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Show ITS PARTISAN PERVERSIONS. On Tuesday evening the Dcsoret News in a bitter partisan article, which disclaimed partisanship, reiterated reiter-ated its utterly false claim that Tho Tribuno "clamored for tho dismissal from tho city's employ of every honest, capablo man who refused to danco to its music." That paper has horetoforo mado precisely the same charge. Wo havo repudiated it uttcrl' and called upon thut paper to substantial its charge. In support of it, it produced the case of Captain Burbidgc only. And Ou plain Burbidgo was removed, as wc havo repeated' said, not becauso ho was in tho category classified b.y tho News, but because ho was distinct' an inefficiont officer, unfaithful to tho chiefs under whom ho had sorvod, and wholl3r undeserving of the preference he had recoived. So the Nows lands itself it-self in tho old slough of falsehood that it has repeatedly lauded in when it gavo forth this utterance. Tho article referred to pretended to be a discussion of tho proposed bond issue. It quoted tho following statement state-ment from Tho Tribuno: It was known all along that the million mil-lion dollara voted In lflOS would not bo enough to complete tho needed water Hupply and cewer system. To which tho News replies that tho statement so quoted is a falsehood. And it proceeds to sa3' that "it was pcrfect-13" pcrfect-13" well understood that $850,000 would cover all tho expenses for tho increase of the water supply." This leaves out. the sewer question, and tho News thus confesses, as in fact the record Bhows, that the vor3' administration under which the bonds woro urged and voted, lot a sower contract upwards of $60,000 in excess of the total proceeds of the bonds voted for sower purposos. And this without providing for tho construction construc-tion of the intercepting sower or for tho pumping plant lo raise tho sewage sew-age to the gravily conduit. Tho Tribune's Trib-une's statement, therefore, so far as tho sower question is concerned, is established es-tablished and acknowledged. Tho do-nial, do-nial, while being general and covering both water and sewer, 13 thus shown to bo a falsehood bo far as tho sowor proposition is concerned. Let us see how tho facts are on the water question. The .administration in power at the timo tho water and sewer bonds, amounting to a million dollars for both, woro voted, issued an address during tho campaign -to tho taxpa3ers of tho o.it3' in favor of voting the bonds. In that address was an exact istatement as to what it was proposed lo do both with tho money for the sewer sx-stem and for tho water. Hero is tho tablo as submitted on tho water Conduit from Cottonwood lo Tar-ley's Tar-ley's : J350.000 Power plant at mouth of Pnr- lev's '. -40,000 .Development of Utah Lako 200,000 Repairs on city canal 20,000 Improvement of distribution system sys-tem 100,000 Money consideration In exchange of water 50,000 Extinguishment of power rights and Incidentals 50.000 Engineering preliminaries and supervision su-pervision 40,000 Total I ?850,000 The total amount of the proceeds of the bonds issued for water purposes was $850,000, so tho amount for water was all taken up in tho Horns as given. The $150,000 for sewer purposos mado up the million dollars that was voted in all. It will bo observed from tho above table that the proposed expenditures for water wero dofiuitel3' stated. It will further be observed that no item therein there-in referred to an3f proposition for enlarging en-larging tho mains for carding water throughout tho cit3', nothing was in eluded for tho addition of service pipos, nothing was said about straight cning and leveling tho pipo lines, nothing noth-ing was said about the construction of tho great Fifth South street water maiu, and, in short, one will search in vain for aii3' mention of tho largo number num-ber of improvements that havo been made id the water s3'3tom. Nothing whatever was said about those in the statement mado officially to the lax pa3'ors as to what would bo dono with the money derived from the issue of tho bonds; all that was to come, as it did come, after the added wator supply sup-ply was obtained. The onl3' mention of this order was a lump sum, $100,000, for "improvement of distribution S3's-leni," S3's-leni," utierlv inndequaio for tho purpose, pur-pose, and which mado no sufficient allowance for tho trcmondous growth of tho cit3' tho past two yonrs. 3 Jut the things mentioned have been done. Tho Fifth South street pipe .lino j was put in, the mains have been eu-larged eu-larged and straightened, and the wator service has been immense' extended and increased. To den3', therefore, that it was knowt all along that the million dollars of bonds that was voted in HlOo would not bo enough to complete the needed water suppl' and the sower systom, is suriph' lo proclaim an evident and absolute abso-lute falsehood. It was known, of course, all the tipio, that the water serv-ico serv-ico throughout tho city would have to : bo immensely improved in order to meet tho, requirements of tho city nnd to caro' tho water 'that would bo added to tho city's Biipplj' b.y tho acquisition of tho Big Cottonwood water through tho conduit. But uo one could forcseo tho immensely increased demand that the new inhabitants would impose. We have thereforo fully