East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-05-29

The Arena has ben making a study
of municipal ownership Of light and
power plants In the typical American
cities which have adopted municipal
ownership and the following statistics
on the subject will be of interest to
the people OF Pendleton. The Arena
says;
Turning from Great Britain to
America, we find again the immense
value of public ownership wherever
it has been fairly tried.
Take, for example, the city OF Du-
luth, MINI. When the municipality
installed municipal gas works in 1898
the citizens were paying 81 per 1000
cubic feet for Illuminating gas. The
city Immediately cut the price to
$1.50. Later II was reduced to 81, and
still later to 90 cents. Now 1t has
been reduced to IS cents-a clear saw
ing to the people of $1.25 per 1000
feet
So tremendous was the saving and
so satisfactory was the result of mu-
nicipal ownership of the gas plant that
the electric plant company became
alarmed. 1t had been charging the
city sl09.50 per standard arc (of 1000
C. p.. burning all night and every
night, but In 1900 It was glad to
make three-years' contract with the
city at $40 per arc.
The citizens, however, continued to
agitate for a public electric plant and
the sentiment grew so rapidly that in
1901 the private corporation urged
the city to give II a new contract at
s55 per arc or s44.50 per arc less than
IL charged when the city was entirely
at the mercy OF private lighting COM
panies. And in addition to this. under
the new arrangement the private COM
pany furnishes one arc to each public
park, lights the cit yhall and furnishes
25 incandescent lights in the police
headquarters free of all charge.
The city Of Detroit furnishes an
other striking Illustration of the result
of municipal ownership. In 1895 the
city Installed municipal electric
street lighting plant, and according to
the report OF 1905 this plant had al
ready raved the city more than one
million dollars.
At the time the municipality deter
mined to install its own plant the city
was paying 1892 per street arc and
its lowest bid on a 10-yea rcontract
was s102. Today, under municipal
ownership, the total cost Is less than
$50 per arc. This includes interest,
depreciation and lost taxes. Labor
under the municipal plant receives
an eIght-hour day and union scale of
wages with full pay and free medical
and surgical treatment for those who
are injured in the service.
The following facts, relative to the
results OF municipal lighting in Edin-
burg. are condensed from recent re-
port by United States Consul Fleming,
OF Edirburg:
When the city a few years since
took over the electric light plant
the citizens were paying IL cents per
unit for light and cents per unit
for power, and the city paid $97.33
per arc light
Under municipal ownership the cit
liens pay cents per unit for light
and ~ cents per unit for power,
while the city pays s53.53 per arc
light. or s43.s0 less than It paid under
private ownership. And notwithstand
ing these great reductions in cost to
the citizens Of the city, the city's net
revenue on the lighting plant last year
amounted to s57S,S67, leaving a net
profit, after the payment of costs and
interest and devoting s136,01S to
sinking fund. amounting to s102,SS4.