, 1866-07-02
TIE GAS MONOPOLY. >
The EVIL aust lii. Remedy.


In nv ,ast a-,;,,a ~ ,,;e a,,s,... r aa-ooc.
st.atea the evils to which the commuuity
were subjected under The nr..rnt 'mcthod of
supplying gas, the large and unwarranted
increase OF nrice which has been made hy the
company In the face and eyes Of It's own ex-
press agreement with the city, the in,er1o,ity
in the quality, and the treanent mistakes and
oyercharees in the monthly estimates of gas
consumed,
proposed as the remedy that the supply
Of gas should be furnished BY the people
themselves through the agency OF their city
government, In the same manner as the water
is now furnished, aod proposed In this article
10 furnish the reasons why this course was
wise, e1pedieut and practicable.
There are the same substantial reasons why
the city should furnish the gas rs there are
why it should furnish the water needed for
public and private uses.
Water to be sure may bo said to bo neces-
sitv Of living ut MI which gas Is not, but prac-
tical1y IN our actual city life, gas may be re-
eardcd as IN actual necessity. It IS IN ar
tlcle which is indispensable to the public
safety aud convenience, as we'll as to the io-
diyidual comfort and enjoyment. We must
uAfH llS AQA Ou ~ H1k4NAk
Now what Is IN actual imperative necessity
to the welfare OF the public, as we'll as Of the
individual citizen, should be under the
control Of the public.
What would be thought Of allowing the
supplying OF the water required lot tho public
aud private uses OF the city to DC placed uuuer
the exclusive control Of q private monicd cor
poration having the absolute unrestricted
power to control the price according to their
p1easusee
Now rms 1s an article which reoufres ia be
! manufactured at a laree cost md to be
brought through the various streets OF the
| city to the dwellings Of the people.
It is, therefore, entirely out Of the range Of
| eeparate Individual action. It must either
| be furnished by private corporation, au-
] thorized so to do by the Legislature of the
| State. or it must be furnished BY the CITY
Government. under the like authority.
| That one private company should be al
lowed without limit or control, the eyclu-
| siye monopoly In the supply of this fndis-
| nensah1c necessity. Ia bath the public aud
Inc c;.iyena fs certainly most unwfse and in
,,r,oua Pnhl;c md nr,vnte interests of the
r,ao+ast ;mnortonce rra IN thIs wav nlaced Mt
he mercy of mcre mopied cornorotfon.
md suh;ec+ea IN Ia vii, md Measure.
rho contract of The Chicago Gas COMPANY
:, s7nn1v tna c1tv vrith v,s for nnh1ic nee
.,,,-oe t. Nor 1eeo snnnose the Comnanv
shanld a. 49,, fine eca Is ~ raise the nr3ce
~ ,s.s 49,, ~ ~ ro,e .nar,7ed IN Tho nres-
~ oo,,+-aat >, Il or Avon AZ a tbouzond
s" ,aa. a.a ~ s,-eata :, hs ,e,s IN ntter 1srk.
o.s ,~;tf, ~, +ta aa a,o.e-s o,a lo-
| A~oei 'As.- t%Ae sA-- So1-Nt4N"-~ '7>1~>
u,,t A. the sTtort,onf
This company, In the face Of It's own solemn
agreement has not acrupled TO advance from
- 50 to 6. so per Thousand Within few years.
What .hal, nrerent their advancing as much
more IN the rcara to come.
Il NAV be answered TINT It Is improbable
that tb,s comnauv would make such an In-
crease in price az this, Who can tell to what
lenpth the s,r,snint, cunYaftv Of greedy stock
bolder< NAV m when II has noth,nr tn re-
| a,ra,n ~,
| Ir the reader will refer to The tabte of
| n,iceu nj oraa IN some twenty ctt}ps of the
TIn1or contained In Ann,eton,s article m that
snh1ect IN t,s EncvcInne1ta. he will perceive
thot While paa was furnished in Pittsburgh at
n 20 and IN Roston md New York nj Sa.50
ard n phf1a dalnh,a at so1s ch1capo was
paying $3.50. So that this company has not
shown any disposition to make its prices
conform to those Of other cities. And when
1t is wholly unzestfained by contractit may
find precedents In some places, as In Auburn,
New York, for advancing up to even 500
per thousand. In such an Important matter
as this are to be left to the will Of a cor
| poration whose one end and aim is to make
money, ind which is vested with the abso-
| lutte monopoly of the supply of the article
without restriction, control or supervision