New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-12-28
LET Us HAVE THE FACTS.


II cannot be honestly said that Commissioner
Oakley has strengthened his position by means
of his letter to the Mayor on the subject OF the
lighting contracts in reply to the City CLUBS
request for further information. The letter Is
in the main a repetition Of the Commissioner
earlier attempts to justify mis- action, ana those
parts of il which are new are not serVlceaple ~
his side of the controversy. In his seemingly
indignant denial of the charge that the con-
tracts were secretly signed he makes TWO sIa'e-
ments to which he attaches much Importance
One is that the contracts were sent 10 the Coh-
troller's office for approval of the sureties and
hence there could have been no INTENTION ol
avoiding publicity But that argument is hardly
convincing inasmuch as Controller Grout orig
inalIv favored the singular agreement to when
he is now opposed, and therefore may not nave
cared TO have it prematurely called to pubhc at
tention. The Commissioner declares further
that he told at least five reporters Tor Tue loeai
press Just what he was on the point Oh uoIns'
which leads our esteemed contemporary Inc
Globe" to make the pertinent remark that ne
ought now TO furnish the names or the report
ers In order that they may be suitably dlscphheu
by their employers for concealing exceedingly
interesting news.
Mr. Oakley again asserts his belief that the
lighting companies without contracts TO bind
them. were in a position to embarrass the city
greatly by cutting of the service TO Whatever
extent they saw fit; but his predecessor, Mr..
Monroe, keenly retorts that the present CohlInls-
sioner thus takes q position which the com
panes themselves did not venture to take at the
legislative hearing where that question was
brought up. Moreover a branch company oper-
ating in the Borough of Richmond has never
sought to have set aside an ex parte order or
court restraining it from doing that very thing.
I'M &c
when the companies consented TO waive the In
terest which they claimed in consideration OF
the payment of their disputed bills they made
an important concession to the city. But, to say
the least, his opinion on that point Is not more
valuable on the face of it than the Controllers
recent discovery that the interest was not legal
~ collectible
1t appears to us that one Of Mr. Oakley's argu-
ments is worthy Of particular attention because
of the light which it throws on Tammany meth
DDS Of controversy. He reminds the public,
through the Mayor, that IN the first year Of the
Low administration the city paid SAG for 1000
candle power lights, the implication being
that if reformers did not pay too much then,
there is no reason to complain now, when the
price agreed on by him is the same or a little
less. If there had been no records or public
recollection of facts, that shot might have been
effective, but in reality it than wasted,
for when commissioner DougnerIY TOOK OfiCo
under Mayor Low he found that his predecessor
had just accepted all the bids for lighting, and
was advised, much 10 his disappointment, that
the agreement was binding. Mr.. Oakley will
have no right to complain If the public regards
bis reference to the first year Of the Low adj
ministration as a measure Of his sincerity in
defending his own dealings with the lighting
companies
Commissioner Oakley's assertion that the COM
parison of prices for gas and electric ilumina-
ton in other American cities which was made
by Commissioner Monroe Is entirely unreliable
and misleading" should not be set aside as Of
no Importance merely because he makes it. We
intend TO be perfectly fair, and are quite willing
TO admit that conditions Of production and dis.
tibution must be taken into account in every
honest effort to show that New York IS over
charged. 1t is even conceivable, as we have al
ready said, that there may be truth in the ia
miliar proposition which battles the uninitiated-
that the cost of supplying certain conveniences
or life IN this city, such as electric lights and
the telephone service, is exceptionally high be-
cause Of the enormous demand for them. That
is one Of the mysteries which need TO be eluci-
dated, and we earnestly hope 1t will be made
clear In the course Of the investigation which
Controller Grout undertook as soon as he had re-
covered his bearings. 1t is obvious, whatever
else remains obscure, that this whole question
Of municipal lighting must be thoroughly ex-
plored. not for the purpose of putting Tammanv
into hole In which it does not deserve 70
hounder, but In order that facts NAV take 1he
place or surmises, that the city NAV no enabled
to insist on getting what it ought to have. and
that justice may be done, whoever is heIned or
harmed in the process.
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