The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1893-03-03

HOWcNtI. III dCCOuuU Is UdhGu OF III
tereSt on investment nor deprecia-
tion of property, but after most lib
eral allowance is made for these items
the difference is very great.
These figures can better be appre-
ciated perhaps when it is unders tood
that in Mankato we pay S1l5 per year
for this same service, slightly more
than the average in the 20 cities |
have mentioned and more than twice
as much as the average cost in the %
city-owned plants referred to. The
only town i'll Minnesota making it's
own light that have been able to get
any information from is Sleepy Eve.
| find that the cost of arc lights there
OF 1900 candle power is about sS4S per
year.
Aside from the comparison between
different plants similarly situated
and Of the same capacity we have d
comparison from the same author Of
the presert cost Of electric light in
several cities now operating their own
plants compared with the price pre-
viouSly paid TO private companies.
From which we find that the cost of
light in Galveston, Texas, is only one
half the price formerly paid; ia Lewis
ton, Me-, only One-thlrd: while the
authorities of Eigin, H., claim that
their light is costing less than one
fourth of the sum previously paid to
the local companies.
The city of Chicago is considerably
| stirred up Just at present over the
problem Of municipal control Of gas
and electric ligh ting. The city is
now operating 725 arc lights and the
| hn iSf no
the people are demanding that the
entire lighting system, both electric
and gas, be operated by the public,
and the matter is now before the
state legislature. The Chicago Herald
has recently collected some statistics
to prove the economy of municipal
Ownership. From recent editorial
in that paper on this subject | find
the statement that in Bay City, Mich,
in 1891, 142 lights were operated at a
cost of S4S. Is per year, while in 1892,
| l65 lights with 81 miles of wire cost
$4l each. Cold Water, Mich, has Al
arc lights which are operated at San
annual cost of $500 The city Of
Ypsilanti operated So arc lights on 20
miles of wire at an expense Of $37 per
year. In Detroit, Mich, the electric
light company charges the city $l36
per year for each light Of the same
character and power, or more than
three times as much as in the smaller
cities in the state that do their own
| lighting. The editorial concludes
with this statement, IF the mem
bers of the legislature will study the
lighting problem little they Will see
that Chicago can furnish light for
the streets and business houses and
homes at less that one-half what they
now pay to the trusts that control the
gas and electric lights"
! Comparisons like these could be
multiplied will just make one
more, however. | find on commu-
nication with The manager of factory
which our company owns at Elgin,
ILL.,, that they pay the city light com
| pany there % cents per month for To-
candle incandescent lights. Our
MankatO Electric Light Co. charge
Sl.25 per month for the same light,
just five times as much, and the Elgin
people claim that their electric light
ing department is self supporting
In the matter of gas light we have
no means 'of making as COM
plete comparison between
private and public ownership.
1t seems there are but 10 cities in the
country owning and operating gas
works. The idea of municipal con-
troll of lighting did not become pop
ular in this country until after the
advent of the electric light, and the
latter is so fast supplanting the use
of gas that practically no gas plants
are being built, either public or pr,
vate.
In the short time given to prepare
this paper l have not been able to OBJ
tain very satisfactory statistics covers
ing the economy of these 10 public ga
plants compared with private COM
panieS. The February number Of the
ReUieao of Revieags contains quite q
complete article on the public-Owneo
gas works, giving their history in de-
tail and cost of gas to consumers, but
for the purpose of comparison we need
complete statistics showing cost tC
consumers OF gas from private plants
throughout the country. These
have not been able to obtain. From
the information at hand, however, ii
would appear that the saving effected
through public ownership of gas
works is fully as great as in electric
lighting.
The largest public-owned gas plant
is that of Philadelphia and the price
charged the consumer there is Sl.5t
per thousand feet, which is higher
than the price charged 10 other cities
which are as large, of which there are
but two: the price in Chicago being
rs and in New York the same.
There are several causes contribut
ing to this however. In the first place
Philadelphia is scattered over larger
area. it is not SO densely populated
consequently the cost of equipment il
more per capita. Then no account is
taken of the gas used by the city il
the streets and public buildings
which in 1891 amounted to nearly 600,
100000 feet. While this of course
necessitates a higher charge to con
sumers it comes back to the people bl
saving in taxes of the value of the
gas so consumed. The price is also
; put higher than J necessary to cover
the cost, for til e reason that large
numbers of small house owners are
not gas consumers, and the profit on
gas tends to relieve the burden OF tax
alton on the poor, who always pa
4,