The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-02-09
SUCCESSFUL u MUNICIPAL
 OWNERSHIP
(Contiued from Page 1.)

between the railroad and it's em-
 ployes. He spoke in passing of the
 striking similarity of phraseology be-
 tween publications of the railroad
 employees and the railroad itself on the question at issue.
 Attorney Terry was on his feet in
 an instant He demanded an expla-
 nation of the charge"
 "I am making no charges" sald Meltzer.
 "I have here, men, exclaimed Ter ry, whom I want to put on the . witness stand-men who were in my
 office when I was preparing the mat , ter to the phraseology of which you
 refute those charges--
 'Tm making no charges" re1terat. ed Meltzer. I'm simply stating facts"
 The controversy would no doubt
 have waXed much warmer had not Chairman Judson tactfully interven-
 ed.
 The most striking feature of the : hearing, however. was the appear ance of Attorney George Wallace, of New Haven, who was prominently timber by the Democrats who subse- quently nominated and elected May or Tom Reilly of Meriden. Attor- ney Wallace announced himself in fa- vor of the Business Mems Bill, but when he got through suggesting
 
 the desired results, and Attorney N. C. Allen for the State Business Mems association asked him if aside from the changes he recommended he was in favor of the bill, the house rock ed with laughter.
 Attorney Wallace however, held the rostrum for a long time, and appar- | ently welcomed the volleys of ques- tions hurled at him from all sides. He declared in unmeasured terms d., -rsk kI, .oIo ~f h
 bers of the proposed commission by a direct vote of the people and with out the privilege of recall by the peO- pie the adoption of the measure would result in merely a dethrone-
 ment of King Railroad in favor of the manufacturing and mercantile in- 1 terests, with no betterment of con- ditions of the people as a whole merely a change of sovereignty. !. F. F. Lundewig of Plafnfield, one of the numerous speakers representlng the grange, spoke at length in refuta- tion of arguments advanced in favor of the Court of Commerce. He said that most of the advocates of the court of commerce pleaded for its creation with arguments that can be applied with equal force to the pro- posed commission. He declared the Court of Commerce bill was devised | in his opinion as sop to the farmer, a bribe to the workingman and a snare TOT the unWary.
 B. H. Douglass of New Haven, rep resenting the men whose patronage meant much to the railroads, and the moving of whose merchandise an.1 | patronage combined formed an all inn | portant item in the business of tha railroads. He said Connecticut was entitled to water, gas and electricity as cheap as any other state. This condition can come to pass only he | said through such commission as is proposed. Put on that commission, he said business men. travelling men, a good lawyer perhaps, avoid politics, give the commission power to compel ! testimony, have it easily approachable 1 for the ordinary citizen, avoid the evil of red tape and delays
 The travelling men, he said, realize \ that prosperous public service corpo- rations are absolutely necessary. But | this fact should not prevent the state from exercising supervision over them so as to provide in the case of rail- roads, more trainmen, new indestruc- l tible cars, better and more motive power improvement in the schedules particularly at the junction points, separate cars for the section hands. He said all roads should be entitled | to earn at least 8 per cent. on a le- gitinate capital stock, pay good wa ges and lay aside an emergency fund. Then he took up the Court of Com merce bill. said it was not what the people want. He referred'amusingly i to the days of the Old New England | travelling men went out with a life l insurance policy in one hand, and a prayer book in the other. He clos ed with an eloquent appeal for the l adoption of the Business Mems meas l ure.
 l Norwalk spokesmen, with Senator Jeremiah Donovan emphasizing with I much local pride the splendid results of municipal ownership in that city.
 contributed much to the hearing. That
 of it's electric light plant and water | works provides these utilities at re- | markedly cheap rates was demon 1 strated during the hearing.
 Attorney John Keough, corporation | counsel and chairman of the trans | portation committeee of the Norwalk | Business Mems association voiced the sentiments of the city council also the l merchant body in an appeal for the | enactment of the Business Mems
 measure me aH ,oa He ,osa said HrK Sorwalk had a
 could not come to the belief that com | petition has advantages over monop- l Oly always, yet he firmly believes that l the monopoly should be subject to
 regulation: Then he related the his-
 improved trolley service at the South l Norwalk railroad station.
 | When the South Norwalk depot
 was shifted, and the railroad demand ed from the corporation then owning | the trolley company, payment for the | use of it's property for its trolley tracks, the trolley company tore ID
 it's rails. The public suffered. But | when later the trolley company was taken over by the railroad, efforts were begun to have conditions inn proved. so that the 200 yard walk from trolley to station would be ob-
 said assurances were obtained that
 som mething would be done. But though the trolley engineer and the city engineer have agreed that there 1 no rea-on why the tracks cannot | e~tendnd thr ra lroa1 eop1ute ta-
 fused to approve the layouts submit sGu, ana as a result nO. ming is done. | a'~oad commissioners have no i Jurisdiction. Thus the city end It's merchants have come to the conclu-
 sion that their only hope is the pub- 1 lie service commission.
 l He dwelt upon the unsightly poles | of the half dozen different corpora
 tons using the streets. then came to
 the history of Norwalk's municipalls j 1 owned electric plant It was direct
 cheaper rates at once obtained by the
 Norwalk municipal venture. that neighboring cities were given lower
 rates and better treatment by the pri-
 vately owned public service corpora
 tions.
 While we can take care of our ! selves so far as water and electricity
 are concerned'' said he, "we can't i take care of ourselves in this matter