Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-09-12
IERBURY EVENING DEMOCRAT WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 1ee

clty or town where they have Charte
 rights to lay one track, to put dowl
 any number of additional track
 along their entire line, in any publi
 highway, without any comprehension
 to either state, city or town wher,
 their tracks are laid, thus doubling
 at the very least, the scope and valu,
 of all the electric railroad franchisel
 in Connecticut at one stroke. cleal
 gift to the trolley corporations of thi,
 state of millions of dollars: thus 1,
 explained too the refusal of the re
 publican majority to take any stepl
 toward breaking the telephone mo
 nopoly.
 Among the many other things 1T
 our state government that we car
 fairly criticise as the fruits of Ions
 term of republican supremacy Is the
 county commission system, by which
 through commission appointed ir
 county caucus the liquor interests
 are controlled, the statutes for bid,
 ding any municipality to manufact.
 ure and sell electricity for lighting
 purposes unless 1t buys out all ex.
 isting competitors. the appointment
 of judges from partisan standpoint
 in which 1t often happens that the town where the judicial appointment Is to be made, has no voice whatever In the proceedings, because 1t has elected representatives of the oppo- site political faith-the code of street railway law, by which city is deprived of the control of its own streets. which the railroad commis- sioners are vested with, who in my own city have assumed the power of ordering the cutting down of the grade of street seven feet, to ac- commodate trolley line that wished to use it. I speak from the depths of experience when say that the de- velopment of street railway law in this state has been along such lines that the cities of Connecticut are practically at the mercy of those corporations which have franchises to operate in the pubic highways. Surely the hour must strike when the citizens of our good old state will awake to realize the necessity of a radical change, lest we displace New Jersey from that eminence which she now occupies by virtue of being. in pubic mind at least, the most cor poration-ridden state in the Union.
 Government Control.
 All these things lead us to care fully consider what is surely the foremost question in the public mind to-day, governmental control of the public utilities, such as transporta- ton, electrical communication, water supplies and lighting, This may be either by legislative control, public ownership and private operation un- der leases of the franchise, or pub lie ownership and operation both. In the railway rate bill the United States government is experimenting along the first line; the subway in New York city, built at private ex- pense. but reverting to the city in certain number of years, is an ex- ample of the second; and the pub lie ownership and operation of muni- cipal ferries in New York, of a lighting plant in Norwich and water plant in my own town among other, are practical exampes of the third.
 There is tendency, however, and a growing one, I fear, to take up these important questions, without sufficient understanding of the eco- homie principles that underlie them and to treat them largely from the of class feeling, to arouse antagonism against public service corporations because they are such; because their owners and directors ire wealthy and successful men to nfer that they must necessarily be dishonest and grasping lawbreakers whose wealth was unlawfully ac- luired and should be confiscated for he public good. ,e democratic ,arty could make no greater mis- akes than to approach the great problem of governmental control in uch a spirit. The question is a | practical one, both as to the ad- disability of exercising such control | 't all and if so to what extent. It| s an economic question pure and imple and 1t presents itself much nore forcibly to the democrats of | he cities than it does to those of the | mailer towns.
 It is easy to see '''e reason for his. Most of the smaller towns have | 10 trolley problem: their streets are | lot taken up with trolley tracks car ying cars as large as a box car, blocking highways in the center of city and paying no compensation herefor; to them water supply and ighting facilities are matters of ljt- le moment.
 But to the dweller in the city hese are burning questions. prob ems pressing for settlement. He sees he public service corporations con- tantly growing, strengthening their old on legislation, getting more and nore in the way of special privi- ege. He knows that while he is axed for the opening and main- enance of the streets. the street rail- ray corporations, whose use of the lain streets of any city is nearly as lrge as that of all other citizens put ogether, get it for substantially othing. He knows that they can i've him whatever service they like nd charge what they like and no ne can say them nay. He knows hat his city must light its streets nd pay whatever the local company hooses to ask. for a kind and fath- rly legislature has forbidden any Ity to make and sell electricity, un- sss it buys out all the other fellows business there. He probably must ave a telephone and he knows that le same paternal care on the part the state to prevent its citizens -om making foolish investments in dependent telephone stocks, has de- vered all the telephone business to he corporation. trusting to it's gen -osity not to oyevrharge the pub-