, 1866-12-09
THE GAS MOSOPLY,
Tho EVIL and tho Remedy.
-EBYckan naen~h.r "a

THE GAS MOSOPLY.
Tho EVIL and tho Remedy.
CMcAoo, December :, 1867.
Editors Chicago Tribune:
1would respectfully request of you the re-
publication Of the articles prepared by me
for your paper on the subject Of s'tho Gas
Monopoly" As the session OF the Leeisla-
ture Is approaching 1t Is Of importance 10
call public attention to this important rub
jcct 50 that the necessary legislation may be
in courso of consideration and preparation,
slnee the publication Of these articles the
people Of Cincinnati have (es am sdTised)
voted by large majority to adopt the same
remedy for the gas monopoly which wRs re-
commended In these articles, VIZ: to have
the city furnish the gus in the same manner
a. 1t does the water.
Yours truly,
TIE GAS MONOPOLY
Editors Chicago Tribune:
Now that the question OF good water and
the cleansing Of the river are satisfactorily
arranged, the next great matter of public
Interest and importance which demands to
be considered and disposed Of in such aao-
ner ~ to subse5ve the public interests, Is
the question Of the supply Of gus. propose
In feW articles IN your paper to consider
I: The evils Of the present system.
H. The practicable remedy for these owls.
1t Is hardly necessary even to discuss the
| question whether tbo present mode Of sup
plying orr people With gas Is satisfactory 10
the public. You can scarcely mention the
subject OF cas to any citizen {uu1ess be
chances 10 own stock In the Gas Company,
who Will not express with Rrea. emphask
snd eatnestpets his condemnation Of the
present company's operations. While the
| price has been advanced from $50 until It
has reached the large sum Of $3.50 per thou
| eand, the quality Of gas furnished Is gcner.
| ally regarded as decidedly Inferior to that
which was previously furnished at the lesser
price The company are not Justified, in the
public estimation, In this enormous Increase
in price. It is well known that their stock
l9 % not upon the market. and that it Is gener-
| to the few gentlemen who are so fortunate as
10 bold 1t. No such increase of price Was,
therefore, required 10 cover the cost of pro
1uction and fair profit to the manufacturer.
control oi this private company, and the
article an absolute necessity Of city lie, they
have It In their power to regulate the prices
to suit themselves, and Of course are gov
efued only by the consideration Of their own
In May, 1850, when the Peoples Gas COM
pany h.d been organized and were desirous
to furnish gas to the city, the Chicago Gas
Company entered into a contract to supply
the city with gas at the rate Of e thousand
| Tor ten years. In the same contract 1t WAS
provided that the price Of gas furnished BY
the company to private consumers should
never, during the contract with the city, ex-
ceed IS per thousand feet, and that the price
should not bt increased beyond the then rate
Of ESQ, unlchs, On An economical manage
lnent Of the company, the net profits should
fall below ten per cent per annnm." These
terms were agreed to by the Gas Company.
md contract to that effect was entered
Into.
This agreement would not expire until
1860, and BY it's terms we ought to be now
supplied with gas at the rate Of $3.50 or IS a
thousand at the highest: i IL stated taat
the Corporation Counsel, Mr.. Aver. gave an
opinion that this clause WAS not legally bind
Ing. and that tho company could not bc COM
pclled to comply with II by the citizens. As
to the correctness Of this opinion some doubt
may we'll be entertained, and it would be
worth while for some Of the heavy consum-
ers o1 gas 70 bring the matter to the test Of
judicial dccisIon. II practicable Bat, how
ever the matter may stand aa = question OF
dry law, there Is no doubt that the company
entered Into this contract and agreed to far
nish Eaa TO the people at the price named.
and they are equitably ard morally bound 10
fulfil that contract. Nor Is there any reason
why they should not fulfil 1t, It Ia sald that
prices have increased, aud the cost Of manu-.
Iacture Is enhanced. viii 1t be pretended
sas @pa5 not on rso.1 seonomes
profit II they furnished the gus to the c,ti-
zens At the price stipulated In said contract !?
