Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-11-20
MUNICIPAL BODY
WOULDN'T HAVE
STATE OWNERS

Toronto. Nov. Regulation Of street
railways. telephones, electric AMI gus
plants exclusively by the state was con
s Nnateenh Ann rsno' Me sn' 81 the
tional Municipal League Today by The
Committee on Franchises The rerort,
submitted by the chairman. pr Delos
| i NllsoX of New York city, dealt With
lie relation Of Municipal nome .ulc to the
control Of plblic ntilhlt 60.
| The committee pointed: pIt .iat public
utilities are primarily urbaD in character
itct! Of public functio''s should ne To-
| CT lie ias much as possible, in CIDER to
secure the interest and elective coopt,ra..
tiol Of citizens. Moreover. AS practical
1i"!'. bcc,',re anl ne moe WIDESPREAD
! heir service, th more Important 1t Is
that they should be h!rs"'ly answrrable
to the local cmmnritics which they
serve.
1T may easily he possible" sad tina
report, that an lppOinti1e safe com
mission will fall II ere on less completely
'Eder the domination OF the powerful N.
/, o :;he state and .hus he yea: macl,sn-
cry provll led for the regulation Of utili-
! ties be captured oy the interests presnm-
ed to be regulated by It. 1t may 20 neces-
cal interests of the companies the direct
mass interest of The local consumers in
| OF der to preserve the vitality of me 'e-
gIintory function ublic utility corpor-
F., atitns exist to serve the people, NOT 70
control them.
However, in most cases, regulation can
lat be- either logical or effective With
I cut the active cooperation of both state
and locar authorities. The jurisdiction Of
1 STATE public service connissio..s sf,od,d
! b., general ever all public utilities, So
that there will be 10 twilight zone With
in which the utilities can esca,'e regnla-
zion altogether, NJ. every city OF enough
/ Importance to enjoy home rule nfiain-
Ing its charter should have the right t.
establish a separate bureau, department.
or commission for the SUPERVISION ~ jall
utilities operating within the. city limits.
The city's jurisdiction should eXtead to
I matters affecting the cooperation Of The
| streets, the quality of service rendered
and the character of the franchise com
! tract entered into for the purpose OF fac
Hating ultimate municipal ownership. The
states jurisdiction should extend 10 mat
and extensions should be under munich
pal control subject to review by, the
! state commission. The city should also
perts before the state commission In re-
gard to Ill matters affecting local. in
! terests." EtE#t
Coming TO certain Important questions
between cities and public utility COM
panics, the committee took the ground
that public utility within given urban
community is natural monopoly and
that one Of tn first and essential obli-
cations Of such a monopoly is to extend
| its services to meet MI the legitimate
needs of the community. Accordingly, the
municiral authorities ought to have the
sonableness of any particular extension
should not be determined solely by th.,
| prospective profit from it's operation as a
separate unit, but by its effect upon the
rnft Of nt,tf sNyC form
| The committee recommended he inre
terminate franchise with maximum time
limit. on the principle of the recent
traction settlement franchises az h granted in
IOppositio nto the Wisconsin type of in
(leterninate permit was based on the
| fear that it tends become perpetual, as
/ 1t can be terminated only by purchase
value in cash in a lump sum at the time
! Of purchase. This. it was said, tends
to make municipalbaiton more difficult
I, as time goes on.
The committee favored the idea OF
making utilities commence to pay for
! themselves. even under private opera
ton. by means of an amortization fund
/, maintained out of earnings. This find
should be large enough at least to wipe
out all franchise and other Intangible ele-
| ments of capital value. SO that the price
at which the city can buy will be Kept
| well within the actual value of he ply
! steal property
The committee urged the Importance of
a systematic campaign for the recovery
| of control over the perpetual and long
! term franchises now outstanding. So
| long as the utilities in the heart Of the
! city continue to be owned and operated
under satisfactory, out of-date franchises
the city. it is asserted. can have no ades
1 Quate control Of the development Of its
! street railways or other utilities. &
4 The report was signed by DR.. Wilcox,
as chairman. and by Robert Treat Paine.
of Boston; James w. S. Peters. Of Kan
4 sas City; Abraham r. Pinanski of Bos-
i ton. and Charles Richardson and Clinton
4 Rogers Woodruff. Of Philadelphia. PROT.
Edward w. Bemis. the Chicago public
i utility expert. another member OF the
i committee. did not sign the report but
pressed doubt OF the wisdom Mt the pres
ent time Of giving state commissions any
4 control over Capitalization, or over rates
i In the larger cities, especially in states
west of New York. u s. a a;Ss 3ss,,S III
STRANGER KILLED az TRAIN.
tlcndive. Mont. Nov. TO- The dead
found besideth Northern Pacific railroad
! tracks. three miles west Of here early
Z today His neck had been broken, pre-
i si'mab!y by a train. He was about Is
years of age and we'll dressed, and IT II
i understood he came to Montana from
Minneapolis. Letters written in the Scam
i danavian language were found In his
4 pockets. 8s5s vs. 5s4 ss
| The so-called Scotch pine IS the
principal tree in the Prussian for
4 ests. Its wood is. much like that OF
tho Wostnrn vnl1nm MIN a of khc TyMft.