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Show EXORBITANT DEMANDS, The exorbitant demands made by tho Knudceu and Bagley combine for their water rights on Big Cottonwood emphasize em-phasize anew tho utter lack of business busi-ness sense which was .shown by itho incompctont and discredited Morris administration. ad-ministration. Without getting llioso rights, without having any contract or any agreement whatever with reaped to them, the Morris administration let tho contract. for building tho Big Cottonwood Cot-tonwood conduit. It was precisely the sort, of thing thai has been done occasionally occa-sionally in Utah in mining oporaliono whom a company would build a mill for Iho treatment of ores beforo it found that it had any ores to treat. Tho necessity for getting water to run through tho conduit was, of course, tho main point in tho whole water proposition. It was given out that there was to bo an addition through this means to the city's water supply. It would bo imposeiblo to make such addition, of course, unless tho water wa3 lo bo had to bring to tho city through this conduit, tho coutruct for tho building of which was let. Tho most, ordinary, common business prudence pru-dence would suggest that this water should bo secured beforo any great expense ex-pense was taken in providing means for bringing it to tho city. First of all get your water, then provido moans for bringing it in. Tho reverse action, tnkcu by Morris without a particle of sense or reason, has brought tho city up against Iho prosent proposition whereby the owners of those rights now demand a value many times .in excess ex-cess of what tho worth of thoso rights were supposed lo bo at the time tho water bonds were voted. It wns given out to the public that the Knudsen right could bo had for something like $-10,000. Whilo that was claimed, nothing noth-ing was done to obtain tho right for that mono", or a A'aluo-something like it, until the cily was in a hole by tho letting of the contract to build this conduit before liyiug to make. any definite defi-nite arrangements about getting tho water. It is nothing more than the ordinary experience of mankind, whenever a caso of this sort appears, that the party which goes on, assuming that it can get what it wants later on; in such cases it is alwa3-s found that the later on, means that the person who has not closed the necessary dotails fir tho entorprisc in hand, is subject to a ver3 bad awakening. It is not in the loast Hkelj that thc Knudsen and Bagle3' water rights can bo valued 13' an impartial jury or arbitrator arbi-trator at au3'thing liko tho figure that tho claimants now put upon them. In this matter, the American part3', which succeeded to the Morris contract after it had been f let and partl3" completed, com-pleted, is put under the disadvantage thai Morris himself would havo labored under could ho have come to the final point when tho water must bo had. It will Bimply havo to do tho beat it can, but tho wutor must bo had, and thero must bo a fair and business-like value fixed upon it. Exorbitant ideas must give way boforo plain, ordinary facta, and tho city's interest must be protected on a fair basis, and tho wator had for what it is actually worth. Messrs. Knudsen and Bagloy will do well to cease their efforts to hold tho city up in this matter and como to a fair basis whorclry their rights will be released. |