The Million-Dollar Water Loot
A lucrative deal involving city water bonds sparks outrage over embezzlement and public debt.
Yesterday C. B. Wright gave Tacoma $100,000 with a string on it. Today his dutifuls arranged to let him pull the string. For the six months ending December 1, there is due Father Wright six months' interest at 6 per cent on $2,000,000, which amount includes the $1,000,000 water loot. An ordinance allowing Wright to take the bond interest out of the water extension fund was rushed through under suspension of the rules. If the water plant had been purchased at its actual value, and there had been no $1,000,000 loot, water rates could have been cut in two.
“It is embezzlement or theft to do so.”
Privatization of public utilities and the 'looting' of civic infrastructure projects are themes that echo through the history of the Pacific Northwest, mirroring modern debates about public utility costs versus private profit.
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