Il It be 50, tho public impression in inspect
to the value Of their stock and the profits tho
company have made l. greatly mistaken, and
II I'LL not be until the eltixcus shall harc
such an expedition Of it, past earnings is
shall satisfy them that, including cash and
stock DIVIDENDS and accumulated profits In
new machinery. lnas Of pipe, DC, they hare
not received len per cent upon their invest
ment, that they will feel at Ill satisfied to
submit 70 the Increase OF price of u 30
above the lowest, aut eighty cents above the
highest piicc named IN ihat contract.
II Is perfectly well known that SO far AZ
the cost Of coal Is concerned the value Of the
coke h1s Increased proportiouately, and in
consequence Of the large demand for tar for
the Nicholson paycmcdt aud for routing. aud
that, and although prices oflabor, DC, have
enhanced, Jet tue profits Of such q company
depend greatly On the amount Of gas sold.
and We hnEe no doubt that the company,
with the rast increase Of the amount sup-
piled arising from the growth of the city, Is
making ls,Eer percentage Of proiit today
than At the time this contract WAS entered
i1so. The inferior quality Of the gas sup
piled Is also cause OF general and Just COM
plant. 1t has been stated, and believe It
to be correct, thar the poorer the gas Is the
consumed to accomplish the same amount of
Illumination. In other words, 1nferIosity
consists u the presence IN the gas Of non.
cembustfble and nou-slluminttlng matter,
add 10 the extent this is present the gas IL OF
no value; that this portion of the gas simply
escapes without ignition and Is lost. 90 that
Id point Of fact the company arc large gain
els by the great Increase in the amount con.
suned, which is occasinned BY this very in
fcrtority In the quality which makes 1t Of less
intrinsic value to the consumer.
In addition to this, the mode Of estimating
the amount consumed IL unsatisfactory, and
l. subject to such variations and iErcgullrt-
ties - to destroy the confidence Of our peo-
pie in Its correctness. It Is In vain to tell q
consumer Of gus that the Gas metres arc con-
tttucted on the most scientific principles, and
their figures represent exact accuracy In the
amount Of gas consumed By him. The prac.
tieal common sense Of the people replies that
cy Of gas metres, and, what Is perhaps mose
TO the purpose, that it knows nothing about
the scientific attainment. and qualifications
OF the various individuals who are employed
to make notes Of whit these scientific metres
reveal, bnt that It Glands With reason and
common sense III not with the scientifically
constructed gas metres and the scientific gen
t3tmen who run them), that the same num-
Der Of burners In the came establishment,
used In Substantially the same way and for
the same number Of hours, ought not, By any
law OF science get not known 10 NJ, to burn
tEfce rs much gas ont month as they do In
the month preceding OF following, or III the
same month In 4 different yrar- That there
sre Fross Inaccuracies il respect to tie
matter Of consumption my own experience
fully satisfies me, and have 10 doubt It will
be fully confirmed By thnt Of the great ma
jority OF the consumers.
/ hare been informed BY An intelligent gen
tlcman that the accuracy Of the measure
rent OF gas by these metres Ii materially
effected BY the manner in which they are set,
10 be correct they must be set exactly per-
pendtcu1Ar- Ii they incline backward to-
ward the wall or gas pipe. the measurement
Of gas Will be less than the actual consump-
ton, aud II they incline forward 1t viii bo
greater.
The setting Of these meters Is always un-
der the direction ofthe g1a company, and I
will Adr1ee your readers Is = matter or curl
osEy, TO examine rs many metres As fal1 In
their way With rcsard 10 this point. will
venture 10 predict that they viii find not one
which leans hackxArd-and very few which
are Pe1pendscu1AE.
The long and short Of the matter is then.
that the present method Of furnishing the
people uith gas L found very unsatisfactory
10 the citizens. That We hare poor article
At high price, and are orerchszEed for 1arge
amounts beyond what We believe to be our
actual cousumptioD-thAt al this Ia done In
the very face and eyes Of positive agree
meDt Of this company made with the citJ to
furnish the gas At much lower prices, which
agreement Is utterly ignored and dlsrr-
! g1rded.
l. En-. shall be asked what Is the use of
talking about 1t-you can't help yourself aud
must make the best oft.
am we'll aware that there is very little
use in talking 10 this company on the sub
and 1ordliress which the supposed posses
siun of an absolute control OF my matter
usually creates In the pos4essos, this
company Is apt to put. On airs, and