The morning call., 1892-09-04
wArER AND. GAS PLAINS.


3. MraE0ve1l White from the Non-P Partisan
Committee sdn. platform offered report for
tie consideration. of the Convention Friday
nigh}, the portion of which referring 70 water.
apd gas. is as follows ~. .,.:s :
- Decisions Of the couJtsIn this and other States
have. established The fact that qnasi-pubnc cor
purations, such as water, gas and. railroad cem-
panies; are entitled 10 rates for Commodities or
Services that VIII provide for current excuses
aud for psymentofa fair rate Of Interest on he.
: spectlye. Investments.
: .Ehe REPORT touches upon problem that
:. ]iasat tie bottom Of many Of our troubles
.HoW shall the actual amount Of. tie invest
mentS be determined? . The principle that
semiepublic CORPORATIONS should be limited
'ih tfjeir charges to. reasonable compeHsa-
tiom:both for current service and for money
invested is eminently sound. but MP to the
present time no corporation has ever gwen
. the public q peep. at its books. They all
have pages OF looks which the public may
read, ljut otherpag are Withheld. al the
-. controversies. In this city between. the
Spring Valley Water Company and the con-
suniefs OF water have. turned upon this
Point: Tie company insist upon charges
that Will pay operating expenses and inter-
est on Investment, but the. consumers con-
tend that operating expenses are swollen,
with Irrelevant items and that the invest
= ment is greatly magnihed. The same may
= be said OF tile Southern Pacific Company.
The belief is general that the company has
Issued bonds. against their system of roads
greatly in excess Of the cost of the roads.
Itisthe necessity Of paying interest on this
g. excess of bonds that causes such high rail
rates. Mr.. Huntingtonsays that rates can
not be reduced withoutp peril to the bonds of
the company. and the statement is doubt
less true. a bond is an evidence
of : Indebtedness which cannot easily
be set aside on the ground that it repre-
SCENTS an excess .of.investment. which actu-
ally went INTO the pocket OF the representa-
tiyeso of the corporation Issuing the bonds.
Let us suppose, Tor example, that there are
: boddsto the,am0unt of $1,000, geo, secured by
mortgage on piece of property worth not
more than S600000; it cannot be deter
mined WHICH particular bond represents an
excess of bonds issued, and may conse-
Quent}y be declared by court as a fraudu-
= lent issue. Tie Nom PartiSans have grap-
pied with a tremendous evil. There are
tens Of millions OF dollars now in private
hands in this State which has been wrung
from the people on the .pretense of paying
Interest On investments never made. o..
Every Judge that has been subsidized,
. every iuryman who has been employed to
prevent. a just verdict, every lawyer that
= has been: given an extraordinary fee for his
p. extraordinary service. every newspaper
which has held its editorial or news col
:. umns for sale. every convention that has
= been packed for a purpose. has been paid
out Of operating expenses.
=. There is agood present prospect that the
Non-Partisans will carry the city this fall.
If-lhey do they will find a tremendous work
On their hands. Corporations that have
been drawing twice as much money from
The people as the articles they sell or the
service they render justly entitle them to
are not going 10 hand over their books for
Inspection. The new government will be
opposed at every step OF the way. They
may succeed, but clear heads and stout
hearts will be needed. Men who are doubt
full of their capacity OF who are afraid to
make enemies should keep off the ticket.
: tits no holiday parade that the candidates
of the convention will have to take part in.