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Show PILLARS OF SALT. A couple of the local dailies, which were never very notable for independent utterance, are vio-lently vio-lently stertorlous these days In denunciation of what they refer to as a "grab" and "graft," all of which has reference to the appropriation recently made for extras and repairs In connection with the Big Cottonwood conduit. jH That such a pseudo-righteous cry should come from such sources must seem the limit of all that is ludicrous to those who are familiar with the stupendous piece of folly which has resulted in the present chaotic condition of the conduit work. It was those same dallies which were most abus- 'imm ively vitriolic last year toward any journal or jH person who did not endorse the Light and Railway jH franchise robbery and the entire immature con- jH duit plan. ljM The last administration rushed into the con- 'H duit scheme in a way which would have abashed either fool or angel, with wanton disregard of property rights, with an object in view no more ennobling than to secure a petty partisan advan-tage. advan-tage. The hope was that if the past administra-tlon administra-tlon were able to inaugurate last year the cam-paign cam-paign for a much-needed wate,r supply, Mr. Morris would be triumphantly re-elected in order that ho might complete the undertaking; Fernstrom would represent the Lord and the Democratic party as premier of the administration, the Herald would have achieved a political coup and become a real political influence in the State. It all seemed to depend upon getting the machinery in motion before the November election. As the present muddle in the conduit project was due to that' undue and unbusinesslike haste which was part of a political and ecclesiastical' conspiracy, it seems the part of monumental im- H pudence for those same newspapers to berate the conditions which they conspired to bring about. The appropriation furnished the only sensible solution of the dilemma, and was only made after a thorough investigation by the city engineer and board of public works. Their recommendations we're such as would have been incorporated in the original specifications had competent engineering talent been employed on the work in the first place. The walls were insufficiently thick, and it was found necessary to cover the conduit in places where a slide or heavy storm might otherwise have torn away several hundred feet of the con- duit. The trouble with the former administration was that so much of the water fund had been ex- pended recklessly in acquiring water rights that they deemed it necessary to economize upon the conduit proper. For instance, the original Inten- tion was to have the conduit wall twelve inches (Cont. on page 7.) jJ in thickness, but this for economical reasons was reduced to six. People have not yet forgotten that Engineer fioremus was employed at that time as consulting engineer, and though he was paid for acting in that capacity, according to his own statement he was never called into consultation. Then they recall the great work of Elder Moses Taylor, on behalf of the church and' the last administration, whereby, at a salary of $10 a day, he arranged for the contract with the farmers to pay them a bonus of $10 an acre along the line of the conduit and to give them 25 per cent, more water than the city was to receive. Besides this, there was the fee to pay to Attorney F. S. Richards, who, incidentally, incidental-ly, is attorney for the church, for his services as chief counsel of that administrate. During all this time also the administration was confronted with the necessity of purchasing the water rights of Mr. Knudsen, and the reason this was not done long ago has never been satis factorily explained or even hinted at by the ad' ministration. His rights at that time could have been purchased for $20,000, whereas it would now cost the city $50,000 to acquire them, as he has since built a power plant upon his property. Condemnation Con-demnation proceedings have been brought against his holdings, but unless outright purchase is made, this might be carried in court by Mr. Knudsen for two or more years, and the great folly of not acquiring his holdings long ago is best evidenced in the fact that until these are purchased the city could not turn a single gallon of water Into the conduit, even if today it were completed and ready for use. Another thing which the apologists for the for-mer for-mer administration have failed to explain, while volleying daily against the present city officials, is why they gave away the water power right in Parley's canyon to the Light and Railway mo-nopoly. mo-nopoly. The consideration, for disposing of this valuable right was that the power company permitted per-mitted the invasion of certain of its property by the conduit and offered to provide sufficient power for. the operation of the Jordan river pump. This Avas done in the face of the fact that Mayor Morris Mor-ris and Attorney Richards, when making their representations in favor of the bond issue, distinctly dis-tinctly stated that that right in Parley's canyon would be retained by the city. They deliberately deliberate-ly threw that right away practically without any consideration, when the establishment there by the city of a power plant, at a cost of about $0,000", would have meant the lighting of the entire city, and would have resulted in a yearly saving to the city of about $50,000. The present yelps of the two dailies against alleged graft and grab would sound a great deal better if some of these blunders and reckless negligence of the former administration were explained. ex-plained. And then their position would look a little more dignified if they would call off their personal representative in the council, Mr. Fern-strom, Fern-strom, who was one of the most abject conspirators conspir-ators in the iniquity of last year. This same Swede is the person who is at present raising his fractured accents about the city's business being done behind locked doors. He is saying this to people who remember the Immaculate eight Mormons Mor-mons in the City Council who put through the gigantic gi-gantic franchise and water swindle without permitting per-mitting a single Gentile to have p voice in the proceedings, until Mx. Hartenstein was duped into joining their forces, largely through the perfidy of the very journal which is now loudest and most vindictive in condemning the sensible work on the conduit of the present administration. It certainly looks to the average intelligent citizen citi-zen that the hands which are still besmirched with the colossal fraud of last year and its resultant disaster to the city are not those which should in any way be entrusted with .the direction of the work now in progross for the completion of the conduit. |