Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-03
PETITION AGAINST
CHEAPER LIGHTS
SIGNED BY 5000
Electric Corporations Show Their
Power in Move to Suspend
New Ordinance
GET BEHIND REFERENDUM
Plan Forcing Election on the Peo-
pile Before Lower Rates
Can Go Into Effect

IN I'VE thousand persons yesterday
said they did not want cheaper
u electric lights and were so sure of
IL that they signed a referendum petit
tion circulated by the public service
corporations. If all the signatures OBJ
tanned to the petition yesterday are
those of qualified voters the number is
nearly twice enough to suspend the
operation of the ordinance reducing
the electric light rates passed by the
council last Saturday.
The ordinance, under ordinary cir
cumstances, would be effective July 1.
but the certification of the referendum
will suspend its operation until it is
decided by q vote of the people.
The council has said that if such a
referendum was filed 1t would order a
special election as soon as possible, be-
cause the council believes that the
great majority of the people do want
cheaper light and will vote to sustain
the ordinance.
The electric corporations do not want
a special election and do not ask for it
in their referendum petition. But the
charter provides the council has the
option of calling a special election or
laying the matter over until the next
general election. If it is laid over until
the next general election the people
will not have a chance to vote on it
until December 1911. This would prac
tically inValidate the ordinance alto
gether, as the rates are fixed from
year to year and before it could be
voted on at the next general election
another rate fixing time would have
come around and another ordinance
be passed.
Until the next rate ordinance was
passed the old one that operated last
year and is now effective, making the
price of electricity cents kilowatt,
would be operative. This is Just what
the electric light companies want.
CORPORATIONS GET BUSY
The referendum petition was drawn
up almost as soon as the ordinance
was published by the city council. In
fact the very type with which the or
dinance was pripted Is used in the ref
erendum petition and Champ S. Vance,
manager of operation of the Los Ange-
les Gas and Electric corporation,
pointed out that If there was anything
legally wrong with the petition the
same would lie against the ordinance
itself.
The petition was not put into circu
lation until yesterday morning and by
3 o'clock last night Mr. Vance had re-
ports that assured him that more than
5000 signatures had been secured. such
n number of signatures to petition OF
this kind in one day is unprecedented
IN the history OIL tile Hlttily l0lSl
initiative and recall petitions the city
has had to deal with and shows, to
some extent the organization of the
public service corporations. 1t Is TINS
same organization, 1t is stated, that is
let loose at election time.
Sections of the petition were on file
with a number of banks and large
business houses in the city and patrons
were asked to sign 1t. Many did with
out realizing that they were insisting
on keeping up the price Of their own
household bills.
Since the passage of the ordinance
the Edison Electric, the Pacific Light
and Power and the Los Angeles Gas
and Electric corporations have stopped
ali extensions and last night the Los
Angeles Gas and Electric corporation
discharged 100 employees, nearly all of
them linemen.
of operation" said Mr. Vance, man
ager of operation. The reduction in
rates from to cents a kilowatt hour
means a reduction in our income of
90 per cent The men discharged re-
ceived an average wage of $3.50 day
and by discharging 100 of them we
save $3.50 a day in labor alone. 1t Is
probable more will be let out.
eft is certain we will make no more
extensions under the 7 cent rate, and
no other electric company will extend
for such a rate. We can't afford to do
it. I have gathered data from twenty
eight of the largest cities in the United
states at Denver, Tacoma, Rochester
and Grand Rapids, where they have an
8 cent rate. The other cities run as
high as Is cents, in Detroit and Port
land"
The other light companies have not
discharged any employees, but they
have stopped their extensions and no
tilted tract owners that any new
houses they build off the cables al
ready established would not be con-
nected with electricity.
A referendum is in the process of
publication for the telephone ordinance
and the telephone companies expect
to have it in circulation in a few days.
The referendums do not have to be
filed until thirty days after the ap-
proval of the ordinance, and the cleo
trio companies expect to obtain 10000
signatures or more before they file
theirs.