The San Francisco call., 1896-06-12
FIFTEEN NIGHTS
TOTAL DARKNESS.
What Citizens Say as to the
City'S Humiliating
Position.
SOME POOR POLITICS.
To Please a Few the Supervisors
Invite the Contempt
of All.
WERE REPEATEDLY WARNED.
Citizens Might Light Candles in the
DoorwayS and Remember
Aud Lang Syne.
WERE REPEATEDLY WARNED.

The great City of San Francisco is about
to be subjected to most humiliating ex-
perience. 1t is to be left in total darkness
for fifteen nights of this month, except in
so far as the moon and the stars shall re-
lieve her or the lights of her shop-windows
may show her beIated citizens the way
home. The fact that this is not wholly
new experience makes it all the more
humiliatiDg.
Instances pile thick upon one another
illustrating the incompetencY, or worse,
of the men who have the direction of the
affairs of this City; but they do not as a
rule stand out where every man can see
them. The pity of this matter of the
street lighting will be that not only
every citizen, voter and taxpayer will
be subjected to inconvenience, danger
ana loss, so that he must be
personally impressed and oppressed
with the thought, but every stranger
in the City, every visitor during those two
weeks will witness our humiliation, will
have it told to him in answer to his ques-
ton: ''The City has not money enough in
its treasury to pay for lighting her streets.
And, more than that, the thing will doubt
less be considered sufficiently remarkable
to warrant its being telegraphed away as a
piece of news that will be printed in the
newspapers of every city in the land that
for lack of money to pay its gas bills the
lights have been turned out and San Fran
cisco is in darkness.
This. to be sure is not literally true. 1t
is true in its effect, IN its impression upon
strangers within and without the Clty's
gate, true in so far as the inconvenience,
danger and loss to its citizens is con-
ceIned.
1t is not true that San Francisco really
lacks money to meet its obligations. Ger
tain safeguards are esta blished by law de-
signed to so regulate the expenditure OF
public money that the people may at least
keep some track OF 1t.
One of these safeguards is the provision
in the appropriation that the money in
the several funds shall be divided into
twelve parts and the expenditures of each
month shall not exceed the one-twelfth
portion. Another is that the money in
one fund shall not be drawn upon to pay
the deficiencies of another.
The first of these provisions has been
fiagrantIy disregarded by the Supervisors
themselves and by other departments of
the City Government. They have passed
bills with the full knowledge that the one
twelfth limit was being exceeded. This
has resulted in several of the separated
funds in the general fund being now over
drawn. One OF these is the street-hghting
fund.
1t is by this disregard of the law by
themselves made that the Supervisors are
finally compelled to plunge the City in
darkness for fifteen nights. 1t is ques-
ton If any other city in the country would
tolerate such outrageous mismanagemen
disregard Of the law, open pIundering and
political huckstering as is represented in
this financial exigeney, repeated at each
recurrence of the close of the fiscal year.
In the beginning of the year a liberal
estimate Is made of the amount of money
required for street lighting. This estimate
is made up after conference with the
agents of gas and electric light companies
and repeated conferences between the
members of the board and altogether
based upon past experiences and
knowledge of growing needs. 1t would
seem strange then that with plans so
framed and the money set apart for the
business divided up so that it became un-
lawful to spend more than certain portion
of it each month. that the City should at
last be compelled to go in darkness for two
weeks. And this despite the fact that
both the gas and electric light companies
have been shutting off the lights for
several nights during each month more
than is provided in their contract.
The contracts provide that the lights
shall not be turned on during four nights
of each month when the moon is at its
best. Since March the electric-light COM
pany has turned its lights off during six
nights each month, and the gas company
has done the same for eight nights each
month"; or twice the number stipulated in
the contract. This saving, however, has
not been enough.
The business of any large private cor
poration conducted in this fiagrantly
derelict if not corrupt fashion would in
vite the immediate dismissal of the men
in any way responsible. In the matter of
10 Of chic oh
do the same.
Chairman Hirsch of the Committee on
Street Lights OF the Board of Supervisors
being asked for an explanation, laid it to
the demand for new lights on the part of
residents of the outside districts. The
explanation is as trihing and humiliating
to Mr.. Hirsch individually as are the tpo
weeks of darkness to the City itself. 1t is
a complete confession of incom potency on
mis- part for the duties of the Office with
which he had been honored. he knew
the money he had to spend. He knew how
much light it would buy. And yet he
went on buying more light than he had
money for.
In order to grant the wishes of few in
dividuals, give lights to few Individuals
he has brought darkness upon the whole
City. a l5-year-old boy VINO would not
know better should be turned up and
soundly spanked.
IueTe Is dHOGu0I SA pldudllOu Iudu mere
stupidity. The street lamps. it is said
have been used as means of "doing poll
tics' in these outside districts, but that
explanation is also very closely associated
with stupidity. A man, or any number of
men. who would win few votes in the
suburbs at the sacrifice of the respect of
the community at large must be very
stupid.
]. B. Crockett, president of the San
Francisco Gaslight Company, speaking OF
the matter yesterday, said: "This COM
pany has suffered the loss of nearly $780,
600 through furnishing gas in the past
after the appropriation has run out. This
time we will certainly shut off the gas on
the 10th, when the limit of the present
fund will be reached. The Supreme Court
has declared that the man OF corporation
furnishing supplies to the City must keep
himself posted as to the state of the inan-
ces, and if he furnishes goods after the
money has run out it is to his own loss.
We shall shut off the gas, as the City has
advised us to do"
j. e. Green secretary and manager of
the Electric Light Company, said yester-
day: "We shall not turn on the lights on