Norwich bulletin., 1919-08-09

wards lis rfefIow townsmen. who are
 financially Interested in'-the outcome When the Miller pond project was
 being considered some twenty five
 years AEe,lmore or less. as Esonrce of water supply for the city.+of New thoroughly threshed out.-- Hwould perhaps be well for the Investigating l cOnlrnittee to look back in the rec ords or newspapers, of that time nd perhaps they may get some inf0rma tion that might be overlooked in the present investigation. that seems to have evolved into a strife between the water board and the court of common council that has representa- tlye en The, other members are elected by the people and are responsible to the peo : pie. ,..
 Ths board ast<e for an appropriation to meet the expense of the added wa ter supply through bond issue, (which is a part of thes routine that requires the. approval of the court of common council If Miller pond is better than any other water soufce. the wa ter better for domestic use. the sup ply abundant, that's what the people want, whether it has to be pumped or flow naturally. The. financial profit made in the transaction does not in terest the people of New London at this stage of the game Possibly a
 
 finders of Miller pond at this time might have been a saying of coin to all those who are not interested in the sale of Miller pond to the city of New London. However, it is strictly honorable and honest speculation.
 The Miller pond property has been for sale many years and with the full knowledge of the board of water com mis ssioners and the engineer The board is familiar with the adapta bility of the property as source of water supply. Therefore, should it finally be decided that Miller pond is prefer able 10 Bogue brook. and that the board of water commissioners was mistaken j2 the selection of the Bogue plan. there should be no fault found in the event the city is called upon to pay substantial increase over the purchase price of the present owners, as the latter are not at fault. It was pe0fectly proper for the West chase the property as speculation and rake in a substantial profit. That's legitimate business. and the gentle men would not engage in business that was not strictly on the level. so far as they personally are concerned.
 If the. Miller pond property is need ed to give New London an increased and adequate water supply it ought to be secured. al any. price If the Bogue property is preferable, of course
 
 serious consideration. The point at issue. seems -sto be. whether the board of water comm issioners or the court of common council is the most conn potent to decide . +1
 Mayor Morgan evidently made a mistake when he appointed. Alderman Curtis. 8 practically new man to New London and it's business affairs, as chairman of the two most impor- tant standing committees of the court of common council-the committee of the fire department and of streets and That the mistake has been made is true for the mayor himself hath said it, and it's greatly to his credit for he is an earnest man. It has been publicly proclaimed in the council meeting that there have been pract ically no sessions of these i'm portant committees and whatever committee business that has been done has been covered by the chairman. and without the consultation of the other members of the committee. committees have served notice On the ma yor that they would resign from the committees.
 They were urged to remain by the mayor who assured the dissa tisfied that when the council year ended in October there. would be. changes in the chairmanships of the standing committees. It is nothing new for Chairman Curtis to shoulder all the committee work as this has been Gone in many instances in other committees and in other years So much so that it. became a custom. The chairman did the work and his asso- siates on the committee merely ap proved the bills for payment. though hey had no Knowledge of their trans action. But there were no Tom Gra- sans in the councils of long ago.
 Since his entry inteaeity affairs in i official capacity as alderman a dozen 1 7ears ago Mayor Morgan has never 1 shown any friendIiness towardss the | rolley company operating in this city, | He kicked about the service given, l against the use of cars with folding | teps, a against the double tra ok in a | ,art of Main street, against the .aban- Ionment of ten minutes schedule, | Lgainst- the lack of transfer system, tnd even called in the public utilitiesi ,any to do those things the com amy did not want to do. He has al- l vays been an opponent Of the way he trolleys were operated. So much Q, that in this correspondence some ime ago 1t was suggested that hel vas just the man the trolley compaHyt vas looking for; man that knew ust how to conduct and manage a rolley company that would suit every patron.
 
 dorgan. ever unfriendly to the troll ey company. did the very best he oula to bring about a settlement. He alied in the trolley officials and even irectors. the officials of the troll symen's union. too. and labored hard or an aInicable adjustment. so thati he. trolley cars would resume and re- tore the business of the city to the ormal- He succeeded in getting prc- ositions from the company that ,oked good to him. When these were ubmitted to the representatives of he strikers they were turned down vitnout ceremony. Whereupon the aayor expressed opinion that the ro1leymen made mistake.
 For this eudeaxor to do . good turn, s he supposed. he has been attacked rom the public platform and by com lunicatiens in the public press. He as been charged with almost every hing. except as a friend of the la bring classes. He has been charged