The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-04-12

having their iniquitous practice expos
ed? The directors of the gas company
OF this city are well known business
men. We will not ask you if you be-
1eve them morally capable of doing so
mean thing, but will ask you, do you
pelieve them stupid enough to do it?
II pays no compliments to their busi-
ness sagacity, to say nothing of the in
suit TO their moral integrity, to have to
even allude, in this humiliating man
ner, to this phase of the gas question.
You say to yourselves that you know
the officers of the gas companies are
neither knaves nor fools, and yet you
cannot quite understand how it is that
SO many of their customers speak I'M
kindly or them. You know that you do
not nave so much complaint from your
customers. Let US look at this a mo-
ment You are in the dry goods trade.
DONG jobbing business; you post
yourself as to the standing, financially
and otherwise, of the retailers Of the
surrounding towns and cities. You
conclude there are certain ones
whose trade you will solicit and Ger
tam others that are rather risky. You
90 not urge them to call and examine
the goods in your house, but perhaps
conclude that you would sell them, IL
they asked you to, on reduced time,
with small per cent added to the
y -.
Tor the risk you are taking But there
are still some others that you will not
sell TO. You treat them politely but
unfortunately you are just out of the
goods they ask for. In other words,
you choose your customers. Gas COM
panies cannot do this. They must deal
with Whomsoever demands gas. I'm
like water works, they cannot collect
bills in advance, and it is therefore
necessary In some instances to require
a deposit If the parties are not known
at the gas office they are required to
make deposit. If they are known to
be careless and Indifferent, they are
required TO make a deposit. If the
officers believe them honest, but also
believe that they will be unable to
pay for the gas they will consume in
their business, they may require de-
post. But upon whatever grounds the
deposit is asked, the company probably
makes an enemy of the consumer at
the very threshold of their business re-
lations, and the customer misses no
opportunity to speak disparagingly of
the gas company. There are many
worthy exceptions to this rule, how
ever. Many gas companies, to pre-
vent offending, require a deposit from
ati " Your customer may refuse to pay
for the dry goods he buys. You sue
him and recover. But you sell him
no more goods; he is no longer a Gus
toner of YOURS Not so with the gas
companies. consumer refuses to pay
his bill; the amount is too small 10
sue for. The only remedy or protec-
ton from further loss is to turn off
the gas. He invites the officers of the
company to take up their abode In a
warm climate, and makes Sundry other
remarks not calculated to turn away
wrath; but he finally pays his bill and
orders the gas turned on to his prem
fses, which order the company must
obey and the company's enemy is again
the company's customer. You see the
conditions that govern the dry goods
business are totally different from those
that govern the business of selling gas.
Remember that lighting hours in
crease rapidly from July / to Jan. 1,
and decrease at the same rate from
Jan. 1 to July 1. The following table
will show at glance the truth of this
statement: