The morning journal-courier., 1908-05-22

them 10 new company. DeDatcS ais
counts, special favors We're common,
The price OF gas was temporarily fore
ed considerably below the cost of pro-
6uction, In the confusion which re-
suited 1t was found that consumers
were getting their gas from one COM
pany and paying another, Others We're
receiving service and paying no one,
evading each collector as he called in
turn, In many instances the compa
MES ceased trying to conect from per-
sons who We're known to be their con-
sumers, but levied upon anyone from
whom they could secure payment
Temporarily the consumers partic-
ularly the unprincipled consumer, BEN
Gifted by low price, but the service
became inferior and the condition OF
the streets was Of itself sufficient con-
demnation OF the system, In the end,
the companies began to combine They
then divided the area among them
selves, each agreeing to confne It's
operations to its own field. The price
of gas was very greatly increased, At
this stage the consumers, seeing their
interests had been made the football of
destructive competition and financial
manipulation, appealed to parliament,
demanding some sort Of protection.
Parliament replied stating that If the
companies We're to have a monopoly or
a seml-monopoly they must submit to
some sort OF regulation, otherwise the
interests of the consumers would be
dlsregarded to a large degree. At
first the companies resisted and refus-
cd to accept supervision, but the peo-
pie were so determined and even par
lament so clearly saw the justice of
their contentious that the companies
were forced to give way and accept re-
strlctve measures, which have been
perfected from time to time until the
companies are today under strict gov
ernmental supervision and control,
which protect the consumers from the
natural results of a monopoly.
THE transit situation in New York
is another good illustration. As al
ready stated, all of the subway, sur
face and elevated roads were con-
trolled by one company until a few
months ago. The cars were allowed
II fall into a deplorable condition;
many of them were filthy, out of re-
pair and so noisy that they had be-
come a genuine nuisance. The people
were packed like aardines In box
not only at rush nours but at other
hours Of the day. When the traffic
declined, the number of cars were re-
duced to save expenses and to make
larger profits, so that overcrowdng
was everywhere common. At certain
hours, 1t was perhaps unavoidable,
but at others II was inexcusable. Such
were the results under unregula'ed
monopoly.
Secondly, there is the investor and
his financial interests. One Of the
strongest indictments against present
conditions is that public service cor
porations are often stock jobbing en-
terprses. that their securities are
sought for speculative rather than for
Investment purposes. Everyone knows
personally of instances whore great
public service undertakings have been
:
game for the benefit of some specu-
lator; he improved the property and
tho service II II fitted in with his
plans; he let the plant run down and
ignored the public, II his interests hap
ened to lie In that direction Some
Of the greatest sea l1als of our tinan-
cial history have been in the mani
! t,t,tu tinn Of pt,hIie ntflftipg Good
corporations have suffered with The
bad and all have become tarred with
: the same stick. one can har lily
blame the public for this lack of dis
elimination, for It is generally kept
ir the dark. only u few insiders are
: told the facts and often the directors
> themselves do not know the truth.
,, The result of such conditions Is
that the genuine investor Is being
driven out The man who buys stocks
OF bonds for investment and finds
himself In such a situation Is not in
cined to repeat The experiment. He
pockets his loss and leaves the field
to the Spectator. Now 1t is bad
enough to have the dnprincipled spec
ulator in any enterprise, but it Is
ineonceivable that the people will
long tolerate his existence In public
services where his schemes may be
go injurious to every citizen and
where the necessities of whole city
may be subordinated to the financial
: vagares Of one man or group of men
"But wholly aside from this phase
of the subject, the state owes a duty
, to its citizens as investors and should
do all within its power to safeguard
their property and reduce to a min
mum the possibility of fraud, fnan-
cial manipulation and misappropra-
tion of funds. BY so doing the amount
of capital available for public utilities
will be increased (the investor be
9 ing attracted), the profits demanded
Y by capital will be reduced owing to
!, the greater surety Of honest manag,
g ment, and the public service corpor.
I atoms taken out of the speculative
class and placed among the best class
Q of investments.
"The experience 0f England proves
: that a proper system of governmental
. regulation will produce this result
Half a century ago, conditions there
were very much the same as still oh.
: tain here. Directors and officials
i. paid more attention to the stock mar
kets than to the gas business, for ex'
y ample. Now they devote their at
tention to the manufacture and distri
: button of gas instead Of securities
Stable conditions nave succeeded UNI
stable conditions, and the stocks and
}, bonds of public service corporation
y are considered among the safest o.
= investments. / recently asked thu
president of the largest gas compan,
: In England what effect governmental
, regulation had had upon the industr.