Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-05-18
DISTRICT IN CONGRESS
The Dollar Gas Bill Still Further Dis.
cussed in the Senate.
Mr.. Kyle Quotes the SpOOned Investi-
mcnts-Other Local Matters.


ner called it up. and Senator Kyle at once
resumed the floor to continue his speech,
begun Saturday. Mr.. Faulkner yielded
how ever, for some miscellaneous matters,
but he encountered an obstacle when Sen
ator Allen called up the Alabama elections
resolution.
1t was nearly 1:1J when the Senate got
down to the consideration of the gas bill.
Before Mr.. Kyle went on with his speech
Senator Harris took the floor to make an
explanation in regard to Mr.. Sands charge
that he had been denied full hearing be-
fore the District committee. Mr.. Harris
said his first impression from hearing MIR.
ky lie s reading Of the correspondence be-
tween Mr.. Sands and Senator Mcmillan
was that Mr.. Sands made such a charge.
He had since examined the correspondence
at length and ascertained that what Mr..
Sands had requested was not a hearing of
arguments from the company, but a
chance to make a final speech before the
committee, summing up. Mr.. Harris
thought that the chairman had done ex-
actly right in denying this privilege to Mr..
Sands.
Senator Gallirger drew out from Mr.
Harris the fact that at the time MIR. Sands
made his request the Commissioners had
practically agreed to report the Sands bill
adv erScly.
Mr. Kyle Resumes.
Mr.. Kyle then Went on with his speech
and explained the process of making va
ter gas, which forms part of the product
of the local company. He quoted figures
to show the cost Of gas making in various
cities. and he said he could not see how il
vas possible to make the claim that it
costs more to make gas here than in other
large cities of the east
Mr.. Kyle referred to the Spooner report
of 1856, and quoted the statement that il.
the opinion of the committee 81 could be
fixed as the maximum price of gas in this
city, ana still leave a generous margin for
pronts- He read other paragraphs from
this document to support his contention
lie called special attention to the fact that
Mr.. Spooncr had come to the conclusion
that ii Only cost the gas company Ga cent,
thousand to make and distribute the il
lumnant at that time. Mr.. Kyle insisted
that this cost had certainly been reduced
in ten years. Reading from the report n.
showed that under a sharp examination
Mr. Mcllhenny, the then president of the
company, had acknowledged to the Spoongr
committee that the company could sell the
gas for 81 a thousand and still make -
cents, or lI%s per cent.
The Stars Noble Fight.
Mr.. Kyle said that The Star had for
Tany years been making 4 noble fight for
cheaper gas for the people of the Dis tri,.t
referring again to the Spooner report, he
read an account of the dividends declared
up to tiat date by the gas company aver
aging 1Gs per cent On the capital invested
Since then, Mr.. Kyle said. the dividends
have greatly increased. and he referred to
recent communca tioa in The Star in
which 1t was stated that the company IL,
1879 had declared total dividend Of 80
per cent. No other local company excent
perhaps the Washington and Georgetown
railroad Company, maze anything like as
much money. He asked the Senator's pres-
ent how they could conscientiously vote
against a reduction of the price TO 81
thousand, and he ventured the assertion
tFat they could not secure election to Con
gress from the District with a record of
voting to keep up the price If the peo;Ia
OF the District had home rule"
Against II Five-Yenr Contract.
He argued that it was not right to entor
into a 'fve-year contract" such as he
said the pending bill provided Mr.. Faux
ner said in reply that there was no con-
tract contemplated by the bill. He called
attention to the clause in the bill whereby
Congress expressly reserves the right to
alter, amend or repeal the bill, and he said
that the price of gas may be changed at
the reXt session If this bill should pass
Mr.. Kyle insisted that it was practically
impossible to secure the repeal of a bill
and he urged that Congress either ought
to give dollar gas for all time or to make
a higher price for only one year He then
took up the question of the purity and
quality of the gas furnished to the Dis
trict consumers. and he argued that the
test and standard adopted in the bill would
rot give the people better gas quoting MIR
w. c. Dodge as authority for this state
ment.
Lots Owned by the Government
Senator Proctor today introduced a reso-
luton directing the Attorney General to
report to the Senate on the first Monday in
December a list of all the lots in the Dis
trict of Columbia originally owned by the
United States, but which have been held
for some years by private individuals, who
have paid the taxes. The resolution cited
the fact that there are now many such
cases, and. therefore, calls upon the At
torney General for accurate informat ton
with the apparent intention of covering
these cases by blanket bill which will
settle the titles. The Senate agreed to the
resolution without division and the Attor-
ney General will, therefore, make his re-
port to the next session.