The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-05-29
GANG PLANNED A TRUST CITY.
l., G. I. LEASE WAS STEP TOWARD
CONTROL OF ALL UTILITIES.
pniIadelphia Rerormers Now TO Work for
Municipal Ownership Is Only Way Of
safety--JOhn NJ. Mack Tells Of tho
Public Service Corporation Scheme.

Party, comprising the regular reformers
and also Mayor Weaver's following, in the
camraign against the Philadelphia ring
will be municipal ownership.
The battle for the gas works showed the
committee Of seventy and the Mayor that
these companies. the United Gas Improve
uent, the Rapid Transit Company, the
Philadelphia Electric Company and the
keystone Telephone are the strongholds Of
the machine, both for influence and for
loot, and that it Ia through these that the
lawyers. the fnanciers, the business men
# Philadelphia are held in the chains of
the ring,
Revelations of conspiracy aiming to
rnite in one corporation, to be known as
the Public Service Corporation, all the
rlbiic utilities and having as one Of its
objects the steal of the SOS 900 900 filtration
Rant not yet fin shed, showed the anti-ring
men that the only way to destroy the
machine and to prevent the forming OF the
city into an absolute trust was to sound
the municipal ownership slogan and en-
Ceavor to bring under municipal control
not only the gas works but the telephone
companies, the electric lighting companies
and the street railways.
Hostities will be opened at once. On
H. Brown OF Germantown, who ten days
ago was a machine sub-leader Of his ward
although semi independent in tendencies
and now leader Of the reform movement
in the whole north and northwestern SEC
ton of Philadelphia, will offer resolutions
providing for the cancellation in 1907 of
the existing lease OF the U. G. l. Company.
the raising of funds to pay it for the works
ha foo e.
Enlistment Of municipal electric light
ing plant to furnish all city lighting,
monopoly now enjoyed by the Phiadel-
rhia Electric Company. capitalized at
SIS 900 600 and promoted by the machine.
Examination OF the franchises by which
the Rapid Transit Company holds its mo-
ropoly of the streets ia being made by
counsel not Of Philadelphia engaged by
tie committee of seventy and the COM
mee Of nine and has shown that these
franchises supposedly granted in at least
practical perretuity. are not worth the
PAPER they are written on. In each Ia a
clause providing that the city may take
over the lines at any time, II this clause
would not hold, the legal opinions say
that Philadelphia has never given over its
right to eminent domain, granted to 1t
not only by the common law but also by
the present State Constitution.
Anndependent investigation Ia also being
conducted by a committee OF the Trades
League central commercial organization
made up OF 200 firms numbering among
them all the greatest in the city.
TO SEEK POINTERS ABROAD.
John c. Winston, the chairman OF the
committee OF Seventy, announced to-day
that he had sold his home In Germantown
and would sail for Europe within two weeks
to make a complete study OF municipal
ownership in the model cities Of Manchester
and Glasgow.
Chairman Winston said also that the
City party would extend itself from city
to a State organization throwing all its
weight upon IN, election OF members to
the Legislature, - the object OF remov-
ing the Ripper" bill. by which future
Mayors Of the city are shorn Of power. and
with the further object Of securing the
election Of United States Senator Of its
own choosing.
Il, for one,' he said, will stay in this
fight until the end. and the end ia long
way off, Our first fight will be for the
election for Sheriff. Between this election
and that OF the Mayor, two years hence.
we will have an opportunity to elect mem
bers of the Legislature. We are going into
this part of the game with all the power
Of which We are capable, and we want the
Mayor who Is to be elected to have the ap-
pointment Of all his directors.
in all our fights our slogan will be
honest government and municipal owner
ship. We have talked this idea Of munich
pal ownership over at great length and
some Of the members OF the committee
have expressed an aversion to it, but be-
lieve that it is the only ideal condition.
.Philadelphans might fight shy Of it when
theyrecall the sad fasco attending the man
agement Of the gas works before the lease
was given to the U. G. l. The city had
control of the works for long time previous
to that and everything went wrong. Com
plants were not attended to. the different
plants needed repairs and finally the
city officers admitted that there was no
money in the treasury with which to pay
for improvements. Then they suggested
the lease.
I'VE now know, however, that this wa $
all plot, that the gang had been dicker-
ing with the Dolan outfit for long time
and that they decided that this was the best
way to disgust the public and open the
way for a corporation to take charge
II the officials had acted honestly they could
have made the plant pay just as we'll as the
United Gas Improvement Company makes
it pay to-day.
THE city can regain control OF the gas
works in 1908. The revenues from the plant
are enormous and even II the city had to
contract a debt to redeem the plant the
money would soon be recovered. An e1-
pert, equal to Thomas Do!an in cunni ng
and business ability, could be engaged for
at least $4,000 year and he could run
tho plant in the same manner as it is being
MN now,
"Al the public service corporations in
this city. to my mind, could be controlled
~ the city advantageously.
MACK TELLS ON THE GANG.
John NJ. Mack, promoter Of the asphalt
trust and now its receiver kicked out by
the ring and ousted by them from the Key
stone Telephone Company, promoted by
him to fight the Bell Telephone Company,
held up and relieved Of his holdings in Phila-
dephia Electric, which he also promoted,