The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1917-08-16
THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 1917.
The Public Be Damned.

If there ever was a time when pub
lie utility company shouted through a
megaphono "The Public Be Damned F"
it was on Monday afternoon when the
Wisconsin Gas and Electric Company
served notice on the Wisconsin Rail
road Commission declaring that it has
discontinued the operation of the pub
lie heating system in Kenosha. One
naturally wonders il this company is
guilty of contempt Of court - or II 1T
feels that it is so strongly fortified IN
the maze Of legislation for the control
OH utilities that it can be law unto
itself and odopS "'public be damned +"
policy regardless Of the demands OF
property owners and municipal corpora
tions. If such a notice can be filed and
under it service may be discontinued
the Wanted value of regulation by
discard. If the p ople have no rights
which must be respected by the public
services corporations time has arrived
when the railroad commission rule must
be abandoned and the people must be
given some direct control on utilities
which arc supposed to serve them. The
people must have some assurance that
81 fat frying days will not mark the
end o. public utility service. The call
to Konosna is a call to battle. 1t CON
Germs just at present the heating sys-
tenn. 1t may brig into the fight later
the electric Lighting, the gas and the
power utilities and even in the last
analysis take up the question of the
disposal of street railway service
which has been allowed to rot out in
the city.
The daring of the attorneys of the
utility company 3 to be commended.
For unauthorized nerve it has no par
allel in the history of public utility
service in Kenosha. If these attorneys
can make such plan stick, the rule Of
the people in Wisconsin has been for
gotten in the advancing power of the
public utility company.
The elimination of the heating plant
ir Kenosha at This time means the clos
sng M o. the Gilbert M Simmons Lii
hfary for at least one winter. 1t is
impossible for the directors of this in
stitution to make any provision for
heating plant at this time; it means
suffering and hardship in homes, in
business houses and in public buildings.
1T means that men and women who
have contracted with this company in
coed faith must lose large sums of
money or else be forced into lengthy
litigation which they can rot afford
and the outcome o. which may be made
doubtful by fortifcation o. state
laws which have taken the control of
Che public utilities from she people and
placed them into The hands of commits
sions which are SLOW to protect the
people.
If the Wisconsin Gas and Electric
Company diScontinues the heating sys-
tenn IL Kenosha, it is, the 3Lty of the
men who are officials of the city of
kenosha to force this company to give
up every other franchise right which
1T holds in Kenosha. We may not want
to run an electric or a gas plant, we
may believe that municipality con
trolled street railway is not yet for
henosha, but just the same we must
face the problem of disposing OF com
pany which has adopted tho "public
be damned" policy. The future of Ke-
nosha can not be left in the hands of
a bunch OF welchers. Some insurance
must be written on the continuance
ard the progressive continuance of
ppolic utilities in Kenosha. That in
surance can not be written so long as
the Wisconsin Gas and Electric Com
pany controls this feature of the life
of Kenosha. The railroad commission
may by tardy order tell the company
that the people of great and growing
city have some inalienable rights but
this is not enough. Kenosha has trifed
with the company long enough. It's
poucy has been so clearly outlined hat
any man who has studied it may know
that it means simply this: This Com
pany Will Take Only the Cream of
Service and Give Mediocre Return for
A."
The call is a call to fight. To fight
for the future of Kenosha and to de-
pose from holding of valuable grants
and franchises company which val
ues them lightly and which is unwilling
to maintain them as they should be
maintained. To small coterie Of the
people of the city the problem of the
heating plant is an immediate prob
lem. To great mass of the people of
the city the problem of the other utili-
ties is just as pertinent. The time for
temporizing is past. IF this company
is not willing to serve Kenosha it must
be driven out of Kenosha. The real
way to do it is by public sentiment.
This company must not have the cream
of the business Of the city and refuse
to take any of the skinned milk.
There are still places on the Roll
Of Honor and there is nothing to pre-