LANDLORD AND TENANT 5 



able friction is caused at times, and this friction makes the instal- 

 lation of meters more difficult. But after a while the landlords 

 learn to keep the plumbing fixtures in order and free from the 

 leakage which is the chief source of waste; and when this is 

 done the tenants will seldom run up excessive bills. The in- 

 ducement to economy is not as strong as it is in small houses 

 each having its own meter, and the consumption may not be 

 quite as low. Whatever it is, an average will be reached after 

 a time, and the rents will be gradually readjusted as necessary 

 to cover it. In the end the tenant will pay for the average 

 amount of water drawn. 



Metering each apartment separately (as is done with gas 

 and electricity) is difficult, becuase of the plumbing arrange- 

 ments, and because one hot water system commonly serves the 

 whole establishment. It might possibly be done, but is not 

 considered advantageous. 



In the long run the strongest reason for using meters is that 

 it furnishes a means of distributing more equitably the burden 

 of supporting the service. G. Bechmann, for many years Chief 

 of the Water Works of Paris, France, writes: * 



The meter permits combining absolute liberty of the taker to draw 

 required water with a control on the part of the works that is constant and 

 sure. The taker pays for nothing that he does not get and the works fur- 

 nish nothing for which they are not paid. It is almost the realization of 

 the ideal. 



But the ideal is only reached slowly. The use of water 

 meters has served to make water works conditions somewhat 

 better than they were before, but a great deal remains to be done. 

 This is because the meter rates that are in common use are not 

 always or usually equitable. On the contrary, they have been 

 frequently only a little less discriminatory than the fixture 

 rates which preceded them. This has been due to a variety 

 of causes. Sometimes it has been due to a lack of information 

 as to what really are fair rates. In other cases, perhaps, the 

 influence of certain classes of water takers has stood in the way 

 of the adoption of rates that were fair to all. 



* Distributions D'Eau, p. 439; Paris, 1888. 



