Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-12
TELL OF IT'S WORKING
REPLY TO LETTED WRITTEN BY
CHIEF EXECUTIVE.
Benefits in the Enforcement of Ordi
nance-Violations by the Potomac
Electric Power Company.

gAt the White House today the following
letter, received by the President from the
District Commissioners, relative TO viola
lions of the smoke laws of the District, was
made public without comment:
January 5, 1909
''The President:
I'm response to your recent inquiries with
respect to the enforcement of the smoke
law in the case of the plant of the Potomac
Electric Power Company, corner 14th and
3 streets northwest, the Commissioners of
the District of Columbia have the honor
to submit the following statement:
1.-The smoke law was approved February
Q, 1899. and took effect six months after its
passage. Its constitutionality was attacked
and in other ways it was kept in litigation
for over two years from that time. 1t was
sustained in several cases by the Courr
of Appeals of the District of Columbia and
a case taken to the Supreme Court of The
United States by one of the resistants was
dismissed for want of jurisdiction This
long litigation interrupted somewhat the
operation of the law; and 1t was practically
suspended when the coal strike made it i'm
practicable for the plants generally to get
good coal Nevertheless substantial results
have been obtained from the enforcement
OF the law. especially since the coal strike
period ended, although the Commissioners
regret that it has not been successful in a
number of instances, including some fla
grant ones.
."During the last calendar year the num-
Der OF plants under observation was 154.
The good effects,of the enforcement of tn,
law are shown by the fact that 1t was
found of this number II complied literally
and ii substantially, 30 offended, rarely. -
offended occasionally, and only 16 were
habituaHy offenders. -
The method of securing compliance with
the purpose of the law has been -two-fold:
Method of Securing Compliance.
First All observations of illegal smoke
emissions have been transmitted as warn
al nd I1Iy
daily to the owners of plants, who in many
cases have remedied the conditions which
produced such emissions.
Second Plants offending repeatly have
been prosecuted in the Police Court and
an Improvement in smoke conditions has
been secured thus in many instances. The
entire record of each plant has been con-
sidered i'll all action taken.
"A general desire to comply with the law
was manifested by owners of plants.
The government plants have been kept
under observation and prosecutions were
brought until the Police Court decided that
government buildings were not within the
purvlew of the law, when. pending an ap-
peal to higher court the Commissioners
brought the matter to your attention and
thereupon your action secured an improve
Rent in conditions which is manifest
congress provided special inspectors
to execute the law. as is done under smoke
laws elsewhere. but authorized the Com
missipners to make details from the health
department inspectors, to act under the
supervision of the health officer The in
cumbent of this office has Zealously and
honestly performed this he performs
other duties. One SANITARY and food in
spector at time is all that can be spared
without interrupting the regular duties of
1he health department, which are so i'm
Fortant to the community. 1t is impracti-
able for one inspector to observe all viO-
fations of the law, or even to prosecute all
Observations which he reports to the health
office, assuming that TO be desirable in all
eases The. 1dd plants. under observation
curing the last calendar year were scatter
ed all over-the city of Washington. There
fore. the Commissioners have asked Con-
!gress for twes additional inspectors for this
purpose. 1.oaoo
< THE enforcement of the law has been
hampered in the ast-by the inadeqiiaey Of
the fines imposed or the collateral exacted
in the Police Court, Notwithstanding the
representations to the court of the assistant
corporation counsel representing the Dis
trict in the prosecution that higher penal
ties should be imposed, and the notorious
Tact that in some instances a particular
plant has been prosecuted many times and
thereby Indicated as an habitual offender.
This brief general history of the effort to
enforce the smoke law is necessary to an
understanding of the case of the Potomac
Electric Power Company Persistent effort
has been made to bring it into compliance
with the law. 1t has received more atten-
ton than any other plant. Up to the first
of December. 1904, sixty-siX prosecutions
lad been brought against ii i'm the Police
Court, and it had paid in fines and col
lateral over 500 The corporation counsel
States that no other offender against any
law in the District of Columbia has been
prosecuted so often as this one has been.
No other offender against the smoke law
has been prosecuted nearly so often This
Is due to the frequent and fragrant viola
lions by this plant and to the special COM
plants made against it 1t is but just, how
ever, to the company to say that its officers
have testified in court that it has expended
large sum of money in equipping the plant
with understanding devices, and also
that at times 1T mas complied with the law
for short periods. In the earlier period of
the enforcement of the law consideration
was given to the fact that this plant be-
longed to a public utility corporation per-
forming semi-public services, and could not
be interrupted in it's operation without pos
sible detriment to the public, but the COM
pany has been given full opportunity to
make Its plant conform to the law.
Observation of Plant.
Upon the receipt of your communication
of November go 1904, the smoke inspector
was instructed by the health officer to de-
vote more time to the observation of this
particular plant, and during December
spent half day on five days of each week.
making case each day. which cases al
first, under the practice heretofore obtain
Ing, were one week later presented through
the assistant corporation counsel to the
Police Court for it's action. The Commits
s1oners directed that, in the of this
and other chronic offenders against the
law the cases should be submitted for
prosecution daily instead of weekly and
that the assistant corporation counsel III
charge of prosecutions in the Police Court
should once more present to the court the
necessity for more adequate penalties In
such cases. especially in view of the fact,
recently brought to the attention of the
Commissioners, that the latter practice OF
the court had been to accept the forfeiture
of collateral in the sum of so, the amount
of the minimum fine under the smoke law,
in the cases of frequent offenders includ-
ing the Potomac Electric Power Company.
The court is authorized by the law to i'm
pose fine of from SO TO 500. and If 1t