The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-10-22
PEOPLES FORUM Electricians 'WiSe"
 If Mayors Not

Editor Farmer:-
 Henry Lee demonstrated at the Re publican convention that he has gall enough to try to sell hymn bookS to an elephant. He told the delegates of Bridgeport that the cost of street lighting had been reduced, $5 per lamp during his administration.
 He is going to base this claim upon the attempt to throttle the investiga- tlon of the electric light company. At the first hearing of this investigation committee Supt. Paul and Judge Beers were put on the run and the people thought they were going to see a real hearing.
 MT. Paul made a statement at that meeting to the. effect that the street lighting contract only paid the com rany about $375 per year.
 But at the last meeting of the inves- tlgation committee a proposition was received signed by Judge Beers, that past master of political; subterfuge, whereby the company would Top off. $5 on the price, of each lamp and do the work of lighting the city for about 8, = 900 less per year if you will stop the investigation. If the story told by Paul at the first hearing was true then the company is willing to do bus mess at a loss Do you believe it?
 It appears 10 me as II SOII10 IDXy attorney for the electric tight company went to the Mayor and said tsDrop this investigation and I will give you some campaign dope that will look good from the front if you pass oser it quickly in your speeches. It looks to me as if the statesman from South Coventry fell for the scheme and called in his man, David s. Day, and told him to get the en- dorsement@of the scheme from the in yestigating committee.
 It happened that Alderman Bullard is an engineer and was too much on the level to be a party to such q scheme. He convinced all of his col leagues that there was something wrong somewhere and MT. Day did not walk away with the plan to get cam paign material for MT. Lee.
 On the head of it all a man named Thomas Blewitt, an expert in the elec- tricai world, appeared before the com mittee and said that the city ought to get light at $40 an arc light. The city is paying SIS and Mayor Lee wants to make the bluff that he got the price down to $73.
 What business has the Mayor to seek to quash an investigation in order that he may get a little campaign material, the use of which at the Republican convention makes him charlatan in the game of politics?
 This gentleman who would be May or for two years more would advocate that the city pay $73 per lamp for cleo 'tric lights when a further investiga- tion into the affairs of the company would show that the company has been making an abnormal profit for years. The Mayor ought to know that it is possible for the United Illuminat- ing Go. to furnish the fcity with lamps at less than SIS. But he sd loves the people that he would choke off the in vestigation and talk about the $5 gain on the stump. '
 I If the Mayor is going to make the cost of producing electricity a part of this campaign he had better look out, for there are electricians in Bridgeport who know all about the plant of the United Illuminating Co. and what MT. Blewitt told the Investigating commit tee was true.
 FI FI,ECTRICIAN.