The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1909-04-09
FUTILE, IMPRACTICAL, USELESS
An Estimate of Vermont's Public Service Commission
Bill by an Outsider

OF all futile, impractical and useles
, legislation produced in the last year, til
,, Vermont public utilities bill stands ou
, most prominently. Not only does it fa
to protect either the public or the con
panies, but it lays them both open to ne,
dangers and abuses 1t has failed t
profit by wise and carefully CONSIDERS
legislation in other states, and has set tn
state of Vermont up as the foremost ex
ample of retrogression in public control o
public utilities. The unique feature abou
the situation is the fact that this alb
surdly inadequate bill is the product 0
interests which usually are loudest in thei
claims for recognition as public benefac
tors.
In only one particular has the bill any
merit over other state regulatory legisla
ton. and this is in the matter of provid
ing an adequate and expeditions appeal to
the courts. But of what use is this when
there is nothing to appeal for? In all
other respects the bill is pitifully made
quate, and almost criminally open to vio-
lation 1t is the severest blow that has
yet been dealt to the advocates of honest
and effective regulation of public service
corporations, for it is travesty on the
good intentions of the original promoters
Of the bill It's chief effect will be to I'M
dermine confidence in the effectiveness of
all regulatory legislation.
The responsibility for this miscarriage
of legislative power lies with the indie
pendent telephone interests, and certain
other corporation directors, who are evil
IDENTIFY afraid to have their dealings made
public. Through the combined influence
of these two groups which were largely
represented in the legislature, the intent
of the bill was completely altered, a pro-
vision for uniform accounting was stricken
out, and a clause added which reads as
follows
"Nothing in this act or previous stat
utes shall be considered as giving the
public service commission power to pre-
vent or restrict competition or limit the
number of persons or companies who may
engage in the business of furnishing light,
heat, power or any other business sub
iect to supervision under this act in any
town"
The "any other business" means the in
dependent telephone companies in particu
lar. They are responsible for that clause
They resorted to every means of coercion
and persuasion known to legislative bod |
es to secure bill which would not com
bel them to show themselves on fair
r. or with the New England Telephone
md Telegraph company. They even went
10 far as to advance the argument that, if
he clause forbidding the restriction of
was not passed, the commits
ion could at once compel the Independent
ompanies to go out of business!
The telephone people were not the only
mes, however, who objected to limit to
In a meeting at Montpel-
er. short time after the passage of the
ill, State Senator F. C. Cory boosted of
he fact that the bill was absolutely use
ess. That's why we passed it," he
houted. eff it had amounted to anything
e wouldn't a let it go through. We {
ant competition here, and we aren't 60 {
I to let any public utilities commission {
IN our business" This man is inter S
'ted in fish, street railways, lighting, and
olitics in Montpelier, having just built t
1 electric plant to compete with the Con- {
,lidated Lighting company, which has at l
r as could be learned, there is abso- i
tely no criticism of the consolidated, I
We 0n the part of Mr.. Cory and few a
his associates. G
1t is such men as these who have
ought about the feeling that exists in f
me minds against public service corpora o
ons. This man has had himself appoint +
representative of the people, and then b
presents his own interests, whether
ey conflict with public policy or not. n
e is one of the loudest in complaint that
|
I'd, yet he is himself, in the hope OF per- t
nal gain at public expense, promoting o
enterprise which will increase the in n
stment per customer-and which will Il
ep up the price of electricity-in Mont n
lier, regardless of the welfare of the Q
$
capitals, s-people who prey =
public prejudice against monopoly !
cognize that law placing them under u
i'd regulation would greatly curtail their IL
portunities to profit from raids on in
rests which are trying to help them II
yes by rendering adequate and satistac- e.
~ service to the communities in which Ia
ey operate. No corporation is unseltish, II
t there are different degrees of selfish h
IS. 1t is easy to discriminate between Il
ose who advance a city while. advanc- tt
themselves, and those who look out O.
themselves even though an added cost te
" result to the people as a whole: to
t is said that most of the legislators IL
ognized the force of the arguments add W
need to the effect that competition tt
,uld be regulated by the commission, p
{ Senator Cory and his friends had, &C
his own admission, too much intu- bl
,e to permit even the best plea in the pc
rid to carry on it's merits. By denying p'
commission the right to regulate COM pc
ition. the legislature has laid every FL
Y in the state open to wildcat promot- al
s. who can go into community and &c
ce the existing companies to buy them 1t
!. 1t makes it possible for these specu- wi
ors to reap a rich harvest, which in In