Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-20
SECOND UTILITY
LAW PASSED BY
COUNCIL M { N
MAYOR VET0ES EMASCULATED
ORDlNANE
LATEST MEASURE is LITTLE BET
TER THAN FIRST
In Turning Down Farce Bill, Alexan.
der Exposes Weaknesses of Cor
porative Frameup-Municlpal
League Active

WY ITH a few burning and appro-
w pirate remarks the mayor sent
his message to the city council
yesterday vetoing the sinane public
utilities ordinance that six members
of the council passed last week, and
the council unanimously sustained the
veto.
This unanimous action made Wallace
and Wren, who were not in on the
frameup that subsequently appeared,
gasp, but they quickly caught their
breaths when Dromgold arose and In
place of the ordinance which he had
previously introduced. and which had
received such hard treatment, presented
for adoption the ordinance as 1t
originally stood before he and his
merry little blue pencil got busy The
new ordinance was passed by a vote
of seven to two. Wallace and Wren
opposing it, and President Pease, WI WIG =
had voted against the nrst Droiileo otu
ordinance, voting in its favor. =,
THE ordinance passed by the councll
Yesterday contains two clauses that
were eliminated from the ordinance
passed last week and which the mayor
vetoed. These two provisions give
the utilities commission the right TO
keep a record of all city franchises ana
to keep a bureau of complaints whlcn
shall be investigated ana Ieglslatloh ..,
necessary to correct the evils com
planned Of recommended to the council.
Commission Not Named
But this ordinance does not give the
public utilities commission any power
to advise the council on the matter OF
railway and other franchises, as does
tbe ordinance known as the Municipal
league ordinance, and which wallace
tried to have the council adopt in the
place of the one presented by Drom-
gold.
The Dromgold ordinance still pro-
yides for commission of five mem
bers, each to receive a salary OF $lOOO
a year, and a secretary, who Will re-
ceive s9400 a wear. This commission is
to be appointed by the council, but
unlike the ordinance of last week the
names Of the commissioners are not
attached to the ordinance. By Its terms
only $4,000 is appropriated for the use
of the commission, but Dromgold de-
clared the council would be glad to
give this body more money II 1t
needed it,
The remarks Of the mayor in vetoing
the ordinance were lengthy but quite
to the point. They were as follows;
To the Honorable, the City Council;
I return herewith to your honorable body
without my approval AN ordinance ere
ating the department of public utilities,
providing for a board Of public utilities
and for the appointment of the members
of said board fixing their compensation
and prescribing the powers and duties of
said board" passed October IA, 1903 for
the following reasons;
Prefers Original Measure
To form a just estimate of the merits
of this ordinance it becomes necessary to
consider with 1t two other measures that
are part Of the record Of the proceedings
of your honorable body. First an ordt-
nance of the same title and general pur-
pose drawn up by the city attorney on
the request Of your honorable body and
laid before you for discussion Tuesday,
October g. which 1 will call the original
ordinance, because it was the basis Of the
present document, and, second, en- ordi-
which was moved by Councilman
Wallace, and seconded by Councilman
Wren as a substitute for the ordinance
finally passed, and which was voted down
by a vote of six to three. This ordinance
was I am informed, offered to your hon
orable body by the Municipal league after
having been checked over by the city
attorney.
The charter makes me, in effect, a
member of the legislative body Of the
city, and I am, theferOre, entirely within
my prerogatiye when l venture to express
very distinct preference for the measure
proposed by Mr.. Wallace as a substitute.
1t Is a comprehensive and well conceived
plan for putting the utility corporations
Of this city under proper regulaton-as
the city charter requires, as the state law
allows and public sentiment demands.
The document sent me for signature, on
the contrary, seems, in its final form, to
be designed rather for the purpose Of
assisting those corporations to avoid prop
err regulation-although 1 recognize, Of
course, that such could not have been the
intent Of your honorable body in shaping
it. Read alone, the extraordinary charac-
ter of the proposed ordinance is not so
clearly revealed, but taken in conjunc-
tion with the. Wallace measure or even
in contrast with the original ordinance,
the omissions and changes become most
eloquent.
Wants Franchises Recorded
For example, both the Wallace measure
and your own original ordinance con-
tanned a clause empowering the utilities
commission to cOllate and index all the
franchises heretofore granted by the city
10 the corporations, and TO maintain such
a record hereafter. The great value OF
such a book of franchises in helping to
determine the wisdom Of future grants is
so clearly obvious to those familiar with
municipal work that l need not discuss
it in detail with you; and yet your hon
orable body has for reason, struck
this provision out of the ordinance. 1 feel
that this change was most unfortunate
Both the public and their servants in this
city hall are entitled TO the widest avail
able knowledge Of all the facts that bear
on the wisdom Of granting any particular
franchise, and 1t is notorious that the
source OF those facts has not been here
tofore practically accessible.
The appropriation provided in the origi-
nal ordinance and in the Wallace ordi-
nance was for $4,000, which is not un-
reasonably large for the volume and
character Of the work assigned TO the
commission. Your final ordinance cuts
this to $4,000, and it so allots the amount
as to make it entirely ineffective The five
commissioners are to be paid $1,000 a year
each, or $1,000, and secretary is to get
s2iCO. This exhausts s7400 of the total
leaving only 5000 to cover all office ex-
penses, printing Of report and the COM
penstaion of do quote from the ordi-
nance) such persons qualified TO render
professional scientific, technical or expert
services the board NAV deem neces-
sary." Only $500 for all that! True. vour
commission is to include an engineer, an
accountant and a lawyer, each of whom is
to receive for his technical services $1,000
year The gentlemen whom you name in
your ordinance are all eminent In their
respective professions, but whether thew
would wish to do the large amount Of
primary and detail work that is needed
to be done for the compensation named
is a decided question. Your attorney ap-
pointment, Mr.. Scott, has already settled
that matter by declining to serve Mr.
Schuyler Us a consulting engineer Of ma
tonal eminence; Mr.. Weidner is a banker
and man Of large affairs While Of
great value in an advisory capacity these
gentlemen could not be expected to do
the field work, so to speak: and Won leave
them only $500 for all purposes Here
again your measure is most unfortunate
IN that It tends TO raise question as to
the sincerity Of its purpose. 1t seems =