The Washington herald., 1907-06-02
ownership FAILURES
Lack Of Success Reported from Sew
eral Towns.
Many Experiments In Lighting Have
Been COstIy-Iarge Profits Not
10 Be Expected.

Among the recent muulcipal-owncrshp
failures may Dc enumerated the follow
ing. says The World To-day:
1 Nuncle. Ind. plant abandoned and
bonds not paid of.
La Grange. ILL.,, plant sold to a COM
rauy.
/ Elg.u, H., municipal costs so high that
contract was lct TO company
Jonssboro. Ind. plant turned over %
/ bondholders,
Alexandria. Va, plant leased 90 a com
pany fnr thirty years.
AsHrahuI8, Ohio. $500 plant dorroeI-
atad 5000 u fourteen years, advertised
| Tor sale.
Brunswick. No. plant sold for s. cents
on the dollar. city taking pay in light and
water.
C8sselton y. Dak plant sold for two
ffths cost
/ SLOAN Springs. Ark, $4,000 plant leased
/ Tor <5H q year.
/ Peru. Ind, council investigating CONF
m.ttre found are lamps cost $-l % Year
and advised that the city abandon the
/ business and sau the plan,
/ Linton. Ind. plant leased for five years.
/ Hamilton Ohio. gas plant shut down
| and State examiner reported deFloranle
/ financial conditions and abuarml. costs
/ due to faulty construction iu electric light
plant
/ Bloomington. H.. increase from SS %
/ 81 fu yearly cost NJ arc lamps i'm ten
years. although cost should have been
/ less.
Eastou Pa. mayor 5av0rs letting OF
Ur.rat. contract f city cannot maintain
/ l0tt.r service. and business men petition
/ for such contract.
/ Lakewood. Ohio. expert accountant
/ found cost of arc lamps about double the
price offered by private company.
/ I'm Massachusetts, according to the 1905
/ report OF the commissioners. twegty-faUr
/ Of the dfty-siX private electric light and
/ power companies in the State paid no div
/ dands, one paid "a dividend 0f per cent.
/ one dividend OF : per cent. one q d.vi-
/ dand of 49, per cent. four % dividend of 8
/ per cent eleven a dividend of o prr cent.
I three dividend rf Z per cent. eight q
/ dividend Of S per cent, one "a dividend of
g per cent, and two paid dividends Of 10
/ per cent.
/ In some States with some kinds Of cor
/ pgrati1ns these statistics on dividends
/ would give little indication of the per cent
/ of earnings on the acJuI investment. ba-
/ cause or the common practice 0f issuing
| Watcred stock for which but "a small per
/ cent OF the face value has been paid. IN
/ Massachusetts. however, where securities
/ for many years past have been issued only
/ upon approval Of the commission, 90 pay
/ FOR actual improvements i'm a plant. these
! figures can safely be accepted as iudicat-
/ ing very nearly the true state of affairs
/ This statement as to dividends OF
/ course. does not show what earnings may
be put back into the property I'm the shape
. of new construction and extensions. In
+ this latter connection it is of interest 10
note that the combined balance sheets Of
/ the Massachusetts companies show sur
/ plus of 1876 per cent ON the entire capital
stock in the 1893 report. but this is less
/ than the surplus showed the year pre-
F. yi0us
/ These figures simply demonstrate what
! is known 20 every woll-iufUrmed man in
/ the business. namely. that electric light
companies when well managed. and II jn
/ sufficiently large towns, can De reason
ably expected to pay the usual prevailing
. rate of interest on investment. and in
| some cases a little more than that. but
. that there are plenty of companies which.
| either for the lack Of good management
or for some local reason. are earning praC-
1 uCallv nothing. There is certainly uoth-
/ ing in these figures 90 indicate that en0r-
. NOUS profits are to bc pockctod hy tax
payers as result Of a municipal electric
/ light plant