The new age., 1907-03-02
EDITORIAL.
WATER AND LIGHT.

Notwithstanding the complaints
about the water system, and the de-
mands for its reorganization, and for
better service and cheaper water, no
body proposes to turn the water sys-
TEN over to private corporation, ,'and
place the city at it's mercy Such
proposition would be voted down al
most unanimously. Then why do the
people continue to allow private cor
poration to own and operate the cleo
trio light system, giving the people an
abominable service at exorbitant
rates? There is just as much reason
for the city owning its light system
as its water system. Both elements
are natural products, or at least cleo
tricity is a natural force and so is the
water power, and the conversion of
the electric force into light is very
simple process. The light is carried
from the source Of power by wire con-
duits; the water is carried by pipe
conduits; the city should own or con-
troll the source Of one as much as the
other. Both light and water are of
universal use; everybody must have
them, and it is one of the very first
duties Of government to supply the
people with such universal necessities,
their sources or materials being fur
nished freely by nature, as cheaply as
possible That great city like Port
land would own and operate its own
waterworks, as a matter Of course, and
yet make no move to also own and
operate its light plant, is curious. If
public ownership is good thing in
the one case, it is in the other.
That the city is grossly overcharged
for the lights it uses, and that the
people are overcharged also as indi-
vidual consumers, could be easily
shown. When one thinks that the
source of power is practically free,
and that transmission, once the wires
are up, is almost free also, and that
the expense of maintenance and oper-
alton is comparatively small, and then
considers what an enormous number
of customers the company has, every
body paying for its light, it can be
readily perceived that the profits must
be very great And these profits ought
to go back or rather be kept in the
first place in the peoples pockets.
1t would seem that if the city gives
this light and power octopus the priv
ilege Of using the streets, without
which it could do no business what
ever, it ought to furnish the city free
lights, or at least lights at about cost,
in recompense for such vastly valu-
able privilege But the city not only
has to pay for its lights after having
given this monopoly the use of its
streets, but must pay an exhorbitant
price, probably 100 per cent more than
could be figured as the cost and fair
profit Not only so, but the city pays
very large sum annually for lights
that it does not get at all. Sometimes
lot of them are out for a few min
utes only, sometimes for hours, anC
this may happen during dark evenings
so that people have to grope their way
home as best they can-but the bill
is just the same. The company doesn'
know its lights are out, or doesn'
care. when it makes out its bill
The people are taxed entirely too
much for light in their houses anC
business places, too AS we have in
dicated, light in a city as large al
Portland ought to be very cheap. Witt
the hundreds of thousands of lights
costing but little more than yer.
few. the cost per light, or per house
ought to diminish as the city grows
but as this octopus has a monopol,
Of course it will not reduce the pric
until it has to.
Under such circumstances the cit,
ought to make move for public OWL