The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-03
THE PUBLIC UTILITIES BILL.

THE PUBLIC UTILITIES BILL.
Almost all Kansans, in and out Of
the legislature and other places of pub
lie authority and power, are probably
agreed that something efficient in the
way of public utilities legislation be
enacted; legislation that will confer on
a state board, or commission, real
regulatory power over the public SER.
vice corporations doing business in the
state; legislation that will give the
same kind of power to cities in respect
to the public utilities which are purely
local in their character. But in per-
fecting such legislation care should be
taken not to let any provisions creep
in which would work hardship on any
of the large or small corporations of
Kansas or harass them in any way.
That would be done, 1t would appear.
If one of the provisions of what is
known as the administration public
utilities bill is enacted into law in its
present form. This section of the bill
forbids railroad companies from pur-
chasing stock in other corporations
and also seeks to compel them to dis
pose of any holdings they may now
have in other companies. It is pre-
sumed that this section was designed
to prevent railroad companies from en-
gaging in the operation of coal mines,
oil wells, or any business other than
that of railroading and also to prevent
them from holding stock in competing
lines And if that was all the pro-
vision did there could not be much OBJ
lection to it. Indeed. it would likely
be most popular with the people. It
does much more, however, in its pres
ent form. It's scope is so wide that it
would at least embarrass the operation
and management of two of the large
railroad companies doing business IN
the state, which happen to be Kansas
corporations-the Missouri, Kansas &
Texas, and the Atchison. Topeka y
Santa Fe.
Take the Santa's case for instance
Many large and important parts Of its
great systemn, especially through the
states and territories in the south
west, are organized as separate cor
porations to meet the laws of the sew
eral states and territories The Cali
fornia North Western, the Gulf, Colo
RADIO & Santa Fe, the Southern Kansas
railway of Texas, the Eastern railway
of New Mexico, the Grand Canon line
in Arizona, and several other valuable
properties, are all organized as sepa-
rate corporations. They are all COM
ponent parts of the Santa Fe system,
and were built by the Santa Fe COM
pany. But they have been organized.
as stated, into separate corporations to
meet the demands of the laws of the
localities where they are operated. All
of the stock in them belongs to the
Santa Fe. And if the provision in the
utilities bill in question became the
law of the state. the Santa Fe, a Kan
sas corporation, would have to dispose
Of its stock in these companies. That
would mean the ACKNOWLEDGMENT of the
great Santa Fe. system which has been
such an important factor in the de-
velopment Of Kansas. Other railroads
operating through Kansas, like the
Rock Island, the Union Pacific and the
Missouri Pacific, which have parts OF
their systems incorporated in other
states as separate corporations, just as
has the Santa Fe, would not be af-
fected by this provision because they
are not Kansas corporations. Thus
would the Santa Fe, and the ''Katy,"
the two big Kansas railroad corpora
tons, be Disseminated against by their
own state, and placed at the mercy Of
their rivals in the transcontinental
railroad field. 1t is likely that this
particular provision in the utilities bill
was never intended to do anything like
this, but that is the way it will work
out in its present form. And while the
people Of Kansas are demanding ade-
quate public utilities legislation, it Is
not likely that they would welcome
any provision in the law which would
dismember the great Santa Fe system,
a Kansas concern,-wl1ich would inter-
fere with its progress and development,
for they know that the larger this rail-
road becomes, the more extensive its
system is made outside as well as
within the state, the greater will be
the advantage to Kansas. .