The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1910-06-07
RE. |. &P. Co S Proposed Fran
chise Question Much Discussed.
The City Will Establish an lncandescent
Plant il Necessary.

President Bradley read the call and
announced the Council was ready TO
consider the question.
Mr. Warden presented the following
resolution, which was seconded by Mr..
Masters:
Whereas, the Common Council did, at
the-regular meeting on the 18th day OF
February, pass an ordinance creating
an electric light and power franchise,
and did order said franchise to be ad-
vertised, should it be approved by the
Mayor, for four successive weeks, once
each week, in The Daily Star and in The
Evening Journal; and,
Whereas, the said Council did, at the
regular meeting held on the 2lst day OF
April, accept the bid of the Rappahan-
mock Electric Light and Power Com
pany for said franchise; and,
Whereas, tire said company did. IN
good faith. pay to, or deposit with, the
clerk of the Council the sum which the
said company did bid for said franchise;
and,
Whereas, when the franchise as ad-
vertised was presented to said company
for the acceptance in writing by said
company, the official or officials OF said
company to whom it was so presented
claimed that the terms of the franchise
so presented differed materially from
those in the franchise acted upon by
the Council, and. consequently, de-
clined to accept the said franchise; and,
Whereas, at the regular meeting held
on the 18th day of May it was found
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for the acceptance of bids for iran
chises had not been followed at the pre-
ceding meeting, and, consequently. the
whole question was referred to JOINT
Committee, composed of the Committees
on Ordinances and Finance, to be taken
up de novo; and,
Whereas, the said Rappahannock
Electric Light and Power Company is
now operating without franchise and
without having secured license, and
having refused to apply for license
until the question of the franchise has
been disposed Of; and,
Whereas, the said company has been
indicted by the grand jury because OF
its failure 10 secure license; and,
Whereas, the disseminating of opera
tons by the company. caused either by
the results arising out of said indict-
ment or by the voluntary act OF sad
company pendisg the settlement OF the
franchise question, would work a great
hardship and cause heavy losses to a
number Of manufacturing plants now
supplied with electricity by said CON-
pany. as well as causing Inconvenience
and loss to such of our citizens as are
dependent upon said company for light
and power; now, therefore, be II
Resolved, % That should said Rap
pahannock- Electric Light and Power
Company secure a license and continue
operations during the pending OF the
question Of the granting Of franchise
| the Council hereby agrees that the
money paid for said license, or 50 much
of it as may be necessary, shall be ap-
piled towards the payment Of whatever
tax may be levied by the Council on the
said franchise, should the said company
! be the successful bidder.
(2) And that nothing in this resolu-
ton shall be construed as preventing
the Council levying license tax.
(3) That the Council will at once
proceed to act upon the question of the
granting of franchise, and that il will
permit of no unnecessary delay.
President Bradley said that City At
torney Fitzhugh was present and as
this was a matter in which legal ques-
tions were involved, the Rappahannock
Electric Light and Power Co. being I'M
der indictment for doing business with
out license, asked that he be request
ed to advise the Council legally.
Mr.. Fitzhugh was heard and said
that the Council at the request OF the
Rappahannock Electric Light and Power
Co. had prepared a franchise which IT
thought was entirely acceptable to said
company, and the same was published
in both city papers for four consecutive
weeks and at the expiration OF that
time the company sent check for It's
bid Of said franchise for S2OO
and the Council heard no objection
to the proposed franchise until the May
meeting of said Council when 1t pro-
posed to adopt the franchise which had
been published according to law, when
il was informed by Preside,.t Burgwyn,
of said Co., that it could not accept
such franchise. The Council then re-
ferred back the franchise to the Joint
Committee and notified President Burg
WIN that the Joint Committee would
hear any objection to said franchise.
President Burgwyn appeared before
said Joint Committee and proposed an
entirely different franchise from the
one published and which permitted his
Co. to continue for 30 years to operate
the WORKOUT and dangerous plant
which by sufferance tie company has
been operating in this city to the great
peril to life and fire, and informed the
Joint Committee that when a franchise
is granted the company claimed that
the city could not impose any license
tax upon said company for use OF its
streets. and advised President Burgwyn
that the franchise as published did not
and was not intended to require the
company to locate its generating plant
within the city limits, but that II would
insist that the company establish a
first-class distributing plant, consisting
of wires and poles, in the city,
as had been required of the Fred
ericksburg Power Co. in its franchise;
that there was no conceivable reason
why the company should not pay the
license tax for the use Of the city s
streets, which it had been annually pay
ing for many years and was now under
Indictment for not paying, and that the
matter of the franchise was still before
the Joint Committee and that the Coun-
ell will in my Judgment stultify itself
by considering, much less adopting, the
proposed resolution offered by Mr..
Warden.
Mr.. Fitzhugh also said the passage
of the resolution would create great
confusion and complicate matters; that
he could not imagine who had advised
the Rappahannock Co. to the course II
was pursuing unless it be Mr.. Warden,
and to say the least it was i'll advised.