The Washington herald., 1909-05-12
Chesver Gas for Bslrimorp

An of1er has been made 20 the people
CT Baltimore that win undoubtedly al
tract the attention and consideration Of
our own Chamber Of Commerce, partic-
ularly in view Of the recent reduction
Of the price Of gas 10 80 cents. It IS to
supply natural gas from the West Vir-
ginia fields TO consumers al a maximum
price Of IS cents for Illuminating pu--
poses. a cents for cooking. and % cents
for engines. heating. and general domes-
tic purposes. The offer comes from the
Consolidated Gas, Electric Light and
Power Company. through its president.
S. Davies Warfeld, who announces that
he has made arrangements for the In
PRODUCTION Of sufficient natural gas into
the mains Of the company 10 supply one
halc OF the present consumption during
the next winter. and the remainder Of
the demand as rapidly as possible there
after. To 90 so VIII necessitate the con
suuetion Of a pipe line 80 miles Iong,
and the investment Of from s12000.ooO 70
s15Ooo.0lo Of new capital On the basis OF
existing consumption, the saving 70 the
gas consumers Of Baltimore by the IN
production OF natural gas would amount
10 s1-5ooo5 year, the price Of gas now
being 81
AIr- War6eld couples his offer with Ger
tain conditions which may or may not
be advantageous 10 Baltimore. though on
their face they seem fair enough One
OF them IS that the gas company shall
not be subject TO the regulation Of a pub
lie service commission. but that in leu
thereof, in order that the public interests
may be secured. the governor OF Mary
land and the mayor Of Baltimore shall
jointly name FIVE Of the eighteen direc-
tors OF the company. Another IS that the
compaHy's assessment for taxation shall
not be increased from 10000 10 ss0o0.-
F'o. as has been proposed. a third condi-
ton is that the company shall be per
mitted 10 pay q I per cent dividend on its
common stock, which It has not done
hitherto. and that the city shah be en-
titled TO 90 per cent Of The net profits over
and above 4 per cent on the common
stock. whenever such profits shall be
distributed. Under these conditions. .Nr.
Warfeld believes II viii be possible 70
obtain the capital essential TO carry cut
the project; otherwise he considers il
improbable.
These conditions wiz require careful
examination TO see whether they are a
fair equivalent Of the saving TO the gas
consumers and Of the relinquishment by
the city OF a portion Of the taxation
sought TO be imposed on the corporation.
They DO not interest Us SO much. how
ever, as the proposition TO supply a
neighboTing city, TO some extent a busi-
ness rival Of Washington, with a cheap
fuel and ilIuminant. II natural gas can
be supplied 70 Baltimore al - TO 5S cents
Il certainly can be brought 10 Washing
Ton as economically and proftably. The
Baltimore project introduces a new fac
tor into the gas situation here Of great
local Importance Its progress and de-
velopnent VIII be watched with the clos
est interest by those who believe that
80 cents by no means represents the low
est figure at which gas can be made and
distributed IN Washington. The local
gas concerns cannot expect gas consum-
ers here 70 remain satisfied with rela-
lively high prices for gas while Balti-
more no more favorably situated with
respect to the source Of supply, enjoys
q rate nearly oDe-half less on the
average.