New Britain herald., 1924-07-08
THE CARRIAGE DEADLOCK

Collection of garbage in New Britain must be placed upon an efficiency basis. with regular and unerrins eol- ieetions. reasonable profit 10 the eon- tractor. and at the lowest possible cost to taxpayers.
 IL is the manifest duty of the health department 10 bring this about: and if it cannot do so. 1t should frankly ad- init its failure and permit others 10 improve conditions.
 The cost of collecting garbage has advanced in the past few years and now is costing si2.Oo0 year. The city has grown considerably and there probably is more garbage to collect than formerly; and with the steady advance in health regulations and health education many residents are more particular about having their garbage collected regularly, rather than haphazard. ....
 The public is not unreasonable, but 1t has a right to expect this necessary function to be well performed. At present and in the immediate past, the performance has been anything but efficient.
 It is the business of the health de- partment to see that a satisfactory method is evolved; and if it is ab- solutely certain that this cannot be brought about on the appropriation of s12,o00 a year. then more money will have to be asked for the purpose. There is no other way out of the diff fculty. The main thing is that the garbage must be collected properly.
 David Lawler, the present contrac- tor. who operates four teams, says he is losing money but will stick to the iob until other arrangements can De made so as not to discommode the c,ty. He is to be commended for his attitude.
 Lawler says he was given to un- derstand that four wagons would pc sufficient to meet the requirements ot collecting the city's garbage. He insists that his experience has shown nm that four wagons are insufficient for the purpose.
 The contractor argues that from rrhat he now knows of the city's needs. six wagons and an emergency truck are necessary to collect garpage properly in city the size or Ne" Britain. The contractor adds that s15,oo0 a year would barely cover the costs of operating six wagons and an emergency truck, but so far as ne himself is concerned, he would pc ,,,,,;ry to take the chance of making proft on the contract if such one w.r. awarded him. This chance or ,roet he ayers, would not be found in the s15,ooO, but in the possible sale of his pigs in Newington to which ne would feed such garbage as could De fed with safety to the animals If LUCK did not favor him, he declares ne would lose money on the pigs
 The Herald quotes the contractors side in the public interest, and IS not to be construed as favoring his argu- ment or the payment of 5000 to col Iect garbage on an expanded plan' u ,s the health departments business to decide upon this point
 What the Herald favors, and what this newspaper is convinced the pup lie demands, is an efficient garbage collecting service at the lowest possi- .ble price; that poor service always costs too much, and that good service Ia essential even should the cost entail more than is being expended at pres ent.
 Collection of garbage is a medium nt direct contact between the city ad- immigration and the homes of Ne" Britain's people. Nothing should DC left undone to make this contact nIo,sant. Good will can be engender- cd in no more effective manner