The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1915-01-09

moral.
Financiering Gone Mad.
Herald editorial January 2
If the public's arraignment of the
stupid plan of building competing
electric light plant also turns out to
be an arraignment of the business
judgment and business competence Of
the city commission which, under the
leading strings Of the Municipal Own
ership league, is behind it, that is no
more than should have been expected.
Here is brief outline Of the kind
of financiering on which the business
capacity of the commission must be
Judged:
The, city has a gas plant and q
water plant, bought with the proceeds
of bond, issues. Many extensions have
been built, including the Lakewood
station and. the supply main to the
city, also gut of bond issues. Bonds
have been issued right and left-the
3 s$85,000 proposed to bessspent in a
Is sssseilntts,, $ sins Mest. Duluth comes ont OF
sa bond Issue sold, niooft used ana sforz
gotten-until the bonded debt on
these plants is half again as much
as it was when the city began it's
municipal ownership experience.
But They Will Be Retired.
No bonds have. been retired.
No bonds are going to be retired.
because no sinking fund has been pro-
vlded; yet the item of bond interest
is half the cost of water in Duluth
today, which means that if the bonds
could be retired the cost of water
could be cut in two.
Not only is there no provision for
retiring bonds, but there is no pro-
vision either, except additional bond
issues, for renewing and extending
the plant. The supply main from
Lakewood must be paralleled- d-Du-
luth may wake up some morning and
find that it must be done at once,
and that there will be no water till
it is done-yet there isn't dollar laid
by to do it with. More reservoirs must
be built to make fire protection ade-
quate, yet there isn't dollar laid
by for that, either.
And now, in the, face of that situa-
ton, what is proposed?
Herald Unnecessarily Alarmed.
To build another municipal plant
out Of more bond issues, starting with
"unit" at West Duluth. Moreover.
it is to be competing plant, which
means that if it doesn't get business
enough to pay the deficit must be
made up by still more bond issues.
Again, in the proposed West Du-
1uth unit the city's competition would
be chiefly WITH ITSELF!
West Duluth uses gas, mainly. It
uses very little electricity. If the
city's competing unit, gets business
must get it away from the gas plant
and the city owns the gas plant!
What would happen to a business
man who did business this way?
He'd go broke in a year, if his rela-
tives didn't get him committed to an
insane asylum in the meantime!
They Seem Otherwise Competent.
This is the kind Of business man.
agement on which the people are
compelled to judge the business ca
pacity of their commissioners. It is
the kind Of business management die
tated by little coterie of power-in-
famed individuals that have been
permitted to run the affairs of this
city for a. long .time-for quite long
enough, we should think. "a;
/ Adopting the Merritt ordinance for
the, construction of unit at West
Duluth means accepting the judg-
ment Of: the perpetrators of this fash
ion of juggling public money.
Approving this absurd plan means
believing these financiers when they
tell you that the unit can be built
for $4,000, and the whole plant for
a million. : + - :. ..ySt.s.@ E
The rejection of this ordinance will
be demand from the community for
the management OF its affairs, and
surely 1t is high time for such de-
mand. i=i.st45 s,s i. =5ss3 ..; .5s5
A z -