Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-11-15
STATES CONTROL
OF UTILITIES HIT
Regulations Should Be Localiz-
ed, Says Head of National
Municipal League.

Toronto, Nov. 15.-Regulation O
street railways. telephones, electri,
and gas plants exclusively by tn,
state was condemned in a report sub
mitted to the 18th annual meeting o.
the National Municipal league TODAY
| by the committee on franchises. The
| report, submitted by the .a;rman, DR.
Delos F. Wilcox of New York City
dealt with the relation of municipal
home rule to the control of public
utilities
The committee pointed out that pub.
lie utilities are primarily urban in
character and that, on general prin-
ciples, the control of public functions
should be localized as much as pos
sible, in order to secure the interest
and effective cooperation of citizens.
Moreover, as a practical matter, the
more powerful the corporations be.
come and the more widespread their
services the more important it is that
they should be directly answerable to
the local communities which they
serve.
1T may easily be possible" said the
mission will fall more or less COM
pletely under the domination of the
powerful interests which control the
public utilities of the state and thus
the very machinery provided for the
regulation of utilities be captured by
the interests presumed to be regulated
by il. 1t may be necessary to array
against the powerful financial inter
ests of the companies the direct mass
interest of the local consumers in or
der to preserve the vitality of the
regulatory function. Public utility cor.
porations exist to serve the people,
not to control them.
However, in most cases, regulation
cannot be either logical or effective
without the active cooperation of both
state and local authorities. The juris-
diction of state public service commits
sions should be general over all public
utilities, so that there will be no 'twi-
light zone within which the utilities
can escape regulation altogether. but
every city of enough Importance to
enjoy home rule in framing its char
ter should have the right to establish
a separate bureau, department or COM
mission for the supervision of all util-
tiles operating within the city limits.
The city's jurisdiction should extend
to matters affecting the occupation OF
the streets, the quality of service rem !
1ered and the character of the fran 4
chise contract entered into for the pur-
pose of facilitating ultimate municipal
ownership The states jurisdiction
should extend to matters relating 10
stock and bond issues,
accounts and publicity. Rates and
extensions should be under municipal
control, subject 10 review by the state
commission. The city should also
iaye the right to appear by it's local
Experts before the state commission
n regard to all matters affecting 10
al interests"
Coming to certain important ques-
ions In connection with franchise con
racts between cities and public utiI-
ty companies, the committee took the
round that a public utility within
given urban community is natural
monopoly and that one OF the first and
ssential obligations of such a mo,op.
ly is to extend it's services to meet |
II the legitimate needs of the com
lunity. Accordingly, the municipal (