New-York tribune., 1908-01-21
STATE COMMISSIONS.
RIGHT TO CREATE THEM.
Arguments in Court Of appeals
Gro7cing Out of Saratoga Gas Order

! Iature to delegate essential powers 10 an aP-
| pontive commission, more especially the oiu
| State Commission of Gas and Electricity put
by inference also the newly created Public Ser
| vice Commissions. argued in the Court
| of Appeals this afternoon. The case was the
| appeal of the Saratoga Gas, Electric Light ana
| Power Company from judgment of the Appei-
| late Division in the third department, which on
| November 20. by vote Of 3 to :, upheid an
| order of the commission of Gas and Eiectric-
ity purporting to fix for the village OF Saratoga
Springs the price of gas at 81 40 a thousano
cubic feet and of electricity at cents k1lo"att
hour. Presiding Justice Walter Lloyd smith
and Justices Chester and Cochrane, of that court
concurred in affirming the commissions oro'7r'
Justices Kellogg and Sewell dissenting
| For the appellant company ex-senator Edgar
T. Brackett John B. Stanchfed and Charles
H. TuttIe appeared For the trustees OF the
| village, upon whose complaint the commission
| acted Frank Click Marcus I. Hun and John L.
Henning appeared. Attorney General JACKSON
represented by Deputy Attorney General Decker
and Chairman F. w. Stevens and Counsei Will
lam A Sutherland, of the Public Service Com
mission in the I'd District. appeared in support
of the law.
The argument of the gas company that the
order in question was void, falls into two dvis-
ions;
First, that Chapter 737 of the Laws Of 18Oo
Creating the Gas Commmissonl. taken as
whole, presents legislative plan and Is based
upon principles essentially unconstitutional 1t
is therefore wholly void.
Second that Section II of this act, and its COM
Elementary section, TO- are unconstitutional and
are therefore no authority for the order ap-
pealed from.
RESTRAIN RIGHTS OF PROPERTY.
The attorneys for the company contender
under the first head that:
The act Is to transfer to a non-eiective body Of
three not a local agency of government and not
DDHs poers m oe o Se sae and ali the legislative
discretion and functions Of the sns
Of the bGsnsss Of s ssypR99H or "e
Second-An essential part sf the theory OF the
act the delegation to the Judiciary OF judicial
government and restriction and the fixing OF maxi
ThirdMOne Of the integral designs and effects OF
the is TO prevent without co"pensati9n or Que Que
gagged in the gas and electric business from exer-
cising Of the most essential and Valpaple
rights of property
The points under the second head were fol-
lows
First-The power delegated to the commission to
fix maximum rates Is in far as II relates to the
a'ass nsies al sdmnssratve or niniserial power
second-An essential part Of the design Of IN, the
power TO FIX rates was 10 direct not only review
by the Appellate Division OF Ins oec1sp 81 ion srs q. r
ion of the Appellate Division for that OF the COM
Thirdly authorizing the commission, when N
ns rates or 0Tderps e supn m G TO pro
ceed upon the ex parte investigation OF us mem
pgSes Ps those eSseed in me gas and eecro bs
ness Of their property wtn9Gt que process "- law
tions engaged in the electric business Of the
sGf bs 70 commsson 1RRg while coRcedns this important
privilege to their opponents Section II denies to
| them the equal protection OF the laws
GOVERNMENT BY COMMISSION
In enlargtng upon these points the attorneys
declared
We say without hesitancy that the gas commits
the parting Of the ways In the matter OF govern
mcnt by c0mmission If the Legislature lat can dele
absolute and unrestricted powers as TO gas and
occupation or business affected with public use.
1t can thus practically abdisate its own most I'M
iature sitting at albany the state may in fact
elective body not directly responsible to the peo
pie and each welding the full police power OF the
its control and each under the grise of rules and
orders passing such laws and adopting such poll
The act is an unprecedented experiment. In state
Sumption by the state of>paternai power over all
the attributes of private property invested In these
industries-namely the legal taking OF such prop
This court therefore should deliberate long and
resented In the gas commission law which. how
of a bureaucratic and not Of democratic system
of government. and may lead to infinite mischief
This is government ownership without the bur-
densome detail Of paying for the property
All these contentious are denied by the attor-
neys for the trustees of the village.
|, AFFECTS THE P S. COMMISSIONS.
After going into and answering the various
| points raised by counsel for the gas company.
Deputy Attorney General Decker said In con-
ciuson:
This Is the first proceeding under this statute to
n Of rates has II is e1er es aan ssnu he Public
special proceeding such as this No precedent for
an recerd like this which fails TO raise reason
sbs suspicion that the rates rh sn in tn this
govern in the future is in us very nature expert
ing investigation has fixed on their face rea-
sonabe the public servants should be relegated
annul rates as confscatory. may have the solid
ground of proved experience before visiting It's
thority within the admitted sphere of legislative
While the statute under consideration has bean
repealed, the special attention OF this court In
cursor 70 Of attacks upon the VALIDITY Of the 1 Dc R5s
service commissions law. undoubtedly to follow
Marcus T. Hun and E. B. Whitney presented
arguments tending to controvert the contentious
of Messrs Stanchf1ed and Bracket In answer
ing the contention OF Mr.. Stanchfeld that the
Legislature did not have the right to delegate
its bower to fix rates to a elective body. Mr.
Hun said that according to Mr.. Stanchfeld the
Legislature would have to appoint committee
to go around and investigate rates in various 10
ca!ities He claimed that the Legislature had
every right 10 delegate this power to a commits
sion Both he and Mr.. Whitney presented ex-
tended arguments in support of their contention
Former United States Senator David B. Hill
was present during portion OF the argument