The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-03

selling liquor without first interviewing Messrs. Agee and company, and receiving their indorsement.
 The old darky testified that he had pur- chased half pint of booze from the de- fendant, who by the way, was represented by one of the most distinguished mem- bers of the Birmingham bar. The old 
 to thereby gain distinct advantage over competitors.
 'Tt is known that said company has been claiming that the Ensley lines were their least profitable lines. Now If they are losing S70.0O0 per annum by reducing the rates on these two lines and g1vins certain transfers, what must be the net 'h- come of the company when all of It's 1ol- lowing lines are taken into account: Avon dale line, Fountain Heights line, Idle wild line, Norwood line, Avenue c. line, South Fifteenth street line, Depot inc, East Lake line, Boyles line, Gate City line, North Birmingham line, North Ems ley line South Ensley line, North Bes- cemer line and South Bessemer line,
 Effect of Reductions
 'But I do not, by any means, concede the company Is losing $SO,00O on the re- auction in it's lighting rates, or that such reduction will in the least affect the great masses of our citizens. The contrary is shown in a series of articles written by MT. Frederick 1T. Lewis, citizen of sterling worth and capable electrical en- gineer, whose opinion and statements nave been reinforced by others in position to know The reduction from 12c to 1Oc per lIilowatt hour with a 5 per cent discount will benefit the arge consumers some, but the average citizen will do quite as well under the old arrangement-l2c per kilo- watt hour with 10 per cent reduction Tor the reason that his consumption will never reach 30 kilowatt hours, and instead or getting a 10 per cent discount, if bill be paid within 10 days after notice, he VIII get only per cent discount The com pany itself admits that the average con- sumption is about 30 kilowatt hours. Then is it not clearly to be seen that the work ingman will lose rather than gain? What the commission should aim at is the great est good to the greatest number.
 "The company's friends (and they arc few in number on this issue) seem to think the company is entitled to special consideration. Why so? They have had contract out of which they have made millions Then why should It, with all the advantages of a going concern,s fear com petition. It ought to hold its own against all corners near the termination of Its old contract. Besides, if it is so regardful of public opinion, why did 1t not reduce it's charges for gas and for heat? Neither one Is mentioned in the new contract. l have made many inquiries of citizens in other cities, and the charges to the con- sumer are hardly half what they are here notwithstanding our cheap coal. There is something radically wrong in all this which can be remedied only by com petition or by municipal ownership.
 Think They Own It
 'It is a matter of almost universal ob servation that person or corporation can be in possession of a thing for a number of years and after so long time they will begin to think they own it. It Is so with the Birmingham Railway, Light and Pow CT company. They have reached the point where, when they are within reasonable reach of customers, say within 200 feet, they have on several occasions, to my knowledge, required customers to pay them for connecting the current, and l have had to cite them more than once be- fore the board to right wrongs of the city. In the face of competition, everyone knows that it ought not happen in The company's dealings with it's proposed cus- toners. It has dominated this city so long that some of its officers seem to think the city and citizens have no rights which they are bound to respect. It Is a notable fact that at the last session of the legislature a bill was enacted which practically absolved the company from the payment of any license, although al most every other citizen is bound to pay, though many of them find it hard to make ends meet
 Under the general revenue law of 1911. page 1SS section 36-F, it is provided that no municipality can collect of any persons, firm, or corporation operating street rail roads, electric light plants, gas furnish- ings, steam heating, or water, a license exceeding ? per centum per annum of the gross receipts of said business; and pro viding that from that amount shall be deducted the license taxes assessed upon its tangible property, such as franchises, etc. So this company will practically es- cape the payment of any license to the city of Birmingham for the next three years, unless the legislature be called in extra session. l have no idea that one in ten of the members of the legislature knew anything about the opei talon of this section. It is true that the company has agreed that for the year 1912 the taxes shall not fall below the taxes and licenses for 1910. but this makes no allowance for the increase of taxable values for the year 1911 This is what I call gross and manifest injustice. For the year 1913 and 1914 the city will lose practically all li- censes from said company.
 ''One of the most serious objections to the new contract is the increased difficult ty of the city's purchasing at it's, fair value the light plant of the company. It must be perfectly manifest that the com pany would place its holdings at a much higher value with a 10 year contract ehead than 1t would If its contract ex- tended only three and one-half years. r my part. I am heartily in favor of municipal ownership. In Manchester, England the city made last year $70O 0OC net profit out of its gas plant alone. al- though it was then charging only 55 cents per 1000 cubic feet for gas; $226.0o0 was transferred from the gas department to the general fund, and the city has decid- ed to reduce gas to the consumers at d9 cents per 1000 cubic feet. and also reduce tre rate of taxation. or course. Birming- lam could not hope to do this well. Man chester being a city of 6a0,0OO people Jacksonville, Fla. Is enjoying municipal ownership. It's net earnings on its light . md power plant for the first nine months of ths year amounted to s24a 93o. The au- thoriyed statement of the Birmingham Railway. Light and Power company showed that it's net earnings had in creased from s7S4,s44 in 1905 to 112O, ssa in ,9ro and yet the people would be made to believe that this company is having hard time of it.
 Waterworks Contract