Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-08-29

never enuOW commission with ade- |
Quate power to probe into all the data
essential to wise regulation OF even
the c:,y's own affairs. The problem
is a statewide one, and hence can be
adequately COPIED with by the state
only" = Again. a state com.
mission is necessary in order to Sc
cure the comparative data necessary ,
for intelligent regulation in any city.
To be of value this data must be uni
form" Through a state
commission only can the needed uni
formity be secured" "A
state commission is also necessary in
order to protect interurban and inter
county services. 1t should not be in
the power of local governing bodies to
inflict great injury on other cities or
other parts of a city either by adverse
legislation or by hostility in admins
tration. One city should no more have
the power to thwart public service in
another city; than one state should
have the power to thwart tho COM
mere of another state by adverse reg
ulation of interstate commerce. The
use of county roads and county bridges
by utilities, especially street RAILWAYS
doing an extensive statewide business
must be subject to statewide SUPER
vision. A state commission is necessary
| order to give adequate protection to
the investor in utility concerns"
And finally a state commission
| is needed in order that municipal COM
missions may be effective regulative
agents" Just because the
states powers are larger, a state COM
mission will often be advantageous in
| assisting a city to cope with its pub
lie utility problems. Moreover, munich
pal regulation must be reasonable"
say our courts. 1t will be more diff
| cult in many cases to justify a rate as
reasonable when it applies to one
municipality only, than when il ap-
! plies TO the whole state. A common
statewide rate may bring a reasonable
return, and hence viii be upheld by
the courts when it would not bring in
a reasonable return If adopted for
single city or group of cities. With
out state aid, any given city, moreover,
would find it difficult to secure accur-
ate information for the just assess
ment of its public service concerns.
especially If they do interurban or in
tercounty business. The city will find
the assistance Of a state commission
to be indispensable. These consider
atoms point TO the necessity of the ex-
istence Of a state commission with full
powers. But the existence of a state
commission will not, even under ordi-
nary circumstances, especially in
states with large urban populations,
dispense with the need for municipal
commissions. Quite 20 the contrary.
municipal commissions will still be es-
sential in the very large city" .
IF a choice must be made, how.
j ever, between state and municipal
commissions, the state commission
must be chosen. The state commits
sion in existence. local municipal com
missions may then be advantageously
created for the largest cities" :
Statewide commissions are also EN-
phatically favored by such writer's on
economics as r. A. Campbell, secre
tary of the Wisconsin state board OF
public affairs; John H. Roemer, chair
man of the railroad commission OF
Wisconsin and John NJ Eschelman
; president of the railroad commission
/ Of the state of California, in which
latter state both statewide and munich
/ pal commissions have been provided
= for.
: John A. Lapp, librarian of Indiana
: in review of the public service com
mission laws of the United States
: published by himself in 1911, states
: THAT the impetus given to the sub
= ject Control of Public Utilities) b,
: the model laws of New York and Wis
+ consin seemed to presage an era o
2 public utility control by state com
4 missions"
: The state of Illinois within the las
i so days has been confronted with tn
: duty, and engaged in the operation, o
! framing a public utility act, which wa
d passed by the legislature on June 2
i of this year. and signed by myself a
s governor a few days later. All tire
+ political parties incorporated in thei
e platforms of 1912 a demand for I'll
q regulation of public utilities in tn
: state.
l. In my inaugural message as govel
: nor l advised the passage of a publ
I utility law, and with the assistance c
i Professors Fairlie, Kinly and Dodd &
Il the University of Illinois ] framed
9 law which l thought was suitable t
S the conditions and requirements of on
L state, and this law is submitted to tn
y legislature for passage.
. The legislature passed the law sui
stantially as submitted, save and e.
cept, that it struck therefrom an a.
\ ticle reserving to the larger cities G
, the state the right to regulate an
control the intra-utilities within thei
boundaries.
This article was stricken from tn
law as drafted. 1t was numbere
article 6, and was Familiarity Gale
the Home Rule Section" It PR
vided substantially that all cities {
4 the state whose population exceede
} $4,000 should have the right to col
troll and regulate the utilities With