The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1919-10-24
do to serve you wisely and honestly.

present board is directed to the use
of water metres. During the war a
demand was made upon municipali-
ties and essential industries for the
conservation of the supply of coal.
For this purpose standards of equip
ment and efficiency were recommend
ed in order to be eligible for favor
able coal classification. That is,
those cities and essential plants
which best conserved the use of coal
were admitted to a classification get
ting first service in coal supplies.
This set the Mayor. who had always
rejected the suggestion of water me-
tres, to thinking. Would the board
in declining to recognize the spirit
of the war orders be justified in its
responsibilities to the citizens OF
Union City? That led to an investi-
CATION of the water metre system, and
the subsequent test of trial order
of metres, which is now underway,
with the result so far of confirming
the Judgment of experts as to prac-
tical results. Water metres are cal
culated more than anything else to
euualize the cost of service to the
consumers. 1t is the consumer
of large quantities of water
who is likely to object to metres. The
small user is in no way effected, be-
cause he can well keep his cost down
to and within heretofore existing
rates and in many cases less than
that. In fact the metre system is
benefit to the taxpayer because it
reduces the wastage of water and
the extra coal supply in the pumping
of this wastage. But the greater
reason and justification for water
metres is the conservation of the
water supply in the freezing period
of winter time when there is waste
of water in a great majority of the
plants, business houses and homes
in the city. Such times as this
when a water famine is threatened
the metres warn of the waste of wa
ter, A criticism is also made that
water metres are expensive and short
lived. They are probably expensive.
What is there in public improvements
that is not expensive? But the life
of the metre is different thing.
The one in use at the M. & o. water
tank has been there fifteen years
and is still doing good service. The
point then is which is the more ex-
pensive-the waste of water and risk
of water famines or the metre sys-
tenn.
But to offset the cost of metres,
the present board is to be credited
with the collection of overdue side
walk notes of nearly ten thousand
| dollars. That should be some COM
pensation to the taxpayers for the
money expended in water metres.
Our schools, according to accepted
standards and authority, are now
on a better basis than they have ever
been. The attendance is good and
the interest is growing rapidly. In
dications point to C. time when both
boys and girls in greater numbers
will be graduated from the Union
City High School.
AS stated in the outset Mr.. Pitt
mans administration has more to re.
commend it than a mere indorse-
ment. He is a man of conservative
spirit neither timid nor reckless
with the peoples money. He does
not believe in a high tax rate, and
may not favor a reduction of the rates
until the city is well provided with
substantial improvements, but hi
does believe that the taxpayer has
some equities while the public mon
eys are being expended.
The present administration has fol
lowed out the lines suggested in thi!
paper before the last election wa.
held This was to the effect that WI
were just out of a period of publ,
improvements in the water and ligh
plant, ETC., and that with the clouds
of war lowering over us and som,
outstanding notes and accounts t.
settle it was time for sober though
and careful action.
Within the next two years tn
chances ere that some extension
may be made, but even now the con
ditions were never more chaotic an,
unsettled and both labor and supple
are hard to get. 1t is said that tn
last bid on public roads in Tennessee
was $4,000 a mile.
, One point in the record of tn
present administration to be givel
due weight, and that is the fact tina
while all materials and supplies, in
Guiding coal, etc., for the use of tn
city, are in many cases nearly on
hundred per cent higher than befor