Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1910-03-23

only to purchase by municipality
would encourage wholesale surren-
der of existing franchises, limited the
time during which public service cor
porations could take advantage of
that section of the law This did not
follow Much to the surprise of those
who conceived the plan" continues
the report, less than one in ten of
the public service corporations availed
themselves of the privilege"
What were probably the controlling
reasons for this hesitaucy on the part
of the corporations are suggested in
its report by the commission. 1t IS
pointed out that the coming of a new
phrase by the legislature, ''indetermi-
nate permit, was unfortunate in that
corporations did not grasp the value
of the opportunity given them to Sc
cure a perpetual, exclusive franchise.
Further, these same utilities probably
had an erroneous, though not ill-found-
ed conception of the value of their ex-
listing franchises. Corporations have
no good ground for hesitating to sur
render franchises which they be-
lieve to have a definite mean
ing in law for something which they
believe has not yet been defined by
the courts, awaiting judicial inter
probation of the phrase, ''indeterml-
nate permit" As matter of fact ac.
cording to the commission, ''the stat
ute contains as explicit a definition as
is possible to make and leaves moth
ing for Interpretation or explanation
There is no element of value in such
franchises that makes them a more
desirable acquisition of a public serv.
ice corporation than the practically
perpetual exclusive franchises provid-
ed by the statute"
The commission inclines to the view
that perhaps 1T would have been bet
ter if the legislature had in the first
instance amended every franchise by
making it exclusive and practically
perpetual, although subject to termi-
nation by the acquisition of the phys
ical property Of the utility under emil
nent domain. The necessity of coin
ing new phrase to denominate a
well established legal right or priv
lege might have been thus avoided, or,
if deemed desirable, might have been
employed without causing any anxiety
on the part OF those whose rights
were being enlarged rather than cur
tailed by the amendment
Uniform Accounts.
The most notable achievement of
the statistical department of the com
mission was the completion of the UNI
form accounting system. Many utili-
ties have already entirely conformed
their methods to the requirements OF
the uniform classification and their
fiscal year to the statIte which re
quires that the fiscal year Of all util-
tiles shall end on June so. Other util-
tiles are at present engaged in
changing their systems of accounting
TO conform to the commissions re
quirements.
Price of Gas.
The average consumer makes vari-
Gus mistakes as to the comparative
price and value of gas in different To-
calities. The general public is apt to
neglect to consider the quality of gas
as tested by its. heating value. Gas
selling for the lowest price per thou
sand cubic feet may, because Of its
lower heating value be actually the
more expensive. Quite likely most OF
the patrons of gasoline gas plants be-
lieve that the AGO heat unit gas they
receive is cheaper than the GOO heat
unit coal or water gas sold in a neigh
boring town for few cents more per
thousand.
Poor Management of Small Plants.
"One-man" electric light plants,
their unscientific and unbusiness like
are given considerable
in the commissions re-
port. There are forty-fve plants in
the state that employ but one man,
upon whom falls the entire burden Of
operation, firing, superintendent
meter reading, collection, etc. Fifteen
Of these plants are run in connection
with water works, so that this lone
employe is the general factotum OF
two distinct utilities.
Reasons for Improbable UtiIities.
Lack Of profit in the operation of
most Of these small plants and also Of
the larger ones. says the commission,
is due largely to lack of economies
such as the use of feed water heat,
ers, proper firing Of boilers, selection
and weighing of coal, covering of
steam pipes repairing OF leaks, setting
OF engine valves, and the like. Small,
old type transformers are responsible
for large continuous losses. Many
OlSpfS have a nnch Iaroor Transfers