established our proposition both on the water sup-ph- and tho sewer construction, precise-J3- as wo stated, in spito of tho News's denial. And wc must insist that such treatment of this question hy tho Des-erot Des-erot News in claiming to be false thoso things that aro manifest true, capable of absolute proof b3' the record, is a 1 depravity of which no public nowspapor should convict itself. Tho News further contends that at tho timo tho bond issue was first; asked for, all tho papers of tho city, excopt Tho Tribune, were unanimous for it. li' that is true, it is simply truo becauso be-causo thoso papers wero unanimoiiB for it for othor reasons than public reasons.' rea-sons.' Tho Tribuno was for tho bond issue as soon as its service to tho public pub-lic was examined into by us and tho need shown. And wo do not think that it is saying too much to say at this timo that if wo had opposed that bond issuo it nover would havo boon votod. It carried b3r a small margin anyway, and wo aro absolutobj' con fident that if wo had opposed it, it would have been defeated. Wo supported sup-ported that issue, however, becauso wo bolioved it to be to tho best interests of tho city that tho bonds should bo voted and tho wator suppl3" had, in spito of tho fact that tho political opposition op-position was in power. And wc hold up lo public ridicule tho furthor proposition propo-sition of tho Nows that this paper "foil into lino onl' whon it becamo evident that its own tools would bo In a position posi-tion to spend the mon03 to suit themselves." them-selves." That 15 to sa3 in 1904, the -oar before tho city election nnd when tho American party had only about ono-fourth ono-fourth of the total vote of this city, wo foresaw that at tho noxt fall's election tho American part3 would winl We think that will do for tho present. Such a confossion as that from tho organ of prophecy oxaltB Tho Tribuno as a prophet above any prophet that tho Mormon loaders can show in thoso latter lat-ter da3-s. Tho News further claims that tho plans let undor tho Morris administration administra-tion woro baaed on principles of econ-omv', econ-omv', whereas the succeeding administration adminis-tration departed from thoso plans for tho purposo of extravagance and squandoring money. Which is simply ridiculous nonsense. Tho plans rofcrrod to undoubtedly wero the plaus for tho construction of tho Big Cottonwood conduit. Thoso plans woro hastily lot, woro imperfect, tho specifications wero inadequate, and tho line as laid down must bo confessed to bo about as bad as could be. Tho Tribuno at that timo urged caution and urged that a competent compe-tent consulting cngineor should bo cm-ployed. cm-ployed. Protendcdl3' this was done, and Mr. Dorcmus was ostensibly employed as that consulting engineer. But, as Mr. Doremus testified to later on, he was not in fact mado consulting engineer en-gineer at all, but was merely given a place in tho engineer's office, and the plans wero not submitted lo him bj wa3" of consultation. That tho plans wero radically defective becamo evident early in tho construction of tho conduit. con-duit. It was absolutely noccssai, it was imperative, that a conduit should bo mado that would carry the water that was expected to como from tho Big Cottonwood stream. And in this connection wc rovivo to the public notico the fact that tho ad- I ministration did not provido for any water whatever to flow through the J conduit. So far as tho "economical plans" of that administration aro con-corned con-corned ihay would have given us a defective de-fective conduit that would not carry water, but which had no water provided for it to carr3'. In place of suppling the water, that administration plunged tho city into a lawsuit for tho condemnation con-demnation of a' water right that was absolute' indispcusiblo to tho cit3 if it would havo au3r use mado of tho conduit. And that is tho sort of "economical plans" and approved methods which tho News now holds up to public admiration. Tho News must suppose that ever3rbod3' has forgotten tho facts in that utterl3; ridiculous scramblo of the outgoing administration to get credit, b3' forcing prematurely tho contract-letting, for something for which it was not entitled to credit. Tho truth is that tho American administration which took power in 1900 found things in such a mess that remedial measures had to be iustanll- applied. TI1C3- wore I applied in a busiucssliko manner, and with all tho econoni3' that could bo ex- erciscd in view of the slack method which had been adopted in letting de fectivc contracts on ill-advised lines that had boon pursued by tho preceding administration. The conduit had lo bo plastered; tho water rights had to bo obtained; and these thiugs were done. It is simpli' uonsenso lo say 'that tho old plans were suflicient. On tho oid plans the conduit would leak tho water, and it had no water to carr3'. Tho Nows itself contended that no suit; could be successfully prosecuted for tho condemnation con-demnation of tho water right. Tho Legislature of tho winter of 1905 had expressly refused to include water rights in those things that might be condemned for municipal use. And so tho News, in lauding tho lamo efforts of tho former administration, is not on-I3' on-I3' falsifying the record, but is direct1-reversing direct1-reversing itself. |