Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1917-01-05
BILL TO REPEAL THE
UTILITIES COMMISSION

Pursuant to his prediction prom
Use, Senator-elect B. A. Cummings Of
Bannock county, will introduce ear
ly in the coming session OF the state
legislature a bill repeating the pub
lie utilities act. In making pub
lie his position on the question he
has given out the following state
ment:
ut is true that intend to intro
duce a bill to repeal the public utili-
ties commission in accordance with
promises made during the cam
paign. My opponent came out in
opposition to such action. so that the
issue was squarely presented to the
voters Of Bannock county. There is
no question about the unpopularity
of the law in this section OF the
state and from the many letters
have received from other parts Of
Idaho. have reason to believe that
this sentiment is very general.
while 1t is true that nearly all
states have such commissions,
think 1t is equally true that a num-
Der of them. including Idaho, have
enacted such legislation long before
it was necessary. have been ia
miliar with the work of our commits
sion ever since it was organized and
/ speak advisedly when / say it has
done vastly more for the public
service corporations than 1t has for
the general public.
Corporations Get Benefit
"An examination of our public
utilities act makes 1t apparent that
it is intended to protect the interests
of the corporations rather than those
of the public, the provisions requir-
ing a certificate of convenience and
necessity before a competing com
pany can enter the field being an ex-
ample of the injustice It does the
taxpayers Of the state. II legitimate
competition is good thing in one in
dustry, I contend that 1t is equally
true Of all others, and IL there is any
valid reason why power company
may have monopolies in Idaho and
should be shielded from honest COM
petition while other industries are
left without such protection, / have
failed to hear it.
with us in Pocatello It is a case
Of too much commission, as we would
be obtaining electric energy for about
one-half of the present rates IL 1t
were not for the action Of the utili-
ties board in denying the right OF a
responsible competing company to
enter the field. believe It will also
be found that the farmers in differ
ents parts of the state who have been
refused the privilege of constructing
and operating purely mutual tele-
phone systems, take the same view
of the situation. AS far as the rail-
roads are concerned the interstate
commerce act meets all existing re-
requirements.
This talk about having to protect
these interests from competition in
order to induce them to invest their
capital in Idaho will not bear analy-
sis. am reliably informed that
hundreds of thousands of dollars of
Independent capital is right now be-
ing kept out of the state by this law
In my opinion any company which
will not invest here unless protected
from fair and legitimate competi-
ton is of no ultimate benefit to the
state.
81 do not believe In the theory
now being advanced by the corpora
tions that to have competing public
service companies is necessarily eco
nomic waste. Neither is 1t true that
where such companies consolidate
that the increased investment must
inevitably lead to increased rates.
AS matter OF fact the supreme
court Of the United States has, in a
number of cases, held to the con-
trary. To forbid competition sim
ply means substituting the special in
terests thus protected and ii subsi-
dies are to be offered why not have
them paid directly by the state In
stead Of by the taxpayers In the way
Of higher rates.
81 am strongly OF the opinion that
the 100000 or $4,000 which it
would probably cost to maintain the
years, can be supplied to much better
use in the interests of the taxpayers
OF Idaho II the utilities act is re-
pealed. and It should be found ad-
visable to re-establish the commits
sion. such action could be taken by
the next legislature. which would be
in a position to pass bill free from
the many serious objections in the
present unsatisfactory law, which
know to have been drawn largely by
the attorneys of interested corpora