The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-06-05
10 the 81 - fferaId:

10 the salt Lake herald
As your paper has taken an active
and lively interest in the purchase by
salt Lake City of the property at the
mouth of Big Cottonwood canyon be
longing TO the Utah Light & Railway
company, and also in the passage of a
certain franchise that has been before
the city council. | ask that you pleas
publish the following:
Probably it is not generally known
that the railway company has fran
chises, both for its lighting and Oper-
ating IT'S cars in the streets of Salt
Lake City, that viii expire fifty years
from 1894 and 1897. respectiv =Iy, which
makes an average of about forty years
from Jan. !. 1905; that these franchises
are reasonably fair to the company on
all points; that the price for lighting
as fixed by the ordinances now in ex-
istence is 20 cents Der kilowatt hour
for incandescent lighting. S15 per lamp
per month for arc lighting, and the
price for railroad fares. ; cents per fare,
with no provisions for transfers.
In the summer OF 1904 the mayor of
salt Lake City approached the Utah
Light x Railway company for the pur-
pose of purchasing the cOmpany's pow
er rights at the mouth of Big Cotton
wood canyon west of the power house
where the Utah Power company is now
located Negotiations were entered in
to resulting in the request by the COM
pany for what il deemed to b equiva-
lent to 100000 for this property At
first this proposition was entertained
faVorably by a majority of the city
council, subject, however, to some re-
ductiOn IN the extension of time of the
franchises Afterwards a majority of
the press of this city took the matter
up adversely to the company. and since
that time there has been d constant
criticism, not to say villificatiOn, of
the company and its actions.
A number of ordinances have been
presented to the committee on NUM-
cipal laws, but none of them have
seemed to b satisfactory to a major
lty of the council, when on last Tues
day evening the unfinished business
was called up, among which was the
proposed franchise of the Utah Light
x Railway company that had been re-
ported by the committee on municipal
laws. After the reading of the or
dinance by its title, Councilman Black
ance, a copy of which he kindly handed
me that evening
BY this proposed substitute ordinance
a provision is made for the reducing of
lighting from twenty cents per kilo-
watt hour TO practically ten cents; for
arc lighting from S15 per lamp per
month TO S11-25 per lamp per month;
for power furnished the citizens, from
about three cents per kilowatt hour
to one and One-fOurth cents: for all
public buildings such as hospitals and
charitable institutions, to one-half the
prices charges usual commercial users.
The ordinance also requires the COM
pany to furnish additional free lights
for all institutions and buildings of the
city. during the life of the franchise /;
it also requires the company to reduce
its fares on the railroad twenty per cent
to general passengers and forty Per
cent to students, and that everybody,
including those buying tickets at re-
duced rates. shall have rights of free
transfer from one part of the city to
the other 1t also requires the company
to transfer to the city all of the COM
pany's property at the mouth of Big
Cottonwood canyon. including its wa
ter power and water rights, together
with about go acres of land. 1t r.
serves to the city the right to sell this
power and property to anybody. it may
choose, or to use II for competing puT-
poses with the company. either in the
city or out of the city. 1t requires the
company to build line of railroad ex-
tending about a mile into an almost
uninhabited district, at a cost of about
$4,000, which will cost the company at
least $1,000 a year to operate over and
above all returns For this it proposes
to extend the company's franchises five
years. commencing forty years hence.
tt may be said that the company has
already reduced its price for lighting
from twenty cents per kilOwatt hour 10
fifteen sents, and still proposes to re-
duce it lower, possibly to ten cents. il
may also be said that the COM
pany has reduced its railroad fare from
five cents to four and One-half cents,
and probably will reduce it further: also
that the company has already reduced
its fare to students to three cents: ii
may also be said that the company has
lately been furnishing transfers from
one part of the city to the other, and
that it has recently reduced its fare
from Murray to this city 80 1-3 per cent
all of which is true. But it is a very
different thing for the company to dc
these things voluntarily than TO dc
them either by COmpulsiOn or because
it is assumed the city is paying foI
it.
The company viii probably go OF re-
dJhring its prices. It has b-en discussed
quite frequently in the board of direct
ors' meeting during the last year to
reduce the price Of lighting to practi-
cally ten cents a kiIOwatt hour. to r.
due the price Of railroad fares to -four