The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1918-03-01

are as nXeQ IN Cnelr pOSlCl0n aS Cne
council. What are we to do? Would
the council not be forced to comply
with the wishes of the Board Of
Commissioners, or put it in the pow
er of the Commissioners to obtain
a concurrence by shutting down the
plants, or by failing to operate them
in a proper manner? Can we ex'
pect any good results to come from
divided authority in this matter.
Shifting Responsibility.
Then again, if these commission
ers are charged with knowing the
wants of the enterprises, will the
city council not be disposed either
to agree with them in all matters
and allow them to contract all the
debts they desire, placing the re-
sponsibility for mistakes with the
officers whom the people have
charged with looking after these
enterprises; or, if the council will
not do this, will it not amount to
an eternal conflict of authority in
which the Commissioners will al
ways want what council will not
want, or in which the council will
generally refuse what the commits
sioners demand, with the result that
the service to the residents of the
city will grow more and more unsat-
isfactory, with each body always
charging the other with the fault.
The Rub.
Leaving out this one matter, we
assert again that the Board of Com
missioners of Public Works is as in
dependent a governing body of these
enterprises as are the directors of
any private corporation. In the
language of the statute, this Board
will "have full control and manage
ment of the same" And what does
this mean? It means that this
Board, \ if it is composed, of MIR.
Anderson's friends, will have power
to keep him in Office for four years,
it matters not how arbitrary he may
become in his dealings with the
public, nor how unsatisfactory his
work becomes. It means on the
other hand that Notwithstanding
Mr.. Anderson may be the best man
for the position two men
in office for four years, with no
responsibility to the people until the
expiration of that time, will have
the power to kick him out of Office,
the pepole want him or
not.
More Salaries Always.
It means, moreover, that these
will have the author
ity to increase salaries as they see
fit, hire additional men as they see
it, fit up Offices, have stenographers
and other help according to their
whim, and generally to do as they
please. It means, if it means any
thing, that this Board may vote
salaries according to
their estimate of their own worth
and pay it out of the income of the
plant. It means that they can ex-
pend the income Of the plant in
ways that the people of
the city would not approve without
any chance to call them to account
ability (and the net income OF tnese
plants if properly managed, should
be several thousand dollars per
year,
More High Priced Pipe.
It means that the Superintendent,
whoever he may be, might decide
that the piping on Main street should
be taken up and larger piping put
down, because perhaps little sand
had been pumped into the pipes, or
had gotten into it in some way, and
this work might be done and paid
for out of the income of the plant
lust as Mr.. Anderson had the coun-
Gil, at a called meeting when GER
tain members were out of the city
(about which we will write later)
to buy another pipe line to carry
water from the upper reservoir TO
thu o,,unino station the one al