There wasalarge attendance at the Philharmonic Hall on Thursday evening (29th) on the occasion of the Debating Sosiety's third meeting of the present session, The chair, was occupied by the President, Mr. R. E. Bredon, who after some prelimin naries called upon Mr. G. J. Morrison to open the evering's debate, by bring'
ward the proposition '*'That the water supply of the settlement ought to be in the hands of the Council."
Mr. Morrison began by saying it was of the greatest importance that every habitant, should be able to obtain a sullinit supply of good water at a moderate charge. 1f this were all that were necessary there would be little more to say, for the consideration was at present fulfilled He did not say there was no room for improvement onthe part of the WaterworksCo, in minor matters; but it was nut necessary on that occasion to enter into details, main point of his contention was that it almost as itnpurtant to each inhabitant that his neighbours should have a plentiful supply of water as that he should have it himself. This being the ase, the charge could no longer be based on the amount used by individual but on the stake which that individual has in the settlement, For this urpore the blouse-rent formed the best charge that could be had; and he held that the supply of water under such conditions was an undertaking less suited tos company than toa local authority. Tu the settlement the company, though to a great extent basing: charg ontheamout likely to be used, is bound down to a ma mum charge in relation to the rental, and in England, where rental is the basis of charge it is usual to make a distinction sccurding to the use to which a building is put, so {that the charge has some relation to the quantity of water consumed; but in a general way the principle is' upheld, in England and in most. parts of the civilised world, that it is to the advantage of the public that all members ut the public should have a bountiful supply, and that it is consequently fuir that each individual should contribute towards the cost of such supply by a payment based on his stake in the district, or, in other words, by a water jrate'to meet the cost of supplying the strict, as guished from x payment for the water actually supplied to Proceeding to deal with the rel constant water supply to the diminution of disease, the speaker, emphasised the fuct that in England the principle is not only admitted, but is put into practice, that the sanitary condition of town is of such importance to the inhabitants generally, that it must be taken in hand by the local authorities for the public good and must not be left in the hands of individuals. The sanitary condition of a town of course does nob spend solely on its water supply, but that lis one of the most essential features of good sanitation. 'The business of forcing a supply on everyone is one for which a private company is ill suited. The constant disputes between the companies and the consumers at home, in those places where the companies' are still in power, are sufficient warnings to us not to expect that we can have a satiafactory general supply from a company here. So'soon as the ratepayers say, We are going to contribute sufficient money to have a general supply and we want it suppli sy we think best for the Settlement generally, independently of the subscription of any individual," so soon hands, ing on to, deal with the steps must they take the supply into their own
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.