National Republican., 1883-02-03
some Light Turned ON.

gas, which IL does not, or that competition
with IL should be encouraged, or that its
works should be condemned for public use,
just compensation being made therefor, and
tho supplying of gas at reasonable rate become
n duty of the district government. The lat
ter course would be much the simplest, and
really, gus light being almost as es-
sential to comfort and convenience rs
daylight, we incline to The opinion that
no private persons ought to be allowed to con-
tnuc to'rcfuse to the public the light they
! receive pay for, and Of which they can be the
only source. Tho present evil of poor gas is
| simply an outrage perpctratcd because the
company does not sec what we are going to do
| about it. How much better off shall we be
| under King Stork than we now are under
| King Log? The house committee on the
district has reported in favor of incorporate
! ing new company. 1t is admitted
that the present condition is uncomfortable,
| but what guaranty is there of the suf.
ficicncy of the proposed remedy? Our
streets and sidewalks are to be torn up and
kept in an impossible condition indefinitely,
while an entirely new system of mains and
! NbhIlNNtlhb IlIto 'lb btAAS lalN' wv SboNA w
that the bill provides "that IN laying pipes
and mains, MS herein authorized, across any
dUciuc in the city of Washington nor paved
with the asphalt pavement, the said corpora
tion shall be required TO tunnel under such
pavcmcnts, instead Of breaking the surface Of
the streets, and shall, after laying their pipes
and mains, restore the pavcmentto to its former
condition under the direction of the commits
soncrs of the district; but the said corpora
tion shall not be required to tunnel any such
avenue when such tunncling encounters the
sewers now laid or water rendering a tunnel
impractiCablc."
But what if the pipes are being laid across
streets instead of ducnueS, and what if they are
being laid along instead of across avenues ?
And what if they arc being laid across avenues
not non paved with asphalt, hut which may
hereafter be? And how near the surface can
q tunnel be dug under pavement, and
what safety is there to be against the caving-
in of the street above the hlling-up of such
tunneling, despite the best efforts to pack the
earth as solidly as before? What guarantee
will there be that the stock of the new gas
company will not Immediately and before
any work is attempted fall into the hands
of the stockholders of the old company?
The law provides Il severe penalty
against any sale of the franchise by the new
corporatioa, against any consolidation with
any other corporation, and against the pur-
chase of the property of any other company
But there is not the slightest obstacle to the
sale by individual shareholders of all their
stock to the stockholders of the old corpora
tom and without any violation of the pro-
posed act of Incorporation any one or all of
the old concern can buy every share of stock
of the new one, and then fail to erect and
maintain the works.
II may be said that they would then forfeit
the franchise. Let us see. Section Is re-
quircs that the corporations must within
sixty days after the passage of the act take
the preliminary steps for the organization OF
the corporation" That involves the outlay
of say land the estimate Is an cxtravagant
onc) 81 for stationery and 81 for advertising.
= No forfeiture yet. Then "should the stock
holders by their directors or otherwise, fail
for period Of sic momhs to proceed
,cih the erection Of ach works as
mag be ncccssdy," or "should said COR
f. poration when so organized fail 10 main.
T. tain said rorks did dctrey operate the same
f tor a pcriod Of one ycW Gttcr their erection,
8 then the franchises are to be forfeited, and
= any other persons may avail themselves OF
a the opportunity SO neglected But so long
us the erection of the works is being
procccdcd wH no matter how slowly
@ there can be no forfeiture An cXpcnd
IS turc of five hundred dollars yea
/ would faithfully meet the requirement of the
y law. AHer the erection of the works they
!. must be operated " for period of one year
It or be forfeited. Their erection may not bt
le completed under a hundred years. Yet N
/ forfeiture. If ever completed, one year
n active operation of them aftcrward i
II all that is required The trainers of the &C
l. have evidently failed of the apparent intent
W viz: to guarantee gas competition. Th
bill as above analysed can have no terrors 70
=. the present monopoly, beyond the price whic
- the new corporation may choose to place upo
~ their privilege. As business men they wou
~ ~ have perfect right to do whatever thei
~ charter does not prohibit, and to omit what
~ ~ over it does not require
~ " The public will not be taken care of b
" private enterprises. 1t must take care
" itself Tho use of the public streets for "a
- mains should only be primarily for the publ
benefit. This can be rendered most cortai
:, by public ownership and control, Brillan
~ ~ light at the lowest cost price can best be In
~ by abandoning all dependence on corpori
tions.
pDlIpe Dutp-