纽约商人协会支持米
现在，供水，天然气和电力专员在纽约进行了调查，准备向Aldermen的ho积推荐，以支付仪表的水费率。去年冬天，立法机关授权该部门在用于住宅目的的房屋中安装仪表。
The prospect of being compelled to install meters is attracting the attention of a good many members of the Merchants’ Association, and some of them appealed to the Association for its views upon the subject. The attitude of the Association is set forth in a letter written in response to one of the inquiries. This letter is in part as follows:
“The policy of complete metering has long been advocated by this Association. It first came under consideration as a result of the Association’s very comprehensive study of the question of the city’s water supply made in 1 ‘.ion, which study is embodied in a report of over 800 pages. A similar study was made at about the same time for Comptroller Coler by John R. Freeman, of Providence, R I. Subsequently other studies were made by the Burr-Herring-Freeman Commission, which resulted in the adoption of the Catskill plan. All of these several examinations and reports gave consideration to the quantity of water necessary to met the needs of this city, and concurred in the opinion that such quantity and the investment requisite to supply it would Inmaterially reduced by the application of meters to all water services. All engineers who have studied the question concur in the opinion that a. considerable percentage of the water supplied to any community is wasted from various causes and that the preventable waste arising from leaky faucets and fixtures is at least 15 per cent, of the total quantity consumed. The experience of all cities in which meters have been generally installed bear out this conclusion. It is too obvious to require discussion that if a city’s water supply be materially conserved by the repression of waste, the time when new sources of supply will be required will be deferred by a considerable period of years. For example, had waste been eliminated during the period from 1885 to 1800 the Croton water supply would probably have been sufficient for the city’s needs for from ten to fifteen years longer than was actually the case, so that it would not have been necessary to have begun the construction of the Catskill system for sav fifteen years after the time when it was actually begun. This would have saved the city the interest and amortization charges during that time upon the outlay required for the Catskill system which will ultimately aggregate about $180,000,000. This represents what the city loses by permitting the waste of water during the time when the limit of supply obtainable from existing sources is approached.
“Our experience in this particular representing a waste in the form of interest charges of many million dollars, should teach the usefulness of conserving oitr present supply by preventing waste, thereby deferring the time when it will again be necessary to invest great sums in obtaining additional supplies from other sources.
“This Association was so impressed with this matter that in 1806 it retained Mr. James A. Fuertes, C. E., to make a comprehensive study of the subject of waste of water and its reduction by meters and inspection. A report was made by Mr. Fuertes under date of June 1806. In this Mr. Fuertes shows conclusively the wisdom of conserving the city’s water supply by the use of meters, principally as a means for repressing the waste arising from defective plumbing.
“While, however, this Association has unreservedly supported the policy of general metering, it has not committed itself to any particular scale of charges in connection therewith and has not contended that in the event
of applying meters to all residences the present meter charge of 10c. per hundred cubic feet should be adopted. On the contrary, it has hitherto taken the ground that before the charges to be made, in the event of general metering, are fixed, a much more detailed and thorough study of residential consumption than lias hitherto been practicable should be made in order that the rate fixed should not be unduly burdensome to domestic consumers.
“Having such a study in view, the Association in 1906 drafted and presented to the Legislature the so-called Stanley Act ‘To provide for obtaining information as to consumption and waste of water in the city of New York.’ This act, which became law, authorized the Commission of Water Supply to set aside typical selected areas in the city and apply at the expense of the city a meter to each water service therein, in order that accurate data as to consumption of water for domestic purposes under varying circumstances might be obtained as a basis for an equitable readjustment of the rate.
“This bill was not only approved, but was strongly urged by the then Commissioner of Water Supply. It, however, required an appropriation by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment to give effect to its terms, and as this appropriation was never made the demonstrations desired were never obtained by the department.
“我们将这一法律（仍然存在的法律）引起了当前的供水专员的注意，并向他指出了在此采取行动的可取性，以便为住宅的任何新规模的仪表收费都可能基于准确的知识而不是基于现在为制造目的收取的费率的假设应扩展到住宅。
“While we agree with you that it would be unfortunate to add to the burdens of real estate in this city, we cannot assent to the assumption that a readjustment, which will require all property owners to pay in equal proportion for the water consumed upon their premises is unjust. As you doubtless know, a condition of extreme discrimination at present exists, of which the owners of tenement house property arc the beneficiaries. The following will illustrate this:
“A one-family, three-story house, 37 1/2 feet wide, or more, pays a frontage rate of $16 per year.
“A five-story, 40-foot flat, with two families to the floor, or ten families in all, pays $27 per year.
“In the first case the rate per family is $16 and in the second case $2.70.
“Many flats of the size indicated contain four families to the floor, in which case the annual charge would be but $1.85 per family.
“It is perfectly clear from these illustrations that families living in detached houses thus pay a very excessive rate in proportion to the quantity of water annually used by them, while families living in congested tenements pay very much less than they should pay for the water consumed.
“在目前的条件下，房屋财产的所有者是受益人。以牺牲其他财产所有人为代价，这些水数量比实际支付的年度付款代表大量的水。当然，虽然房屋财产的所有者将抗议被剥夺这种不当歧视所产生的优势，但拟议的变化不涉及对他们的不公正，但简单地将与他们所付的与他们使用的水相称。
“但是，不可能确定地估算仪表率在增加物业物业支付的水费中的实际影响。在其他城市中，拥挤远低于纽约存在的城市，每年的指控并未通过计量来增加，主要影响是减少人均消费量。但是，很可能在这个城市，尤其是在有众多居民的房屋的情况下，房东承担的指控将大大增加；在孤立的房屋的情况下，年度费用（低于米）的费用仅为临时率下方的一半。
“It is perhaps unfortunate that under the proposed meter system, the landlords will have no control over the quantity of water which may he used by their tenants and possibly may occasionally suffer from malice. This, however, is not a valid argument against the proposition that landlords should pay the city for the quantity of water delivered to their premises. There will doubtless be found means by which the landlords can maintain at least a measurable control over the consumption of water by their tenants—possibly by the placing of sub-meters as is now done in the case of electric lighting supply.”
