Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1917-01-10
FISCAL YEAR OF
PROBLEM UTILITIES
Recommendation That 1t Cor
respond With Calendar
Year

Recommendation that the statutes of
Oregon be amended so that the fiscal
year for public utilities and railroads
operating in the state correspond to ther
calendar year, which change would
bring the laws of the state in harmony
with the rulings of the interstate com
merce commission in regard to the time
for filing annual reports, is the feature
of the tenth annual report of the pub
lie service commission of Oregon, which
was sent to Governor Withycombe last
evening.
At present the fiscal year for public
utilities and railroads operating in Ore
gon ends June 80 of each year. 1t re-
quires about six months thereafter TO
get all the reports in shape for sub
mission. 1t is proposed to change the
ending of the fiscal year to December
81, and the date of submitting the an
nual report to June 30 of the following
year.
Railroad construction during the past
wear, as shown in the report, compares
favorably with other states, and is, in
fact, some what in advance of num-
Der of neighboring commonwealth.
The s. p. put into operation the Coos
Bay line, which has 1888 miles; the o.
w. R. and N. completed the Eastern
Oregon Line TO Crane, q distance of
127 miles; fifteen miles of the Califor-
MIA Oregon Coast railroad was cOmplet-
ed from Grants Pass to Crescent City;
the Portland and Oregon City railroad
completed Is miles Of road on the
Clackamas river; the Valley and Siletz
railroad built l3 miles from lndepend-
ence to Siletz, while many other lines
were proposed and ar. under process
of construction.
The total number of complaints be-
fore the commission is 90 as compared
with 130 in 1915. Of these complaints,
70 are in the railroad division and 20
in utility matters. New informal rail
road complaints number PAP for 1916
as against 263 in 1915; informal util-
ity complaints in 1915 numbered 204
against 165 in 1916. OF the informal
railroad matters 259 were sufficient toI
justify docketing; 243 were filed dur
ing the year and IL were pending at the
time of last report. Adjustment to 1873
was secured informally, 8 transferred to
formal or other positions, carried toI
the interstate commerce commission, 81
dropped for lack of jurisdiction, IA
discontinued because of Discrimination
of the plaintiff to pursue to a conclu-
sion, IA dismissed as not well founded,
and 80 are still pending.
OF new complaints, 1877 were filed by
individuals, companies or associations;
1S investigations were on the commits
sion $ own motion, and 81 with the
carriers. The report goes on to cite
the most important cases that came be-
fore it. Among these cases were the
valuation of the Portland Railway,
Light and Power company, the valua-
tion of the properties of the Pacific
Telephone and Telegraph company and
the adjustment of exchange and toll,
the ear shortage situation, the car de-
murrage rates fixed on a graduated b1-
sis, and better protection given rail
road and highway grade crossing
through informal conferences and cor
In the past year there has been no
change in the scope of the commission
but its jurisdiction has been questioned
in the complaints filed. The report re-
the changes in the commission
in 1916. On January 3, 1916, G. b.
Aitcheson was chosen chairman. On
June 70, 1916, he resigned to become
solicitor for valuation committee OF the
national association of railway com
mission at Washington, d. c., H. ii.
Corey, who received the nomination for
from the Eastern Oregon
division in the May primaries, was ap-
pointed by Governor Withycombe to
ill the vacancy. He was elected com
missioner in November with Fred G.
Buehtel as commissioner from the West
ern Division, and on January 3, the
was recognized with Com
missioner Miller as chairman