The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1911-03-21
OUR CITY RLHCTRfcs
The Aasty Action Of Commissioners
Cfidcised-RevieW of an Ali 1fnpoft-
ant 1ssue---What Will the Harvest Be
TO the Caucasian

10 the Caueasian.)
The hasty action of our city commits
sioners in dealing with the Shreveport
Gas, Electric Light and Power Company
Especially as three of the members were
pretending to cooperate with citizens
committee in an effort to reach a fair
and reasonable conclusion through ex-
pert and comparative investigation of
the cost and prices charged elsewhere,
must awaken the public conscience to a
quickening realization of the fact that
all efforts to boost Shreveport along the
lines Of its natural advantages is en-
countering barriers that will require the
cooperative force of all its loyal citizens
regardless of past factionaf utilization to
remove.
No one can remain blind or indiffer-
ent to such an exhibition of hypocrisy
and treachery to the best interests of
the people or to the fact that an incor-
oprated coterie of high proved debauch-
ers of the electorate-not as the Boston
man depicts for conditions there as "a
Brahmin caste of superlative wisdom -
but of Pharasaical greed which has
raped our body polite and holding the
city under their selfish and pauperizing
influence, as we'll as de1noralizing our
public servants.
| Hanr, No++arco,, =, b;r o,,;c,.;Ira
Courier Journal denominates such con-
ditions as the overshadowing evil" and
editorially depicts same wit his usual
penetrating vision in the following
words; The greatest evil of the time
lis the use of money, first to buy cleo
It1ons and then to control legislation. It
has grown to such dimensions and be-
leone so general-one might say SO uni
Versal-that it can only be fairly de-
scribed as system. Not the least
Iodious of its features is the rotten phar-
asaism which alternates with shameless
effrontery in its explorations of party
spirit and professional virtue; because,
If the ignorant and the vicious who have
the votes to sell could not find market
Iamong the sleek who sit III high places,
there would remain no motive for their
existence that is, in other words, to
Isay if the aggregations of money which
have found it easy to carry elections
and corrupt legislatures had invested
one-half the amounts thus expended in
/ bringing rogues to justice, we should
have fewer scandals at Washington as
well as in the various seats of local gov
eminent where investigations, for the
most part partial and abortive, have
shocked the moral sense of the country
and laid the basis for the prevailing agi-
tation.
i We can easily find '.our friends the
enemy on our railroad directories, al
llied with all our corporate bodies, pros
tituting authority by voting them fran
chises without compensation, betraying
the public when entrusted with the care
and guardianship of municipal affairs
and parading in the livery of heaven
TO gather geer by every vile.
While the world in some respects is
lgaining in the wisdom of charity and
these apostles of Mammon dispense the
most from the abundance of their ac-
foundations, the inequality in methods
of gaining entails poverty which must
follow in their wake and lauded for any
meagre dole in relieving. There is little
consolation in being told such condi-
tons existed before our time, as DR.
Woleott in his way put it,
Fen grave divines submit to glittering
gold,
The best of consc;ences are bought and
sold
If the lighting company proposed to
lower their rate to nine cents per hlo-
watt hour with the usual discount, is the
advantage of lowering the cost of city
lamps without binding them to any de-
finite unit of candle-power, none re-
quired in the advertisement, why should
the commissioners sacrifice the con-
sumers to make fake showing of saw
| ing The city has no iliuminometor to
detect what candle-power their lamps
do or dispense An effort to do this a
few years ago came to naught. What
will the harvest be if the commissioners
are permitted to conclude what is now
pending contrary to their obligations to
the committee appointed to aid them?
A. C.
| 1XEIITcHEu rAcEc