The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-04-04

granting franchises by municipalities
When a franchise is to be granted it
| shall be advertised in the usual man
ner but the bids shall be for the high
| est per cent. of the gross proceeds. and
no bid shall be accepted for less than
three per cent of the gross annual re-
ceipts of the person or corporation to
whom the franchise is awarded. No
percentage shall be collected for the
| first five years succeeding the date of
| the franchise. We are very much in
doubt as to the wisdom of such an in
| novation. So little has been accom-
plished and the result has been so UNI
satisfactory in the attempts to regulate
gas and water rates and transportation
| charges by an investigation of the
books of corporations controlling these
utilities that an attempt to fix the
! amounts which they shall contribute
for the privileges which they enjoy will
be equally unsatisfactory The new law
is a sort of compromise between pub
lie control and private ownership and
the public, as usual, will get a very
small end of the bargain.
THE PEOPLES SERVANTS.
Santa Rosa Democrat Day after day
pending the consideration of a bill that
is to increase the taxation of the Amer
lean people something like S100 900, 600
year for the use of the Government
and a larger sum for the benefit and
profit of a few thousands of favored
manufacturers, there has been diff
Guilty in securing the attendance of
quorum of members The representa-
tives of the people are too Indifferent
to the welfare of the people to watch
the process of appropriating the prop
erty of the people for public purposes
and private gain. Democratic members
excuse themselves as being in a help
less minority, and therefore powerless
Republican members excuse themselves
as committed to the report of their
committee. So the work of Selling the
earnings of the people for the use of
bondholders, contractors, office holders
and the like goes on with as little in
terest to the agents of the people as if
it were the plucking of so many geese
or the fleeing of so many lambs. AS
long as the people tolerate such indif-
ference to their welfare they can con-
fidently expect no better service
A NEW STATE?
Fresno Republican: And now great
er New York. wants to be State All
right; let it be so, and may the pro-
posed State keep the Tammany tiger
in a cage. And, too, may the State of
New York always be somewhere big
enough to offset the State of Manhat-
tan, as it would be called in the ma
tional councils
A RADICAL CHANGE.
Humboldt Standard: The late Legis-
lature made radical change in the
law in regard to errors in the trial of
cases. If this law is held to govern
the Supreme Court it will leave but
do; for, under its provisions an appeal
would rarely be sustained The law
reads as follows:
The court must, in every stage of an
action, disregard any error, improper
ruling, instruction, or defect, in the
pleadings or proceedings which, in the
opinion of said court, does not affect
the substantial rights of the parties
No judgment, decision, or decree shall
be reversed or affected by reason Of
any error, ruling, instruction, or defect.
unless it shall appear from the record
that such error ruling, instruction, or
defect was prejudicial, and also that
by reason of such error, ruling. instruc-
ton, or defect, the said party complain
ing or appealing sustained and suffer-
ing substantial injury, and that a diff
ferent result would have been probable