Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-27
LET us BE FAIR

In the marvelOusly rapid deVelopment
of a great city, such as Los Angeles,
many extraordinary obstacles and COM
plications must be expected and over
come. This is particularly true Of the
public service corporations which, act
ing from experience and the knowledge
of the scale Of development in American
cities, undertake to prepare for the
future upon that scale, only to find
themselves suddenly confronted by con-
ditions and demands in Los Angeles
which even the most far-sighted had
no reason to anticipate.
Let us take the case of the Los An
geles Gas and Electric company. 1t is
said that the ordinary requirement
from that corporation last year was
S0OO 900 cubic feet of gas per day. That
was true at the beginning of last year.
But during the year the company laid
mains which increased the demand
upon it to 100000 cubic feet per day.
officials Of the company say that In an
ticipation of this increase-which was
readily calculable-they had prepared
to supply the people, ct the beginning
of this year, 100000 feet per day. And
to that end they were completing new
great gas holder at a cost of 100000
This was the situation when, about
two months ago, the fuel supply of Los
Angeles suddenly failed, and neither
coal nor wood could be obtained. I'm
following came an excessive
downpour of rain, accompanied by n
lower temperature than Los Angeles
had experienced in many years. And
these rains and low temperature were
maintained for several weeks.
Up to that time the gas company had
apparently been amply able to meet all
the demands made upon 1t, both for
and heating gas, and under
usual expected conditions it can read
lily be understood that it had prepared
both for the citys growth and it's in
creased service.
The people of Los Angeles, being able
to obtain only a meager supply of coal
and wood, turned naturally to the gas
for fuel, and it is matter of
common notoriety that the shops of the
city were, within two days, literally
of any and all kinds of gas
appliance that would serve for heating
purposes.
And within forty-eight hours the gas
prepared for a demand of
II, ,O0O 900, was required to furnish in ex-
cess of 24,OOO,OOO cubic feet of gas per
day!
Subjected to such a tremendous
pressure, some of the company's ma
broke down, and for awhile it
became literally impossible to meet
much more than the ordinary require
ments for which the company had pre-
pared itself.
Impatient and suffering people natur
ally complained because they could not
get a full supply of gas, either for light
ing or heating, and they instinctively
cried aloud against a public service cor
poration that had not been able to meet
their stern necessities. The Herald fully
appreciates the reasona bleness of that
cry. At the same time, now that sea-
sonal weather has enabled the gas COM
pany to fill all it's holders and the ex-
traordinary demand has ceased, The
Herald believes that a sense of justice
and fairness is essential, even in deal
ing with a public service corporation.
This is time when the people of Los
Angeles should pause and consider the
fact that there are two sides to this
question, and that by reason of their
dire necessities they have been able to
see only their own side.
The Herald is no special pleader for
the gas company. 1t owes the gas COM
pany nothing; neither does the gas COM
pany owe it anything. 1t merely con-
ceives it public duty to ask for fair
ness in the consideration of a great
public question.
The Herald does not undertake to
say that the gas company is wholly
blameless. In fact there are reasons to
believe that it is not. Under such a
pressure it would be a rare company
that could do everything required of a
public corporation. Just how far the
gas company is culpable, however, may
be shown in the report of the investi-
eating committee which will be filed
tomorrow with the city council. Mean
while the known facts, as above set
forth, should be kept in mind.