The Marshall republican., 1907-12-06
ITEMS NOT CHARGED
Strange Omissions In the Chicago
Lighting Plant Report.

y Ptssss che Annus, retai csst Per
lsmp - Ss2.3s-Ns Account Taken,
ets~svss. Of Lost Tsxss, Water, De.
osssiats~, Rent o. ~ Hall Q Dsssn
otAsr important elements ~ Ex-
Sssss-o'sssst N. o. Plant In che
0~es~try-lts Service 90 Peer 90 its
osVs,t 70 Mislssdi~e.
- largest sunicIpsi electric light
Ooass n ~ Cnitsd States IL tat op-
satsd BY the city Of Chicago. Natu-
saiiy studssts - ounlcipal ownership
~ - ~ reports 10 n OF the prin-
GDai sources Of Information on the
sabtsel usfertusstely. however. these
sS0sseD have bsea % worded a. to
~ ~ false Impression that the
0O,espai lights cest the city much less
eAaa v they wsss supplied By contract
uttA Q private company.
uswvpspsrs sii ever the country have
ansssnceA that Chicago's street lights
Auing 1900 cost only s52s per lamp.
sad they are not 70 b. blamed for max
ias THE assertion. ser twice on paee
II q ~ rspost for that year sa2.yo
y given - ~ total cost per lamp"
u - true thst elsewhere In the report
this statement y modified by the I'd.
oissisa that this cost doesn't In
CLUBS interest, lost taxes. water. de-
prsctstisn. rent 81 Offices sud poles,
Judgments against the city % account
ce acct1ents. Q proportion ~ the cost
% ths edlces Of the comptroller. audi.
ter. business agent ma other branches
81 the city government. etc. hut the
edge 10 taken on this admission By
The further statement that the cost a.
s5c.3a iscIudes ell expenses actually
borne ~ the city" Q statement, by
the way. which 10 not even technically
true.
The report admits that there !. Sons
Justice In the contention" that these
Items should BE- charged against tbs
lighting cost. but u makes this sdmis-
sion only nftev ysar Of refusal 10 -
10, and does 10 now because Of 90 10
v~csiIgatlon Into the workings Of Tie
| plnnt that has recently been made, spA
the findings Of which will o be pub
Iishcd.
Six years ago the Reform club g
New York employed Q well known
firm 81 accountants 10 ond out what
Chicngo's lights were really costing ~
that time the city claimed q cost q
SG2Uo. hut the accountants rrporte0
the reai cost ~ eao.ss and made -
allowance for damages. street repaiFN
rent ~ offices and poles or the lighting
| departments share Of the expense foe
auditing. purchasing snd legal e.
pcnses and a very low allowance fee
| depreciation. But the city authorities
| totally ignored the findings OF this dier
| Interested and expert investigation.
The unfalrness Of the report 10 fur
| tber shown by its comparison Of the
per capita cost OF lighting Chicago aud
| i've other cities that do not operaes
municipal lighting plants. In the nrst
| place. the street lighting Of Chicago y
| VIGOROUSLY inadequate. and In the No.
ond place. while the rates In the othse
| cities cover the entire cost Of lighting
In Chicago they include only = frsctioo
l Of the cost.
Perhaps the most misleading feature
Of the report 10 its comparison Of the
| alleged cost" OF the municipal lighto
with the rates charged BY the privsto
/ company with which the city contracts
Tor Ii6 Of its lamps. Thess are In he
outskirts Of the city. where the cost q
maintaining them b very high o. s<
count Of their long distance from u
generating station and their remote
ness from each other, That II why the
city contracts for them. Yet the report
assumes that the company would
charge just as high a rate II Il had The
contract for all the lights. This 40
sumption IL not only manIfsstly absurd
but Is directly contrary to the facts. -
one OF the companies offered q reduc-
ton OF more than one-quarter Of 10
contract price n II were given the CO.
tire lighting cootrsct
In making comparisons the quality
Of the service IL an important consid-
Grafton. and the service OF the Chicago
city plant II bad. II cheats the public
beth by the frequency of outagss
Qamps going out and staying out the
rest Of the night and by stealing In
own current-i. G.. reducing the amper~
age below the point st which the cur.
rsst Keeps the lamps up to their rnted
caudlspower, In many cases observers
have noted that. especially after mid.
sight. he lamps give only q dull glow
Of the carbon points and are OF prscti.
eally ~ valUs 40 lights. This 10 done
- reduce coal consumption and OF
SOsrs makes . great difference IN the
esse g operation. u weuld not bs tel'
ss0esa from . private company. which
WsaA1 also - penslised for outages-
1hees thlngs ere quite naturally not
Oeotiooso IN The seport.
- - up. ~ report gives the I'm
Oesssica - ~ casual reader that the
ouniciQai piase b giving good service
- Q leW cost. while the facts are that
- Ossvics 70 poor and that the cost 10