Crittenden record=press. [volume] (Marion, Ky.) 1907-1909, 1908-03-26
ITEMS NOT CHARGED
Strange Omissions In the Chicago
Lighting Plant Report.

Lamp at S5239-No Account Taken,
However. Of Lest Taxes, Water, De.
probation. Rent or Of Half a Dozen
Other Important Elements OF Elk
pense-5sgest NJ. Q. Plant In the
Country-lts Service as Poor as Its
Report Is Misleading.
The largest municipal electric light
plant in the United States Is that OPP
Grated 10y the city OF Chicago. Natu-
rally students of municipal ownership
turn to its reports ~ one of the prin-
clpal sources of information on the
subject. Unfortunately. however. these
reports have been 80 worried rs to
give the false impression that the
municipal lights cost the city much less
than If they were supplied by contract
with IA private company.
Newspapers all over the country have
announced that Chicagos street lights
during 1906 cost only S5239 per lamp.
and they are not 10 be- blamed for max
ing this assertion. for twice on page
L. of the report for that year So 80
Is given rs the total cost per lamp"
II is true thatclsewhcrc in the report
this statement Is modified 10y the adj
mission that this cost doesn't in
cludc interest. lost taxes. water. de
probation. rent OF offices and poles.
judgments against the city on account
~ accidents. proportion OF the cost
of the offices of the comptroller. audi
tor. business agent and other branches
Of the city government. etc. but the
edge is taken OFF this admission 10y
the further statement that the cost OF
So 80 includes all expenses actually
borne by the city" statement. by
the way. which is not even technically
true
The report admits that there IL some
Justice In the contention" that these
items should Ice charged against the
lighting cost. but II makes this admis-
sion only after wars OF refusal Ia do
So and does 80 now because OF an In
vestgatlon into the workings OF the
plant that has recently been made. and
the findings OF which will soon be- pub
lishcd
Six years ago the Reform club OF
New York employed a well known
firm Of accountants 20 find out what
ChicagD's lights were really costing. At
that time the city claimed a cost OF
sG2 90. but the accountants reported
the real cost as S99.SS aud made no
allowance for damages, street repairs.
rent Of Offices aud poles or the lighting
departments share OF the expense for
auditing. purchasing and legal ex-
penses and very low allowance for
depreciation But the city authorities
totally ignored the findings OF this dis
Interested and expert investigation.
The unfairness Of the report Is fur
Their shown 10y It's comparison OF the
per capita cost Of lighting Chicago aud
five other cities that do not operate
municipal lighting plants. In the first
place. the street lighting OF Chicago Is
VIGOROUSLY inadequate. and In the sec
ond place, while the rates IN the other
cities cover the entire cost OF lighting.
In Chicago they include only a fraction
of the cost.
Perhaps the most misleading feature
OF the report is It's comparison of the
alleged cost OF the municipal lights
with the rates charged by the private
company with which the city contracts
for 7i6 Of It's lamps These are ia the
outskirts of the city. where the cost Of
maintaining them is very high on &c
count Of their long distance from the
generating station and their remote
ness from each other That Is why the
city contracts for them Yet the report
assumes that the company would
charge just as high a rate IL IL had the
contract for all the lights This as
sumption is not only manifestly absurd,
but Is directly contrary To the facts. as
one of the companies offered rcduc-
ton of more than onc-quarter Of ia
contract price II II were given the en-
tire lighting contract
In making comparisons the quality
OF the service Is an important cous.d-
eration. and the service Of the Chicago
city plant Is bad II cheats the public
both by the frequency Of outagcs
Qamps going out and staying out tho
rest Of the night and 10y stealing its
own current e.. reducing the ampcr-
age below the point al which the cur
rent keeps the lamps mp 10 their rated
candlcpowcr. In many cases observers
have noted that especially after mid
night, the lamps give only duh glow
at the carbon points and are Of practi-
cally no value as lights. This Is done
to reduce coal consumption and Of
course makes great difference IN the
cost of operation. II would not he toll
Grated from private company. which
would also Dee peualized for outages.
These things are quite naturally not
mentioned in the report
To sum up, the report gives the i'm
preston TO the casual reader that the
municipal plant Is giving good service
at "a low cost. while the facts are that
Its service Is poor and that the cost Is
much higher than II the lights were