Morris tribune., 1903-01-03
FOVLER'S PROPOSAL
TO THE VILLAGE TO PURCHA Sc
THE LIGHT PLANT.
lie Will Sell for $4,000 Payable
in Cash or its Equivalent-.The
Advantages of the Deal.

w. P, Fowler made the following
proposition to the council last night
The coun, il invites the fullest discus
sion possible of the matter.
Morris. MINI Jan, End. 1903.
To the Honorable Common Coun-
Gil of the Village Of Morris:
Gentlemen: There has been con-
siderable agit alton in this village for
the past month or more over the
question of the municipal lighting
and the question of the purchase by
the village of the only electric light
plant in town adequate to the needs
Of the public, which is the plant
owned by The Fowler Electric Co.,
and since the recent improvements,
it is one of the best, if not the best
equipped electric lighting and power
plant in this section of the state.
Under the present arrangement or
contract with the village, the munic-
ipality can buy this plant at any
time, the price to be fixed by three
appraisers, one to be selected by the
village, one by the Fowler company,
and the third to be selected by the
two so appointed by the real parties
in interest. This way of purchasing
the plant is of course always open to
the village and it is useless to repeat
the proposition in the way of an offer
here. If the village wishes to buy
the plant in this manner, all that it
has to do is to proceed as is indicat-
ed by the contract. The Fowler
EIecric company will be found ready
to proceed with its part of the ar
rangement.
But in order to clarity the Amos
phere surrounding the matter and
give the public some idea of what is
necessary to be done in order to buy
the plant, and Of what there is to
the plant to purchase, it has been
suggested by several prominent
citizens, and the officers of The
Fowler Electric Co. deem it advisable
to make a definite offer to the Village.
That is to say, it is the purpose of
this communication to lay before the
common council and the public a
definite and specified proposition or
offer to sell our plant and equipment
at definite and fzed price.
The business of being public
servant,-the owner of a public
utility such as an electric light plan
must necessarily be public servant,
is to some extent a disagreeable
one In the first place large profits
such as are made in other lines of
private business, are impossible and
not permissible. Secondly, no matter
how good, how cheap or how reliable
the service, there is always some one
with grievance or an idea that the
electrical industry is producing too
much of profit for it's owner. This
last has been true notwithstand-
ing the fact that the people of Nor
ris have, since 1898, when the all
night service was inaugurated, en-
joyed the best electric lighting service
to be had, at rates as low as have
been enjoyed any where in town of
equal size, and lower than have been
obtained in most places.
Added to all this is the fact that
there is now before the council re
quent for the granting of another
franchise for an electric lighting
plant, Notwithstanding the fact that
two plants in this village would serve
no other purpose than to cripple the
owners of both financially. The
public would derive temporary
benefit, but sooner or later one or
the other of the two competing plants
would have to cease operations, with
the inevitable result that the people
would have to pay all the loss sus
tanned by the survivor, in the largely
increased rates that would immediate
~ be put in force,
All these considerations, added t.
the further one that the owners OF
the Fow.e: plant are DESTROYS of do
ing that which will best subserve the
interests of the public and at the
same time reasonably protect their
own interests, induce the offer here
matter to be made, which will DO
found, and cam be demonstrated to
ho VOW vouob 1aoe .b,n Tho oo,+ of