Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-08
COUNCIL STANDS
PAT On LIGHTING
AND PHONE RATES
Hears Corporations Walls of In
juStice,' but Will Brook
No Amendments
ALL-DAY HEARING IS GIVEN
Voters to Settle Illuminating Is
sue June 30-SpeCiaI
Election Ordered
ALL-DAY HEARING is GIVEN

II nEVELOPMENTS in the light and
telephone controversy between the
~ city government and the corpo-
rations involved came thick and fast
yesterday, and when evening brought a
temporary end to the turmoil these
things seemed clearly established:
The council will not back down from
the position it has assumed. OF its own
volition it will suffer no amendment
either to the lighting ordinance or to
the ordinance fixing telephone rates.
The lighting rate, however, will be
submitted to the voters in the form OF
a referendum at the special election to
be held June 80, though such submiS-
sion will not be brought about by the
corporations, but by friends of the
ordinance, whose aim is to ward off a
later referendum which the companies
had planned to institute against the
same ordinance.
The work of securing signatures TO
this referendum petition probably will
be begun this morning, and will be
prosecuted diligently until the laws re-
quirements have been met.
HOLD CONFERENCE
early yesterday morning when repre-
sentatiyes of the light companies called
at the city hall and were shown into
the mayors office. Members of the city
council also dropped in. City Attorney
Hewitt was summoned, and by nine
o'clock the first conference of the day
was under way.
At that meeting the light corpora
tions submitted a compromise offer.
SlF council rannnSt0Ar
its action in fixing lighting rates at
cents a kilowatt hour, with minimum
charge of 81 a month, and theS agreed
to split the difference between the pro-
posed rate and the rate now in force.
In addition, they agreed to reduce the
minimum charge from 81 to IS cents.
AS the present rate is cents kilowatt
hour, that means that the companies
would agree to an Scent rate, and
would promise If their terms We're ac-
cepted to abandon all referendum pro-
ceedings.
MAYOR DON'T YIELD
Throughout the discussion, however,
Mayor Alexander remained firm in his
determination to secure fiat 7-cent
rate for the people. He did not receive
the unanimous support of the council,
but he always had a majority with
him. Two members of the council were
frankly in favor of the compromise.
One was for 1t part of the time and
against it part of the time. At the
close of the meeting 1t is doubtful
whether any of his confreres knew just
where he stood; and perhaps he didn't
know himself, but it made little differ
ence, as a majority stood by the mayor.
The Home Telephone company, also
represented at the conference, asked
for a reconsideration of the telephone
10 nd or a
as though this would be granted. The
conference adjourned, however, without
reaching any decision in the matter.
Then followed a council meeting, in
the course of which the telephone case
was presented in the open by H. w.
O'Melveny, who asked that the COM
panies be permitted to impose an addi-
tional charge Of 20 cents month for
portable phones used in residences and
so cents for office portables. At the
same time he asked that the rate for
extensions to hotel and apartment
building rooms be reduced from 81, the
present rate, to so cents each.
COMPANIES WOULD SUFFER-
Mr.. O'Melveny argued that the port
able phone is a convenience for which
the subscribers should be made to pay
extra, since it costs more to install
and more for maintenance than wall
phones. Furthermore, he declared that
if there is no difference in price, all
subscribers will demand the portable
phone, thus putting the company to an
unusual expense and making their
many wall phones valueless.
Mr.. O'Melveny's talk drew Council
man Andrews to his feet with an In
duiry. Mr.. Andrews wanted to know
by what right the Home Telephone
company presumed to collect 25-cent
~.
their bills are not paid by the 10th of
each month. He explained that he
himself had been caught in this way
and he wanted to know under what
law or ordinance the telephone COM
pany was acting when it taxed him a
quarter of a dollar because he had for
gotten to pay bill as promptly as
the telephone company thought 1t ought
to be paid and before it's amount had
been earned.
The colloquy created considerable
amusement, though neither of the par
ticipants seemed to regard it as partic-
ularly humorous. At its close the COM
pany's petition was referred to the
committee of the whole. Developments
later in the day, however, make 1T
practically certain that neither of the
requests embodied in 1t will be granted
by the council.
To STAND PAT"
At 1 o'clock the council again as
sembled in the mayors Office. Again
the city attorney was called in, and the
whole matter of light and telephone
rates was threshed out anew. No rep
resentatives of the corporations were
present at this meeting, and when 1t
was finally adjourned it was announced
that no changes would be made IN
either ordinance; that the council
would stand pat. and that the mayor
would stand with them.
That the light and power companies
will not file their own referendum pc
tition in time to have the ordinance
submitted to a vote June 30 became
certain late yesterday afternoon when
Mayor Alexander received from them a
peppery communication in answer to
his letter mailed the day before and in
which he asked them to advise him Of
pa