The Republican journal., 1917-10-04
Belfast Water Complaint Dis
missed.

eff the municipality avoids payment
for that part of the service rendered it,
the inhabitants of the municipality must
make it up. There is no presumption
that it is the respondents duty to furnish
water at loss" This is the comment
of the Public Utilities Commission on the
situation in Belfast as disclosed in the
complaint of Wilmer j. Dorman ct ais
VS.. Belfast Water Co., in decision rem
dered Saturday dismissing the complaint.
The City of Belfast and the predeces-
sors of the Belfast Water Co. entered in
to writer contract, November Is, 1886,
in which the contractors agreed to build
a water works; to supply Belfast hydrant
service for fixed annual rental during
70 years, and thereafter forever free; to
furnish water for schools and all other
public purposes in return for exemption
from taxation; and that the Charges or
rates for water supplied for domestic and
other purposes shall not exceed those in
other towns and cities of Maine of the
general size and circumstances of Belfast
and similarly situated"
After the expiration of the 20 years on
nearly all of the hydrants, the hydrant
rental ceasing, the water company in
creased it's domestic rates. Later, it IN
dertook to collect further hydrant rent
ais, on the ground that failure to collect
this rental and placing the whole charge
on the domestic users was unjustly dis
criminatory and unlawful under the Pub
lie Utilities Act. This case went to the
courts, and it was there held that the
original contract still was operative as
to hydrant rentals-the only question
then up
The company then made further ad-
vance in it's domestic rates to meet losses
in expenses and fixed charges. The COM
plainants alleged that these new rates
were higher than those charged for SINH
lar uses in other towns and cities of the
same population, and, therefore, viola
ton of the contract. They rested their
case entirely on the contract, contending
that it did not make any difference
whether the rates were sufficient to meet
expenses, or what the conditions were in
the towns and cities with which COM
parison was made. They offered no evil
dence except the contract, and rested
their case entirely upon the legal effect of
it.
The decision of the Public Utilities
Commission traces the history of the con-
tract and of subsequent action by the
State Legislature, and holds that, what
ever may have been true of the attempt
to fix rates for fire service, the city never
had any right to fix the domestic rates by
contract; that the State itself, in the
charter of the Belfast Water Company,
reserved and undertook to exercise that
right that, in enacting the Public Utilities
Law, it changed the method of regulation
by requiring that rates shall be reasonable
according to the value of the property
and a fair return thereon.
The decision holds that, ''the power to
make such change is too generally recog-
niZed to be seriously questioned. ASSum-
ing even that the city's attempt to regu-
late was not superseded by the action of
the legislature, it was competent for the
legislature to waive any contract rights
of one of its political subdivisions
The decision refers to the earlier decision
in one case of the Augusta Water Dis
trict, published in 1916, and cites decision
of State and Federal Courts.
eff we are right in the view," con-
tinues the decision, chat the provision
contained in the contract is imperative,
it is not necessary to consider what that
provision means.
The complainants' theory is that it
arbitrarily limited the respondent to in
dividual rates no higher than those charged
in other towns and cities of the same
regardless of whether the
water is pumped or supplied by gravity
flow, whether it has to be filtered or can
be used raw, whether the plant is taxed
or exempted from taxation, whether the
population is reached in a densely settled
area or through an expensive distribution
system, whether the municipal service
is paid for or furnished free. In fact,
they would ignore every element that
really determines the cost of service and
the price by single test which
may be almost negligible"
The decision holds that the language of
the contract, afterward Incorporated in
the charter, twas only an inapt way of
providing that the rates should be rea-
sonable," and that the Utilities Act simp-
ly changed the method of ascertaining
what is reasonable. Taking this view
of it, the provision is workable; with the
restricted view, it is impracticable of en-
forcement in any manner which is either
intelligent or free from danger of con-
fiscation."
'It is, however, fact that the rates
are comparatively high, when viewed in
the light of those charged generally
the State. This can be rene
died by the city of Belfast, if it sees fit.
''The company's gross operating reve-
nue. for the year ending June 80, 1916,
was S18, 1904. Average experience in
dicates that not less than one third of
this ought to be contributed for the cost
of fire protection; it differs according to
local conditions, but the amount is very
The current hydrant rental
paid amounted to $4,000. AS
long as the domestic users are content to
pay the cost of property insurance against
fire-and to pay in proportion to their
use for domestic purposes, instead of in
to the value of the property
must expect to carry
this extra burden.
1t has been held that the water COM
pany is bound by the contract; but the
city can release it, if it chooses to do so.
''The present practise, however pro-
tected by law, is clearly discriminatory"
RHEUMATISM ARRESTED