The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-07-19
Value sc Municipal Monopolies.

4 Z r y
New york Is getting a lesson = y, !. ~ we
value Of public franchises that That. s pug
< lie profoundly suggestive to the co'''-
,,try. An investiga OF the CONSEQUENCES
# Gas Company, which is now in 3progr
IS ,,ns elected tho fact that the land owned l
~ this company, without improvement y, Is,
ll ,..ns q 4 ssessod Iii 1906 at $SoOS, 900, Wnllo
hi the franchises were assessed at sSl ,s1oooo;
4 tint is. in round numbers, the
is} exclusive right to serve the 2 PUBIC
With gas was admitted to be worth f9: =
four times the physical cost and value o. q
the plant itself. Is not 80 long ago
5that tho councils OF various cities were
q giving away these franchises for q mere mere
song or nothing. and while IT Is fair i e %
say that In those days the municipalities
l5 were either unable or unwilling IN the
8 rroat ajority Of cases to undertake g sven sle
operations for themselves, yet the III reel
Sn,ents Of these franchises were enormous
Z ly5repaid for their outlay. #
y Ne AZ the same time that the gas lnvestl-
s IA Ion was In progress, the New York t'rl
.,,eIephonc Company which is fighting
II FOR the continuance I, Of the telephone s pho nc
/ monopoly against the Atlantic Telephone
~ Company, now competitor. offered TO
& pay for i the privilege OF operating 4, the
]. TELEPHONE service IN New York s1l6,o0
n svear for the first five years. and within
& twenty years to raise that amount TO-
81 500. 200 per annun,. The Atlantic Tele-
q phone Company, on its part offered I'D. to
&c give the city, without charge Is service N1's 9.
for which the " Is now paying ss0, ooo
ner annu m, and 10 provide house phones
for sla a year for six hundred MESA gess.s
The question ,who shall, have the Sexclll-
sive franchise, or whether an exclusive
franchise shall be granted to anybody,
has not yet been decided; but AGAR? the
public is getting a demonstration IN dol
81 lars and cents OF hetfyalue OF such
natural monopolies
Il we have in Richmond In our gas works
source OF very large municipal income.
Il !aand Mayor Mccarthy has doubtless not
at all overestimated the financial value
5si OF these works. In spite OF o number OF
efforts to lease tho works, the Council
overwhelmingly decided to rehablitate
the works and continue their operation
under municipal control. From tho out
{ set It was apparent that such course
XII Of action would require q great deal OF
Judgment. experience and business ability
on the part, f.thos6sto whom the ilnme-
II diate supervision Of the rehabilitation was
entrusted. The Times Dispatch feels that
Alderman Dnbncy's proposal to appoint
q special board for this work was tho
best solution possible. ana this opinion has
been confirmed by the difficulty which the
Committees on Light and Finance have had
in coming to conclusion that was gen.
orally satisfactory. 1t is not too late
for the matter to be reconsldered, and 1t
would undoubtedly be to the great benefit
X OF Richmond to leave the election and
III choice OF a supervising gas engineer to a
d,sinterested bonrd OF citizens. who are
AZ free from any OF tho claims, alliances or
demands for other civic services which
can SO easily hamper the deliberations Of
the councilmen. Since 1t Is the undoubt-
Il X cd desire OF Richmond to continue the
operation OF Its gas works, 1t should DO
the effort OF every citizen 10 make that
operation a success and to make that
Y rehabilitation as economical and we'll
q considered as possible.