Political battles over housing easily morphed into fights over water and sewage. The business reformers wanted fire protection. This required a water system covering the entire city so that a fire could be stopped before it reached critical mass. They did not, however, want either urban debt or high taxes. The result in Chicago, and elsewhere, was a grand political accommodation. Liberalized city charters allowed cities to pay for public improvements through increases in bonded debt to finance the pumping stations, aqueducts, underground pipes, and sewers; in return business secured a legal
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