Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-03

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own people. but of Intelligent and obsery-
, Ing foreigners. and 1t must be considered.
! in very large degree. as typical of the
great republic of which 1t is the official
| center. The city should. therefore. in. It's
architecture and topography, convey a
| most favorable impression, and il its
Development Is made After of patriotic
| pride. there Is no question that it will be-
come the most attractive capital in the
| world.
far short of doing their full duty il they
were content with the mere physical i'm
| provement OF the National capital. 1t is
impossible. of course. to secure absolute
perfection In every detail of municipal
administration. but II Ia possible to at
tempt to attain conditions which. In large
degree, will conserve the best interests
of every citizen. For many years the
| municipal authorities have endeavored to
advance toward an ideal situation here.
The opening of so-called blind alleys and
the conversion of these alleys into minor
streets. so that their residents can enjoy
the maximum of sunlight and pure air.
is step in the right direction. The es-
Establishment Of a juvenile court, wherein
the young offender is differentiated from
the hardened criminal and every effort Is
made to instill into the youthful mind the
principles Of good citizenship. is equally
praiSeworthy. The compulsory education
law. recently enacted, ought to reduce
ignorance and idleness to minimum.
The care of the i.ged and infirm. ths
charitable consideration of the afflicted
and the effort to provide industrial train
Ing for INDECENT or homeless youths all
testify the exercise of fine sympathy
and humanity. A powerful agent in the
accomplishment of this good has been
the President of the United States who
has. In season and out Of season. been
earnest In his effort to improve the en-
vtronment Of those upon whom fortune
has not generously smiled. The Presi-
dents personal int; rest in the Districts
welfare was shown In the steps taken,
by him to inquire into the conditions
here. with the subsequent appointment Of
housing ard homes commission, COM
posed OF earnest and unseinsh workers.
This commission has already made q re-
port filled with admirable suggestions.
Public Utilities. ,.......
While there has been a steady AMI de-
sirable advance TN matters concerning the
physical Identification of the city and
m improving the environment of its resi-
dents. one phase of municipal administra-
ton has not received sufficient attention.
The question of the regulation aud con-
troll OF public utilities is one mat IL now
properly engrossing the attention of mu-
nicipal authorities everywhere. and II ia
appropriate that Washington should be
q model In respect to its treatment of pub
Tic service corporations. The latter not only
enjoy a monopoly If serving the public
with the necessities Of daily life. such as
transportation. light. telephone facilities,
ETC.. but it Is a matter of. fact that the
franchise for the use Of the public thor
oughfares by these corporations was Sc
cured absolutely without cost. It Is true
that they now pay a small percentage of
their gross earnings in lieu OF a franchise
tax. but for many years they enjoyed
the monopoly without making any RECON-
pense therefore. In addition to this. 1t Is
no exaggeratioa to say that the public
sentiment Of the community Is adverse to
the establishment Of rival enterprises. In
the cases OF the street railroads which
occupy the principal streets and avenues
such rivalry Is a physical impossibility;
but even should another gas company or
another telephone company seek to es-
tablash itself here. the difficulties and en-
barraRsments. to say nothing of additional
expense imposed upon the citizen, would
undoubtedly operate to prevent such con-
cessioa being granted, 1t must be adj
mitted. therefore. that these public utility
corporations enjoy q monopoly which Is
not likely to be disturbed.
With these privileges come grave re-
'Sponsietiities. Having surrendered the oc-
cupation of the streets and avenues, the
public 10 entitled to the best and most
generous service which can be rendered
consistent with Q fair return upon capital
invested. The extent and character Of
this Service 10 always q difficult problem.
QS>
mands a moro frequent street car service
conflicts with the Views Of the corporation
oMciais. who. quite naturally, seek the
largest possible dividends. The protest
OF the consumer against exerbitant rates
Is IGNORED by the corporation which de-
stres to add to Its surplus. Somewhere
between these two extremes there IL q
happy medium. a plane Of equitable ar
rangement to which both sides ought to
Yield willing agreement The determina-
nd
lions which arise between the corpora
ttons and the public could be more read
lily reached II the Commissioners should
be given additional powers for the regula-
tion Of the street railroad and other pub
lie utility corporations In the District Of
Columbia. Under different acts OF Con-
gress they now have considerable powers
OF this character. but experience has
shown that they cannot properly con-
serve the interests Of the public without
believe that q reasonable regulation OF
such corporations by the state is now 70.
Qutred as the only alternative to munich
pal ownership. They have been asking
adaltsonaI power OF supervision over street
railways and they feel now that they
should aslofor similar authority with re-
spect to the other public utility corpora
tons. the two gas companies, the electric
lighting and power company and the tele-
phone company. They believe that they
ministrative powers OF the interstate COM
merce commission or those of the public
service commission in New York city
With these powers should be gisen au-
thority and money with which to employ
experts from time to time in special in
yestigations as to those public utility cor
porations With the assistance Of such ex-
perts the Commissioners could make all
necessary inquiries and subsequently
could make all necessary regulations re-
specting the affairs Of these corporations.
At present they have neither the power
nor the expert assistance necessary
Inadequate Authority.
They have used their powers for the
protection of the public interest as eff
fectively as circumstances permitted but
they feel that their present authority is
inadequate. The gas companies. under
authority of a provision in an act of Con-
gress which the Commissioners believe
should be repealed, have instituted pro-
ceedngs In the Equity Court looking to
an increase of their capital stock, and the
Commissioners, taking advantage of the
pc rmission of the Equity Court to inter-
vene on behalf of the citizens of the Dis
trict of Columbia. have. through their
corporation counsel, done everything DOS
sible to prevent any action which would
tend to interfere with the reduction in the
price Of gas, recommended by them to the
last Congress and which they desire to
see made to whatever extent will leave
a reasonable profit to the Corporations
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