Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1909-04-09
Opinion Expressed that the Bill is as Dead as
Salt, Dried, Sun Cured Goldfish
THE FINAL HEARING AT HARTFORD
Many of Opinion that the Measure will Not be Reported
Fcvorably-John Cairns Gave Spicy Wind-uP to the
Hearing, "The Matter Should Not be Left to Lot oi
Iqnoramuses in the Legislature"

I he alluded in a humorous way to the
s'business men 100000 strong" who
| were said to be in favor of the meas
ure.
Not Business but Politics.
In regard to the provision that stock
Tcould nor be issued without the sane
| ton of the commission, he said;
=, "Why, they couldn't issue stock un-
| less they put on their gum shoes and
came up to Hartford to see Andy
Gates, or some other republican leader,
| to find out if they could make certain
improvements. That isn't business bat
1t is politics"
He then Called attention to the fact
that the corporations could issue un-
limited stock and bonds or other evil
dences of indebtedness for. expenditure
cutsiue the state or country and point
ed out what a drain this would be
upon the state.
"The measure was drawn by CON-
mission which was not paid for its
work, and 1 do not see any reason why
it should be- 1t was favored by gov
error who wished to bust the machine
that created him.
"He went to all the county fairs and
chicken elbows and commended the
finest eggs and the smallest sucking
pigs, and between times heard the
voice of public opinion whispering not
from the mountains, but from the base
ments of the town halls, calling for
such a bill. Gentlemen, il You think II
has merit, study it.
Years ago there used to be some
democrats in this state, but there have
not been since the Bryan total eclipse
in 1896. and the eclipse is Still on but
a party of that name in its platform
favored this measure and wanted
public utilities commieeion. In an
,,Ta - n1u daoTaraH itself IN he
opposed 10 government by commits
sions and it nominated for head Of its
ticket a man who is a director of most
of the corporations which this commits
sion is aimed to control
Gentlemen, if you took the corpora
tions out Of this state the state would
be nothing but a game preserve"
He hoped the day would come when
the executive would keep his nose and
the big stick out of the legislature and
allow the lawmakers to make the law.
Public service corporations reduce
their rates to encourage traffic and
make business.
Argument in Favor of/the Measure.
Frank S. Butterworth appeared to
argue in favor of the measure and said
that intelligent opinion is in favor of
the measure. He cited a number of
public service corporations where the
service, ne Sa1Q, was NeTV Ddu, among
them being the New Haven Gas COM
pany, and that if the Hartford Gas
company had not been overcapitalized
the public would get a cheaper rate.
He said that the New Haven Gas
company's stock sells at 10 and that
from time to time stock has been is
sued which was sold to stockholders
at 500 per share, allowing the stock
holders to make 10 points on it. He
pointed out manx of the good results
complished by the New York com
mission.
Spicy Windup to the Hearing.
This concluded the arguments. John
Cairns, however, who stated that he is
a president of the Bolton Telephone
company, gave a spicy windup to the
hearing. He spoke in favor of the
measure and said: THAT such matters
ought not to be left to the legislature
which has been composed of a lot of
ignoramuses who wouldn't know a
stock certificate from a handbill They
are from the country districts and they
do not represent the state; neither do
the labor unions represent the state. I
have been a member of one and / know
how the trick is done. The legislators
don't represent anything after they get
IN their cordWoOd for the winter"
This closed the hearing on the pub
tic utilities bill.