The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1906-12-24


| creased in cUriously irregular annual
amounts until it reached 100000
/ He went on 10 show that the subcOm-
mittee had been unable to obtain a state
ment of the amount paid into the capital
! by the stockholders, and by whom paid,
or the amounts earned by the company,
or the disposition made of such amounts
up TO 1866. His report then went on TO
say:
COmpany's Books Burned
The pofessed inability Of the company to furnish
this information finds explanation in tact most
extraordinary and almost Unprecedented in the his
tory Of corporate management. ON the - day Of -
1883 the board Of directors Of the company PASSED the
/ following resolution OF order:
/ Ordered That the secretary be directed to de-
sroy OF dispose Of such books and papers as are Of
no longer use to the company.
The secretary # the company states that under this
remarkable authority It's president ar Bartoi theh
and a large stGckholder, residing IN fdlladci-
phia sold the books showing the moneys pad 10
the company. and by whom paid. including STOCK
holders and the disposition made thcreoi-m other
words showing the financial transactions Of me com
pany for eighteen sears, 20 wit from loi' 10 800 20
Philad -lphia paper house. MesSTs. Alien, lane x
Scott for Sl01 az th5r,abcuts, % be- used ma the
/ manufacture q r.tuer u d. significant
fact that the destruction Of these books blctied cut
fItm the public and the investigation the detailed
transactions Of tins corporation mp to the time I'D
! $50 when the company distributed among lis then
stockholders as representing corporate earnings
/ heretofore put into extension Of the plant
$4,000 Of stock, making altogether SL0S0N Ut cap
[ UalizatCn. This being a Federal corpora
| ti0u ard under the control Oi Congress. the com
t mittee has deemed its duty Ga state In this re-
/ port this fact in the history Of its management
I There must have been some strong desire Tor con
/ cgalmeut 20 justify such course just what pun
Z. d n rs cab H.
/ even to ocalcctuTc. The maxim cf the aw, Ina
| odium spoliatoris omnia UIaes;mUurur, Is perhaps
/ fairly applicable TO the case.
Extraordinary stock Dividends.
/ Senator Spooner stated mis- belief that
the sums supposed TO represent Increase
of capital were in effect nothing else than
stock dividends In addition 90 the regular
dividends from time to time declared, and
that this gave an indication OF the vast
profits made by the gas company, profits
so much out Of proportion TO the amount
I invested that it was no wcnder that the
/ company wished TO conceal them from the
public out Of whom they we're made. He
showed that seldom, indeed had the de
clared dividends of the company fallen be
low 10 per cent, and that they had gone
/ up as high as IS per cent
Senator Spooner, without spending more
time on this subject Of capitalization and
/ earnings, went on TO say.
It is very clear that is profits have been ex-
tmorliuary and very Ear beyond ans profits which a
corporation given bv law monopoly. OF exclusive
I privilege III great and growing ctg. intending
lm0uC its customers the United States government
should b. permitted o. earn from the sale Of CON-
modify IN sUch general Bse and % be considered a
necessity TO the public comfort.
Estimated Cost of Manufacture.
The gas company submitted letters. in
corporated into the report Of Senator
Spooner. which declared that the amount
of gas sold in 1S0 was 523.5N5.91S cubic
feet, and the cost was 80 cents per 1000
feet gross. or 45 cents per 1000 feet
net The President OF the company, then
+ George 4. McIIhenny. admitted that Mr..
Eugene VauderDOel of New York. was a
distinguished and reliable gas exrert. and
with Mr.. McIlhennys letter senator
Spooner incorporated letter from Mr.
VaRderpoel declaring that coal gas could
be made prontably for 35.S cents per 1000
\ feet At the same time there was pres
ent a letter from the Hon. Orestes Cleve-
land. mayor Of Jersey City. and an ex-
member Of Congress. which said.
Mr. VandcJpoel. engineer Of the NeFarE gas works
Is putting coal gas ia his holder at c1st Of =
cents per 1000, fully Is caudlepowcr know Of
prominent gas works IN New York City where the
cost Is not oger 90 cents OF course. IL both eases
the by-p-oducts sold and the value allowed
Price Of Gas TN Foreign Cities.
Col Mccarthy, commended 20 the COM
mittee as a reliable expert. testified that
the fair cost in Washington City Of coal
! gas TO requisite candlepower. including
distribution. is not over IS cents.
Senator Spooner then submitted figures
to show what prices for gas were charged
by foreign companies. At Birmingham an
average price Of 81 cents per 1000 cubic
r feet: Bradford. Zoe; Bristol. SIC; Dublin.
SOC: Glasgow. SIC; Leeds. 44c; Liverpool
G6c; London Commercial Company, &c;
/ Manchester. SIC; Newcastle. SOC; Noting
average price of sixteen companies was
sc, and the average candle power, 1856
. This was the selling price
The report Of the committee also
showed that the average price of gas in
the various cities Of the United States was
not much less than 50 per 1000 feet The
report marked the curious difference il
price in some Of the cities. in Chicago
in one part of the city, gas sold for $l.5o
b in another part Tor 81. At St. Paul it sold
at s.. while at Minneapolis, twelve miles
away. it sold at $50 At Louisville it sold
for 81, and at Lynn, Mass. it sold for 81
cents. Senator Sgooner called attention
q to the fact that Mr.. McIlhenny testified
= before the committee that gas can b,
E manufactured as Cheaply in washington
b as anywhere else in the country.
The report ended by recommending tht
passage of "A bill authorizing the gas com
! pany to charge SI10 per thousand fee
until July /. 1901, after which the rate
should not exceed 81 per thousand. In tn,
report Senator SpO0neT also suggested
a that il might be a good thing for the
Z United States government TO take owe
the plant and manufacture gas itself.
The report Of the testimony taken be
: fore Senator SpOOner's committee show
p that even then the same assertion hear,
e within the last few days-that there wa
+. no general feeling Of complaint on tn
pubIic-came up and was refuted by tn,
I number of public letters received on III
(. subject. one Of the witnesses testife
= that an officer Of the gas company IA,
told him:
THE public don't know how cheapI,
gas can be made, and we don't propos
p; to tell them"
: Consumer Muleted Right Along.
There was also testimony to show tina
p no matter how the cost of gas was sup
posed to be reduced the consumer pai