The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-03-27
, NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

y the passage and acceptance of such =
FRANCHISE, make an immediate e
reduction in the price of gas, and =
from time to time. until Jan. 1, o
l9oI, mill make further reductions .
based upon Increases in sales dur Q
ing each calendar year, the expec- Q
tation of the company being that Q
b" JAM l, 1907, it will be furnish a
ing gas to the city at the rate of q
@I.Oo per thousand cubic feet. In q
tSu| the company will commence q
10 operate under such new fran q
chIse, the rates of the company q
VIII then become subject to requ- 9
IatIon by the council, and the COM q
y pany In addition will pay an an q
nual license fee of per cent on 4
its gross earnings. q
80 q = . %%%~ AAAAAAAAH
Ihls proposition, part of a lengthy
typewriter document bearing on the
conpanyS status as St Paul public
service corporation, was yesterday aft
ernoon submitted to the city franchise
commission by A. P. Lathrop and Carl
IayIor, president and general counsel
respectively. of the St. Paul Gas Light
company. 1t was in answer to the
commissions request for a conference
and statement of what the company
would be willing to do for renewal
of its right to continue in business in
st. Paul
In his review of the situation, Mr..
Taylor, the company's legal representa-
tive, said his clients did not recognize
the city's contention that the gas COM
pany's franchise expired in 1907, but
rather than engage in a lot of litigation
which would undoubtedly be of long
duration and of great cost to both CITY
and company, they would be willing to
cry quits, and in return for a new
period of existence, make the conces-
slons named. The company makes the
claim that its right to do business III
st. Paul does not expire until 1850.
AS to its rights to manufacture and
dispose of electricity in ST Paul Mr..
Taylor said his company was unwilling
TO make any proposition whatever for
renewal, as it had nothing to ask of
the city at this time in the way of a
grant. He disputed the authority Of
the city to terminate It's electrical
rights in 1907, which was done by or
d1nance three years ago, and informed
the commission that the company was
quite willing at any time to take the
question up to the courts.
More to start the. ball rolling than
anything else" was the way in which
Mr.. Taylor explained the proposition,
and on this basis it was taken under
consideration by the committee, it ar
ranging for another meeting next
Wednesday, when the whole thing will
be further discussed. In answer to
questions put by several of the mem
bers, Mr.. Taylor replied:
Company's Position Defined.
The controversy as to the nature
and extent of the gas franchise of
the company seriously interferes with
its ability to serve the whole public of
st. Paul as it desires. The city has
rapidly grown in the last few years,
and there has been for some time past
most imperative demand from out
lying portions of the city, notably st.
Anthony Park, to have the company
extend it's gas mains 50 as to supply
these sections with gas. Under it's
charter the company is not obliged to
make any extensions unless it's board
of directors is satisfied that the in
come from the sales of gas by means
of such extensions will cOunterbalance
the expense of making them. These eX-
tensions will cost a great many thou
sand dollars, will not be profitable for
many years to come, certainly not be.
fore 1907, and not even then unless the
city materially grows in the direction
in which the extensions are made
Furthermore, to supply these outly-
ing sections with gas, and to provide at
the same time for the natural increase
of consumption, it will be necessary
for the company to extend and en-
large in the near future it's present
gas works, and this also requires the
expenditure of a large sum of money.
The company very naturally hestates
to make these large Investments for
the purpose of improving the public
service in the face of the fact that
the city denies the companys right
to continue it's business after Jan. /,
1907.
What Company Has Done.
The common council has recently
required the company to reduce the
price of gas to the general consumer.
The company would be glad to be
placed in a position where it would
find it possible to make reasonable
reductions. During the fOrty-five years
it has been in business, as the city has
grown and the consumption of gas
has increased, the company has re-
duced the rate by degrees from Sc to
$1.30 per thousand cubic feet. These
lSouClIOIlS I'D Z always De6I y,
or the result of negotiations between
the company and the city, and the
company understands that, under it's
charter, 1t has the right at least un-
til 1907 to fix its own rates without
interference by either city or state.
IF the claim of the city that the
company will have no right to con-
tinue it's business after Jan. l, 1907, is
correct, and no new franchise is grant
ed in the meantime, it would hardly
be fair to ask or to require a sub
stantial reduction in the price of gas
during less than four years which the
street franchise is to run. During the
last four years the company has at
no time paid more than per cent div
idends on its capital stock.
Although there is some reason for
assuming that a reduction in rates may
eventually be followed by an increas-
ed consumption, experience demon
strates that this increase comes slow
ly. 1t will be readily appreciated that
the company cannot submit to a re-
duction which may for some years
largely, if not wholly, do away with
the net earnings unless it is assured of
continuing in business for a period of
more than four years. For the rea-
son that the company would be glad
to make the desired extensions
promptly, and meet as far as possible
the views of the city council in re-
gard to reduction in the price of gas
at the present time instead of post
poning these matters for several years,