Salt Lake Tribune | 1916-07-06 | Page 6 | Communication

necoru. 1- Communication. Sees Injustice. Salt Lake City, July 5. 1916. Editor Tribune In my opinion and in the opinion of many others with whom I have discussed the question, the people of this city are being outraged in the matter of water rates. For a number of years the city water department has been quite insistent that property owners should install meters and this year, as if to press the matter more vigorously, it employed innumerable deputy assessors, whose business it was to make a thorough thor-ough survey of one's premises, back and front, and measure every foot of ground that might. In the opinion of the deputy, require water. As a result tiiose who have not yet complied with the edict to install meters are confronted with an assessment as-sessment outrageously high, and the man who gardens his vacant ground to keep down the weeds and thus beautify tils surroundings is penalized for his effort ef-fort to add to the attractiveness . of his home town. A protest to the water department de-partment Is met with the specious argument argu-ment that a meter would greatly reduce the cost, but nothing is said to explain the paradoxical enigma why the flat rate should be so much in excess of the meter rate. Perhaps when all the meters are installed this adjustment will be brought about. Meanwhile the meterless man must submit to whatever exaction the water department may see fit to make. To my mind the theory of the meter Js absolutely wrong. To charge people so much per gallon for that which belongs be-longs to them is. in the vermicular of the vulvar, "going some." The maintenance of the water system does not require this. Nor should it be tolerated by an already overburdened. tax -ridden community. This year, under the new law, property taxes will be mora than they have ever been: and as If to keep pace with the procession and still further harass humble home owners, the wa ter assessor stalks forth demanding additional trihute. because, be-cause, forsooth, some have been sufficiently suffi-ciently enterprising to raise flowers and vegetables rather than weeds. Shame on such pertivly! Public oiitcials, it seems to me, should learn the lesson of toleration tolera-tion and should be reasonable and just in the performance of the service required re-quired of them, Let the people rise up en masse and enter vigorous protest against this high-handed proceeding, for only by so doing can they hope to get relief from the oppression which now confronts them. JOHN JONES. 1064 South West Temple street, city.