints bu,
" tNuiu ubA nave pftH 'haie'h ANh'
council was playing any fayorites.
our opinion Is that s%prinkiinl
should be done on both sides Of tho
railroad. and hat the service shoulc
be extended as fast as possible. keep
ing the territory so served equitabi'
divided as near as can be done.
So far AZ the legal aspects 81 thu
case are concerned. council Is per
fectly within its rights In laying on.
certain zones "a he s%prinklea. ON
state supreme our has ruled 20 tina
effect From the standpoint Of TIL
law In the case the objectors haven
a prop 70 stand on. But from TN
standpoint ~ justice We believe tho.
are right in the attitude they hov
assumod.