Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-04-29

GOING ON-AT THE LEAST
THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN
COMPENSATION TO THE CITY.
Ever since the passage by Council OF
the franchise giving to the Consumers
Electrical Company, the right to do
business in the city, for term of thir-
ty years, there has been growing
public disapproval of the action taken,
and, little by little, the facts in the
case have come out, until the feeling
against the body elected to care for the
interests of the city amounts to public
indignation, and it will be many long
day before another franchise is grant.
ed, without the fullest investigation,
cast-iron guarantees that no deal OF
any nature is ON foot, and a proper
remuneration to the city for the priv
ileges granted.
The Consumers Electric franchise
matter was handled very quietly. No
one who might, by any chance, ask en-
barrassing questions, was allowed to
know anything of what was going on,
and as a result newspaper people were
as completely in the dark as some 9TH
ers. The plans of the Company were
fully matured, the ordinance was drawn
and printed, and when Council assem-
bled the document was laid on the
desks of members and on reporters
tables. In the First Branch, matters
had been so well manipulated that there
was no objection to second reading
and no reference to a Committee, as is
both usual and proper for even the
most unimportant matter of public bus
! mess, and when it passed the upper
Branch and was brought to the Second,
objection, under the rules, was impos-
sible, all efforts to extract information
were discouraged and the measure
passed and became law, without
amendment, by a vote of 16 ayes to
nays.
Nothing like this was ever before
seen in Wheeling. And in thus, with
more than indecent haste, granting an
electric lighting franchise, the mem
bers of Council, elected to look after
the interests of the city, and under
oath to do so. almost unanimously
voted away a privilege which must
necessarily put the city in a most en-
barrassing situation, as it will undoubt
eddy further cripple, if not entirely kill,
in the course of time, that meritorious
public institution, the city gas works,
already badly handicapped for years
through neglect and injudicious legis-
lation
1t is little wonder the general public
has become warm over the matter, or
that members of Council are being Wig
orously denounced. The fact is, some
thing ought to be done about the mat
ter, and that there is a decided dispo-
sition to take some sort of action, is
evidenced by interviews obtained by
the Register within the past few days.
One gentleman, of the highest stand
ing in the community, said yesterday
upon this subject:
Il wish to say that the granting of
the electric light franchise was public
outrage. If l had known that such a
thing was in contemplation. l would
have taken twenty thousand dollars in
greenbacks, have gone to the Mayors
desk in open session of Council, laid
the package down, and said: You are
about to give this thing away for moth
ing, without the peoples knowledge.
Here is twenty thousand dollars for
the city of Wheeling; give it to me!
In two days time | would have guar
anteed that for such franchise the
city would have been given $4,000
year for the thirty years life of the
franchise, or 100000 in all, and 1 am
not so sure that l could not have made
it $4,000 a year, or 100000. AS it is,
the city not only gets nothing, but has
crippled herself besides. It's a nice
state of affairs
Another gentleman said:
The new Company has said it in
tends to build plant, and talked about
competition, lower rates. and a new
site having been selected in the Sixth
ward. Do you know what is going on?