Birmingham state herald., 1897-01-03
Va. and Ala. Coal Go. Splint Coal. sun&wea If.
COST OF GAS.
sup&wed If.

Views of pr. Albert Shaw, the Eminent Authority on City Government. New York Times.
 pr. Albert Shaw. editor of the Review of Reviews. whose special studies in Flu rope and America have made him an ac-,
 cepted authority on problems of munic- ipaf government, is an outspoken advo- cate of cheaper gas for New York.
 pr. Shaw regards the present move
 ment for reduction in price as being both reasonable and well-timed, and he expects it to be successful if it's advo- cates do not lose sight of the main issue in the controversy at Albany.
 Everybody who is at all familiar with the subject, said he to a reporter for the New York Times yesterday, knows that gas can be manufactured and de- Hvered at the meters of consumers prof
 itably at 75 cents per 1000 cubic feet. I am not, however, favorable to so great a reduction in, New York as that would
 mean, but l believe the price should not exceed S1 That would be reasonable and just reduction, considering the mat ter in all it's ramitications n 'The extensive use of gas for illuminat-i ing purposes in cities and the improved methods of manufacture now applied have brought the cost of gas down to 40 cents or less, without impairing the quality in any way. The cost of making the gas now used in New York does not differ greatly from the cost in other cities of this country where the price to the consumer is less, nor from the cost in European cities, where its cheapness has led to much greater consumption than is usual here. ~~>i
 ''In many foreign countries the cheap
 ness of gas has led to a degree of street illumination far in advance of cities of this country. Some of the foreign cities
 go so far as to control not only the street. mains, but the pipes running through the halls of tenement buildings. In this they
 go upon the maxim that light is a deter rent of crime, but even for this purpose its use would not be practicable if the price were so high as consumers in
 America are accustomed to pay
 If anew company were to acquire the franchise for the gas supply of New York
 under an agreement with the city to fur
 nish gas at 75 cents per 1000 cubic feet it could raise every dollar required for it's
 plant and the laying. of its mains, sev-
 eral times oyer Capitalists would re- gard 1t as a good investment. The gas companies which oppose reduction don't
 base their opposition on the cost of man. ufacture. They are obliged to earn divi- dends on capital which has accumulated in the development of the industry.
 This is not the fault of the public, and the public should not be obliged to
 pay it. Neither is it the fault of the pres
 ent stockholders of the gas companies. who have paid the market value of the stock, based on the, earnings of the com
 panies. It is the fault of the system of
 corporate organization in this country.
 "In adjusting the price of gas, which
 is very properly regulated by legislation,
 we cannot conform to preeedents set in
 Europe with justice to our people who
 are interested in gas securities. In
 Europe there are legal prohibitions
 d1 a,,1 fh<
 valuation of franchises which have gone
 into the, stock and bond accounts of
 great many American companies.
 When these differences are taken into
 consideration. it would seem that the re-
 duction in the price of gas in New York
 from $1.25 to $1 per 1000 cubic feet is
 step in the right direction that could
 not be abruptly or seriously detrimental
 to the interests of the companies and at
 the same time would afford reasonable
 relief to the public.''
 pr. Shaw is favorable to the theory of
 municipal ownership, but does not be-
 lieve it could be successfully put in prac-
 tice in New York at this time. After
 pointing out the difference between mu-
 nicipal ownership of gas and water plants
 in sanitary and other respects, he said: 'Onnonents of municipal ownership. of
 gas plants have urged that the experi-
 ment has not been successful as tried in this and European countries. The facts
 do not bear out this claim. I know of no case where the gas supply is under city
 control that it has not been successful On the contrary, the system has resulted
 in decreasing the price and increasing the use of gas. It is folly to say that city cannot manufacture gas as we'll as private corporation, or handle the de- tails of the business as effectively
 'I will say, however. that there are strong reasons why New York should not undertake municipal ownership at this time. In such an enterprise much would depend on the application of civil ser vice rules. The change now impending in the city government should discourage all radical extension of municipal respon- sibility. Under the Greater New York charter there will be less wieldy parlia- inert to which the ordinary problems of government will appear difficult enough The expense of a city plant would be sufficient in itself to condemn the pro- ject at a time when large issue of city bonds is contemplated for rapid transit."