, 1876-08-20

out destroying tho comfort end lnjuring the
health Of the community.
THE CITY GAs-suPPLY.
It begins to look as if the people of Chi.
cago, in their corporate capacity, may bs
able to coerce fair treatment from the pas
companies. If this great triumph shall be-
accomplished, it will be because the present
Mayor and the majority in the present Coun.
Gil have gone at the matter with the sinele
aud honest purpose Of compelling recog-
milton Of the rights of the public. There Is
little doubt that, in most of the previous
discussions Of tho gas eztortion during the
past two or three years, the persons profess.
! ing to represent the public were really rep-
rescnting themselves, and that they derived
the only benefits TINT accrued from the egi-
tation Of the subject, while the public was
heeced still more to pay for the blackmail.
The gas companies seem to comprehend at
last that they have now different set Of
men to deal with, and that tLey cannot
whcedle or purchase the privilege of get
| ting 100000 per annum out Of the
taxpayers for lighting the streets Of this
| city. Still the hope of concession On their
| part may be delusivc. They may be feigning
| disposition to acquiesce only to gain time End
advantage. The conduct Of the gas conf
panics in the past in denling with the corpo-
ration has not been Of character to inspire
much confidence in their good intentions.
It is evident that the only safe way for tho
Council to proceed is upon the reputation
the gas companies have made for themselves
in former dealings. The Committee, then,
should not hesitate, at the very next meeting
of the Council, to introduce the following
resolution, which it is understood they have
prenared:
R<solted, That the gas companies now supply
ing the city with gas be, and they are hereby, &C.
luestc.l to reduce the price of gas which they
now furnishing the city TO the sum OF 81. so per
L. QUO cubic feet with :.foot burner, the same to
commence AMI take effect from aud after the lit
day OF September, 1876, and, unless tlis request
il complied with that then the existing contracts
shall be abrosated and the Mayo. and Comptroller
shall be, and they hereby, directed to advertise
fo1 bids to light the city with Whale oil, petroleum,
any other Illuminating agency, the said bids to
be submitted to this Council; and the said Council
shall then determine how and in what manner the
streets and pubic buildings shall be lighted, and
after the same shnll be determined, then the con-
tract shall be let to the lowest bidder, upon sach
terms and undc. such restrictions may be agreed
upon in accordance With law.
This resolution, adopted by large vote in
the Council, will bring matters to q crisis.
It will compel the two gas companies to indi-
cate promptly and decisively just what they
are willing to do. The resolution unques-
tionnbly reflects the sentiment of nine out OF
every ten men,who pay taxes. We may much
better submit to Inconvenience for time
than confess ourselves at the mercy Of q
couple of corporations that have grown rich
and overbearing from the substance of the
people of Chicago. If the managers Of these
companies were intelligent men, and not
blinded by the greed they have developed
own way, they will recognize the fact that
the people will no longer submit to their e1-
tortions, and that they have now men in
Office who will insist upon their rights. In
such case they will quietly acquiesce in the
adjustment Of three-feet burners On tho
lamp-posts, and make out their bills at tho
rate Of $3.50 per 1000 feet, at which there
is little question but they cnu u1n,1o fair
profit on the capital actually invested in their
business. If, on the contrary, they continue
unreasonable and grzsping, the city should
try lighting the streets with oil; and We
think that the occasion will soon lead to ap-
plying the principle of the tstudent's lamp"
to the street-posts in such way as to giva
fully as good light as we now have at cost
not exceeding one-third that which the city
has been paying for the last year or two.
If the gas companies acquiesce in this
proposition, Wa think AID. THoNpsos's sug-
gestion regarding the manner Of making out
the bills to be good one. The city should
pay for an amount Of gas consumed at each
lamp estimated by the capacity of the three
feet burners, lighted and extinguishing &C.
cording to the timetable adopted, and for no
more. This will put an etfectual stop to the
running up of bills at the rate of feet at
certain lamps when the city only desires 3
feet. The gas companies can have test
meters of their own to see that
the gas consumed is not moro than
3fcet, and the city can have test-meters Of
its own to see that it gets what it pays for,
SO that there is no reason why the arrange
ment should not be fair and satisfactory for
both parties In the meantime, however,
there is every reason why the City Council
should refuse to hold off any longer for the
gas companies The passage Of the above
resolution will be an explicit notice to the
r8S comDanic9 nf inst whnf the CITY ia will
ing to do, and they will then be compelled
to decide definitely whether they will accept
the ultimatum or not. That is all the people
want to know for tho present.
The advance in the price of silver con-.
times Under the panic caused by the ap,
prehension of large expectations from tk&
United States and q general decentralization
the price fell to 4Ct pence in England per