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Show THE WATER INQUIRY. To those who consider Councilman Fomstrom tho superior of Judge Hlles as a lawyer, tho hearing of Thursday evening was, of course, conclusive; the legal department of the city was routed, horbe. foot, and dragoons. But yet, with Judge Hlles at one end of a legal proposition and Councilman Fernstrom nt the opposite end, the average citizen who knows the two men is not In the least doubt as to where the law is. The Investigation has served, however, how-ever, even the little way It has cone, to show how the old gang did business. Fernstrom denied that the transactions had been secret, then admitted that they had been, a'ld Councilman Wells boldly announced that he considered the secret way tbe right way. But the public knows thnt there has been too much secrecy; there has been so much of it thnt the whole matter Js befogged, no one seeming to know where the records of tho things done were to be found. That they are not in the City Attorney's office In plain; those in the Recorder's office are indefinite, in-definite, uncertain, inconclusive. Part of them are now sold to be not In the city's custody, but In the office of the County Clerk; and by common consent. con-sent. It seems to belhe fact that Counsel Coun-sel Frankllr. S. Richards alono can untangle un-tangle the knotty problem. We, also, believe that If any one can straighten this mutter out, Mr. Richards can do so. But to put forward Councilman Fernstrom as the elucidator, is to insult in-sult the public Intelligence. It Is probable, from developments made, that tho city has some claim on canyon water from Birr Cottonwood. But the claim Is Indefinite, and the record is uncertain. Tho first thing to do Is to complete the record, so that the cltj' shall know and be able to show what It has. It is also shown that the city, as to a part of the water It has in an Indefinite way contracted to get, has traded for a lawsuit, and will have to guarantee both sides, the water it Is to get as well as the water it trades to the farmers. The city also gives far more than It gets, whatever this latter quantity may be. And tho city has a lawsuit with Mr. Knudsen, besides all other suits, In its attempt to condemn his water right. Without his right, it Is admitted, the city Is all at sea, without water to turn Into the conduit. And when the end of the condemnation con-demnation proceedings may come, no man can gvies. But whatever may finally be found to bo the city's rights In the Big Cottonwood Cot-tonwood canyon water, it is clear that so far it has no claim whatever to tak? water from the stream at the conduit con-duit Intake. The city's right, provided Its rl-jht Is established, Is to lake w.iter a loner distance bolow whore the conduit con-duit Intake is; and (thls is of no value 'as related to the conduit at its present location. Mr. Doremus, who was fraudulently frau-dulently represented last year as consulting con-sulting engineer, said when questioned about this conduit, not long ago, that he was not consulted aboutv the location loca-tion uf the conduit llhulC he had been, he would not have located it where It Is. And neither would anybody of good hor-je sense, for It is not where the wat.r owned by the city can get into it. The conduit should unquestionably have been put lower down, where the water traded for by the city could run into it, and whero a much better and smoother surface would have offered an easier route There Is not, in fact, anything new in this recent investigation of the clty'J; rights, save as to the point presented by the City Attorney, that there Is no record in the possession of tho city, of what It owns or claims in this matter. The other points, especially the harsh terms of the contracts with tho farmers, farm-ers, the duty of the city to defend the uncertain rights It has traded for, and the disconnection between the water which the city has traded for and the Intake of the conduit, the threatened Injunction by the owners of primary water rights against tbe city's taking water out above tholr ditches all were brought out by The Tribune last fall, nnd were potent, factors in the defeat of the Morris administration. Tho effort ef-fort of the City Attorney to have the whole matter cleared up before it is too late, is in every way commendable. The Ferry resolution for this Inquiry will bring order out of chaos, and the public Interests of the Deople will be immeasurably enhanced by It. No doubt all who know material facta in that investigation will be glad to let them be known. Wc commend to the committee that it be diligent, ener-gotlc, ener-gotlc, thorough, letting no substantial fact cscane. |