The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-12-08
RULING IS
 CONDEMNED
Publicity Policy of the Utilities Commission Violates Spirit
 of the New Law
IT QUICKLY DRAWS FIRE
Withholding of Evidence and Exam inatiOn of Witnesses in Private
 AsSaiIed.

ASSauod.
 New Haven, Dec. S-The announced policy of the public utilities commits sion by which it is provided that all evidence or records submitted to the commission for the purpose of deter mining the cause and circumstances of an accident. shall be withheld from the public, and that witnesses may be examined privately if the commits sion so decides, and only the ,conclu- sions reached by the commission giv- en out, has occasioned surprise among the advocates of the commission in this city and throughout the state who had looked for the fullest pub hcity as feature of the new mea- sure. There is disappointment that the commission sees fit to initiate the methods of the old railroad commis- sion, and 'here are those who ask what, if any. is the improvement in the utilities measure over the body it supplants, If all the facts submitted to the body are to be kept secret by the three members, Messrs. Higgins. Hale and Ford.
 It is claimed that one of the es- sential objects sought in the insti- tuition of the new commission was the throwing of the searchlight of pub llcity upon acts heretofore discussed behind closed doors.
 Policy of NOn-Publicity.
 This new publicity policy. why it is policy of non-publicity," laughed one man, in talking about it.
 Secret sessions in all public bodies have always been dep1ored and the prevalent fault of the railroad conn mission was that all it's sessions were held in secret, and wheenver its mem bers pleased, they gave out a fact or two to the hungry public. These same people say that the commission at the outset of its career has enveloped it. self in cloak of suspicion, and that the whole purport of the commission has been perverted. It has by an> nouncing that all it's evidence shall be withheld jeopardized the confidence reposed in it by the people who have expected so much from the new body.
 Disclaim Attempts at Secrecy.
 On the other hand, members of the utilities commission disclaim attempts at privacy in the hearings they main- tain as they have from the first, that they covet publicity and want the public to feel that it is welcome at all it's conferences, but at the same time they fail to reconcile this state ment with the published one that ex- animation of witnesses shall be pri-.
 
 so ordains.
 Commissioner Ford's Explanation.
 Theodore Ford, of Bridgeport, one of the members of the. commissions said the body could hardly be ex- pected to lay before the public the data secured to arrive at conclusion. No administrative, Judicial or advis- ory body could be called upon to adopt any such policy. MT. Ford maintain ssrr n1@ I~a at any of the sessions of the commis- sion." said MT. Ford. We will well come every one at our hearings. It must be understood, however, that we are not an administrative body, that we have no interests in the individual. Our province is to safeguard the ap. paratuS, and to eliminate conSidera- tion of the individual entirely. Exam ination of witnesses is not a preroga- tive of the bill We move on the lines of prevention, not punishment. 1t is our duty to rectify errors. We don't hold that the individual is at all re- sponsible." By this it may seem that MT. Ford dodges the point at issue, inasmuch as it may not readily be perceived just how the statement that public hearings are welcomed can be reconciled with the fact that data shall be withheld.
 Public Welfare Doesn't Require It?
 Henry F. Billings of Hartford, clerk of the commission, insisted that any rulings made by the commission were for the public interests, and not for outside interests. The commission, he contended reserved some rights to it. self. Its aim is to seek the cause, the facts, and circumstances of. an acci- dent, and accordingly make sugges- tions and recommendations to reme- dy such causes, if any are needed. It Tn n i'm ncC 0 Y~yy fa a public welfare that the latter should know the intimate facts concerning the causes. etc.. of the accident.
 George B. Chandler, of Rocky Hill, refused to say anything concerning the ruling until he reached a con- clusion after careful perusal
 Inconsistent, Says Judson.
 Attorney Stiles Judson, of Strat- ford. said he could not understand how the commission could be said to have public hearings, as it professed to endorse, and then withhold the evidence. The hearings of the com mission were supposed to be open to the public and yet the ruling says that only the records or findings of the commission into the cause and circumstances of the accident are to be suppressed. The second provision of the ruling that transcripts of exi7 dence should be preserved and with
  ent, but he did not see how if the spirit of the act required publicity, and the examination of witnesses, it should be necessary to tuck away evil dence.
 The examination of witnesses in private he contended is inconsistent with the whole spirit of the act.
 Ex-Gov. Woodruff Disapproves.
 Ex-Governor Woodruff of this city, who has been interested in the sub- ject of public utilities, but who did not favor the present bill, said he did not approve of secret sessions in any body. He believed the present pol icy of the commission branded the body as little better than the old railroad commission. 1T approve of public sessions, said the ex-governor, .'and this examination of witnesses in a star chamber cannot gain the con- fidence of the public of Connecticut something we can pass Judgment on. for. new com m iSGiar nf ,o,,r-<,