Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-11-19

and undeYeloped, In the state ant
operate them under public owner
ship. In other words, he proposes
THAT no city own Ms own water
supply, but that every municlpalit!
: deal directly with the state in secur
ing It's water, and the state will
/, furnish the water from whatever
source is most available. In thii
way all towns and cities would be
treated alike and all of the unde'
veloped resources would be brought
, into use as the needs of the state
required, everything being done b,
the state. To meet the expense
both in the purchase OF existing
water supplies and in the develop
ment of new sources, the governor
would have the state issue bonds.
While agreeing that the governors
plan is not new, the fact that 1t has
received his endorsement and is ad-
vanced by the executive OF the state
as a solution to the problem, can
not help but go long way toward
having some. plan finally adopted
that will put an end to the dan
gers of a water famine such as
the state has just experienced. The
governor does not claim that his
plan is the best; neither does he
insist that 1t Is the only solution
to the problem. He has, however,
laid before the people construc-
tive program, and 1t remains for
those who oppose the scheme to
offer a better plan. II nothing bet
ter can be offered it stands to rea-
son that the governors plan is the
logical one to be adopted.
1t is natural that opposition should
come from cities like Newark and
Jersey City which have shown much
enterprise and spent millions Of dol
lars in developing their own water
supply. Newark has gone Into MOI
ris and Passaic counties and bought
I'M practically the entire watershed
OF the Pequannock river; 1t mas
built enormous reservoirs and con-
structed a pipe line leading to the
eitv of Newark. 1t has one of the
most modern and complete water
supplies to be found anywhere In
the country. What Newark has
done with the Pequannock, Jersey
CITY has done with the Rockaway
river. For these municipalities now
to find that they have built so sub
stantially only to be compelled to
turn the control over to the state
for the benefit OF other municipali-
ties. looks like an injustice.
But, after all, there is only a lin
tied water supply within the state.
IF one or two cities with their enor-
nous wealth are going to jump In
ana gobble up the few available
streams for their own private use
II means that not only are the
smaller municipalities going to &c
without or get along as best they
can with scant supply, but that nc
new municipalities can be built ur
in the future as the older municipaii-
ties have already seized all the
sources Of water supply.
Small towns that never dreamed
that they would need very much
water and were depending on a few
wells, suddenly take on boom that
could not have been foreseen, and
there is a demand for more water
Where is it to come from? WIN
the state in absolute control OF all
sources CT supply, they need only ap-
ply for the increased amount oil
water to be accommodated. With
ALL available sources in the hands OF
a few large municipalities, however
the new community is at the mercy
of these larger places, which are
going to look after their own needs
first.
As the state grows and the popula.
ton increases, the water problem Il
going to become more and more
acute. II may seem unfair at firsi
thought to ask Newark and jersey
] CITY to surrender the advantage thai
they now have, but the problem
must be looked at from the view
point of the entire state, not from
the position of any one municipality
There is no doubt that the Interests
, OF the big cities would be well pro
tected by the state, and all would b'
given a square deal, the municipali
; ties that have spent large sums o
money developing a water suppl!
being recompensed so that the'
would suffer no financial loss.
1t may be that some better schem
/. than state ownership of the waite
supply can be devised, but until sucl
scheme is advanced Governor Sill
Izer's plan will stand as the loglca
solution for the water famines tina
, are so menacing to so many OF tn
: people of New Jersey. The COVER
nor has at least offered construc
tive program that will eventuall