New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-03-13
LIGHT MEN MAY FIGHT.
OPPOSE UTILITIES BILL.
Lascyers Expected to Argue against
No ReUie7C Feature.
LBy Te!egranh % The Tribune.l J

IBy Telegraph to The Tribune.l
Albany, March 12.-Strong opposition to the
Governors Public Utilities Commission measure
is expected to come from the lighting companies
OF New York. While no official action. It was
learned here to-day. had been taken by the
officials Of these corporations or their lawyers
on the bill. yet certain of the features affecting
the lighting interests and certain of the bil's
general provisions distinctly do not meet their
approval. and the likelihood is that lawyers for
the companies will argue these provisions at
the hearing on the bill.
The point in the bill which seems most likely
to excite the ire of the lighting interests is that
decisions of the Public Utilities Commission are
not renewable by the courts. save on constitu-
tional grounds. In practical work this would
mean that decision of the commission would
have to be obeyed az without a year
two of delay. while the case was carried from
court 10 court by the lighting companies legal
experts.
Such an invasion Of the customs surrounding
the administration Of the lighting business
seems to them almost unprecedented. even
the laws passed after the gas investigation did
not contemplate such "conhscatory procedure"
Another of the arguments likely 10 be raised
against the bill IS that the commission would
have power to fix prices for gas and cleo
tTlCltN ana CnanEe tntSe prices tfbliidiliN bN
any time, Under the present law the price fixed
by the state Lighting Commission must remain
in effect for three years Some Of the lighting
men IN New York have been talking over This
provision and seem TO think II would permit the
new commission 10 "harass' the lighting COM
panies at every turn.
These objections do - seen, ,"e,saty to Che
friends Of the measure. They say that decis
ions Of the commission should not he subject 70
review 10y courts save on constitutional grounds.
since trc commission viii have delegated % il
the fun powers Of the Legislature and be quite
competent 10 decide on questions of fact Any
decent body of men. such as Governor Hughes
or any other efficient Governor would chose,
ais" would have disposition unnecessarily TO
hamper or harass or mclcst n company which
was carrying out It's obligations TO the people.
Some capital probably viii be made by the
lighting companies from the provision in the
bill that fines for violation of the provisNls
shall go to the state, although the salaries and
expenses Of the commission in the metropoI-
tan district Will be paid by New York city.
Tammany Hall and its representatives already
have seized on this point as n violation Of the
home rule" principle, and Senator Grady is
studying earnestly every possible way bring
about changes on this section of the measure,
One corporation man who views the wide
scope Of the bill with considerable alarm day
protested earnestly against the breaking down
Of civil Service rules by the Governors bill.
He declared that the commission need not take
any Of it's clerks or employees from the classified
lists. Another evil provision. in his opinion.
that delcgating the power or a commission
er 10 investigate 10 the secretary of the commits
sion, who in turn might delegate his power 10
a clerk. This. the corporation man feared.
might open the way to unauthorized investga-
tions and graft
Yet another queried feelngy why
didn't they include the telephone companies in
telephone service and telephone prices than ovcr
the gas prices? Yet the Governor didn't put
the telephone companies in this bill"
il is known that the Governor did not in
clude the telephone companies among the others
In the recommendations IN his message. not
from any tenderness TO them, for their turn
may come but because he did not care to COM
plcate the situation and preferred to take the
worst evils first The drafters of the Public
Utilities bill did not want TO overload the meas
ure and so did not include telephone evils among
those to be remedied by the bill.
No date for a hearing on the bill has been
fixed yet. Both the Senate judiciary Committee
and the Assembly Railroads Committee have
important work scheduled for the next two
weeks. and an available date is hard to find.
Senator Page and Assemblyman Merritt hope
their first idea of the opposition to the bill