Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-29

the other hand, the municipal plant has not
always been allowed to engage in CONNER
cial business, but very often has been COM
PEELED because OF legal limitations to con-
fine itself to supplying street illumination
for the municipality alone.
In his notable investigation Labor Com-
missioner Wright feels called upon to ex>
plain hat in many cases his table (of
comparative cost Of production) shows that:
In municipal plants the income from
private users during the year exceeded the
cost of production and that apparently the
city not only obtained free electricity for
its own use, but made a profit besides,
plants, the cost of electricity used by the
city was extremely high. In the former
cases the prices charged consumers by the
municipal works was sufficiently high to
reduce the cost to the city of its own
electricity to a very small sum-. and indeed
showing a large profit on the service. In
the latter cases, in which the cost to the
city was apparently large. the condition
Of causes. In some instances the high
cost may be accounted for by the fact that
consumers and the income from this source
being very small, the proportion of cost to
be borne by the municipality and charge
able against the electricity used for public
service becomes corr~espondingly large;
further in small towns and cities where
the service is limited the cost OF operation
- $500
by a greater amount Of service.
In Analysing the table l have constructed
from the annua compilations of the sta
tistics Of cities already referred to, have
noted that Of the thirteen cities Of over
1000 population two, namely, Tacoma.
Wash, and Taunton, Mass, are appar-
entity unique in doing business on a strictly
commercial basis. For the year covered by
the September, 1902, report, the city OF
Tacoma is credited with receipts from sales
OF electric light aggregating $50, s45 for the
year. Its expenses of maintenance for the
same period were 500. PSI. so that the city
secured all of it's 1886 street lamps without
cash outlay and had besides a surplus Of
nearly 500 0 TO Offset the interest on its
investment and the depreciation Of its
plant. According to the same source OF
information, the plant at Taunton took
in a yearly revenue amounting to $2s.747
paid for commercial lights, while it's ex-
penses Of maintenance were S29 PAT, leaving
a difference Of $500 in addition to the use OF
247 arc lamps for street illumination as an
offset against interest charges. To show that
this result Is not simply an extraordinary
condition OF a single year. l have compiled
from the Labor Bureaus annual bulletins
the following tables 10 show the financial
operations of these two municipality owned
! plants for a period Of three years:
TACoMA-Pop. S7.n4. 1900. 1901. 1892.
Total number arc
| Cost Of plant ...:...:.'si $4,000 $500. SSS $500 SEQ
Capital outlay for
year "..... B,S7 5.zO 2.a52
Maintenance and
operation ............. 47,7S 5s,699 69,25l
Income from plant. 57,Il4 6O,zS3 SO.4S5
TAUNToN-Pop, a.Oss 1900. 1901. 1902.
Number miles Of
Total number of arc
Cost Of plant. .,........S 1n,7 ls H4s.S4O SIS, a2
Capital outlay for
year ..,,.-..;-".... 9nS S.7eS Ans
Maintenance and
operation ,..;..:.... 2L7ss g7,ess 2,si7
Income from plant,,... 8,l6s 1889 2,747
Expenses OF other street
II these tables show anything, they indi-
cate that 1t Is the lack OF revenue from the
commercial business that reduces the hnan-
eial saving effected by municipal plants
cut on from private patronage TO which the
people OF the respective municipalities are
entitled.
when It comes to efieient service and
reasonable prices to private patrons the
municipal plant again has the advantage.
As the report OF the labor commissioner
declares;
In municipal plants proht is hot usually
] considered As an object ana the prices