The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-02-03
Utility Bill
Is Strongly
Demanded
Continued from Page 81

man who did not stand, but the sit
tiers were so Overwhelmingly outnum-
bered by the standees as to be lost
sight of completely.
Mr.. G. Warren Davis, president of
the Connecticut Dairymen's associa-
ton, said on his way to the hearing
he had noticed the word Connect
cut" upon several cars. He wonder
ed, he said, whether the state own
ed the vehicles, or the vehicles own
ed the state. And when he stood out
in the cold rain, with no shelter
while he waited for the car, he came
TO- the unhappy conclusion that the
vehicles owned the state. He took
by the telephone monopoly In the
agricultural districts, where CONNER
cial exchanges are refused to SUBJ
scribers, and an arbitrary charge is
made for every single telephone call
outside Of a prescribed zone.
Mr.. Davis instanced the familiar
term ''intolerable cruelty used in
divorce proceedings. This he took to
mean not any particularly fragrant
act of cruelty, but series of perhaps
petty expressions that by long con-
tinuance become intolerable. Thus
porations, said he. They have
brought about a condition where the
once well recognized principle of the
fathers Of our commonwealth, 1--WE
rights has come to be a travesty.
He said he hoped the conditions Of
Connecticut might soon approximate
those of Wisconsin, of which Prof.
Henry had spoken in such an illumi-
mating manner; where a feeling of
dence might supplant that of distrust.
Bridgeport had a worthy repre-
sentative in the person Of Mr.. S. e.
Vincent He held the closest atten-
ton Of his auditors throughout his
address. and making his points NOR.
forceful by timely anecdotes and keen
witticisms, he added much to the
strength of the advocacy Of the state
associations proposed measure.
1T is interesting to note the terms
aR son SO said this he sort of state ea It
a Public Utilities Commission. In
some states they call it a board Of
control. In Texas they want to pass
bill under the guise Of game
law recognizing that the people are
Mr. Vincent said he was instructed
to look up the bearing Of the pro-
posed Public Utilities bill upon the
lighting question. He knew some
friends in Hartford interested in the
gas business, and applied to them
for a little information. They said
it was such a changeable subject that
they could not very well help him
out. In Waterbury he knew some
people interested in the same line,
the standard of efficiency is concern
ed, it runs all the way from a light
tonic to a deadly poison.
In all seriousness, Mr.. Vincent said
he believed there is not utility in
the state of Connecticut today of
which so little is known as the gas
business. 1t is the business of the
ordinary householder and consumer,
said he, to keep a record of it. If
you succeed in establishing a COM
mission such as is proposed it will be
the duty of that commission to fix a
standard of efficiency that can be
enforced and any time the consumer
feels that he is not getting gas up
to that standard, of heating or illumi-
mating power, he has right to ap-
peal at once to have his charges
rectified or his gas bettered.
Suppose" continued Mr.. Vincent,
1--WE have a court Of commerce bill,
as / understand it, where the con-
sumner is obliged to prove his own
case. 1t would mean that you must
have competent chemist analyze
and test and repeat the test a num-
Der of times, in order to get even a
fair sample of what is furnished from
time to time.
cess. After getting a number of
chemical analyses, fancy a man go
ing before the court of commerce,
| presided over by a judge of the SUI
periOr court, trying to defend his
rights in the presence Of a gas ex-
pert and chemist summoned by the
company and a competent attorney
to examine him for the purpose Of
showing he did not know what he
| was talking about.
"The average consumer doesn't
| know whether carbon dioxide is a
specific for the hookworm or a liver
tonic. He knows nothing of the
| meaning of the thermal unit, and as
for the electric current with it's am
peres and volts, he doesn't know
had in his ark or the body and soul
! of electric current. He doesn't know
whether watt and kilowatt are Latin
| names for fleas or the standard to
settle the bills by
Gentlemen" continued Mr.. Win
cent, You are in a new field Of leg
islation. You are trying experiments.
And when, for the people of Con-
necticut, you are going to make a
trial of a new thing, whose advice
| ought you to take? Are you going to
the ultra conservative man, or to the
| ultra radical man, or to the sober
sense of the business men of Con-
necticut who, have spent months and
| months on this bill and have not got
any gun out for the railroad com
come to feel that they need us and
we need them. Whose advice are
you going to take? The course must
be plain to you. One or two alter
natives will be presented. We will
either be obliged to meet on the
common ground with equal interest
and form a plan for the future that
will be just and fair to all, or the
government is going to say that these
utilities are part of a common need
and in some way or another they
have got to be provided.
In closing his remarks Mr. Vincent
brought into use the story Mark
Twain told of the twins who prided
themselves on their similarity of ap-
pearance and dress. and who could be
told apart only by thrusting ones fin
ger into their mouths. John had
teeth and Joe had none. If you placed
your finger in Johns mouth. then hit
him under the chin and you felt his
teeth, you were sure it was John
eff you're going to give US a bill
at ALL" said he. drawing a parallel to
the two bills before the committee.
''give us the John Bill. the Business
Mems Association bill. with the teeth
in it. and not the Joe Bill
Prolonged applause greeted Mr.. VIM
cents address.
T. NJ. Crowley. chairman of the
Workingmen's Political League of
Connecticut, was next called upon.
Mr.. Crowley introduced himself as the
speaker of a new movement in Con-
necticut. organized Oct g. last. in
convention in Hartford. with ITO dele
gates representing 10000 workingmen