Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1917-11-30

the question, as before.
Every Step Up to Date
The News-Budget has from the start
printed the news in this matter. Every
step has been chrOnicled. These have
been the first action of the council. the
details of proposed Big Falls power
project, Mr. Myers request for time
to submit rate reduction; his visit
here and his assurance to the Mayor
and Council that he would meet the
issue satisfactorily, but finally in his
written proposal to argue the question
Is to why municipal ownership at this
time was not good proposition, and
| 20 submit a schedule of rates that was
| neither understood nor acceptable to
| Inc citizens Mr.. Myers was not so in
| definite in his verbal statement in re-
gard to Big Falls as in his letter.
| That was, as the News-Budget has
| stated SO indefinite as to be of no
| value, so far as ever even morally
holding him to the construction of the
power dam, in any given time whatso-
ever.
As to Plant Value
Let us go into one other phase of the
question now. First, the appraisal of
| the plant cannot be had until an cleo
| ton is held That is the r. r. Com
missions statement. The only basis
| of value which can be used for an eS-
| innate is the one made some time ago
| for the old company. When the light
ing company was sold to the present
stock of the old company was made
and it does not take wise man to
know that that was equivalent to the
sale of the plant. The new company
paid $41, 900 for what they got, power
contract and all-nOt necessarily be-
cause the physical property was worth
that amount of money, but because, in
the system being organized, the Lady
smith plant was needed as an outlet
for tlfe Big Falls power plant produce
ton of current and Myers wanted it.
The Ladysmith plant therefore, in the
scheme of the Myers company, is a
fraction of a system. Hence, outside
| the question of physical value and net
income or good will value, there will be
| the value of the Ladysmith plant as
part of the whole system to be consid-
cred by the Railroad Commission
when it makes an appraisement. This
was mentioned in the review of the
| lighting situation two weeks ago in the
| News Budget. 1t came from the com
mission itself, in its discussion of the
is the one uncertain factor when effort
is made to arrive at an estimate of the
probable cost of the plant to the city,
should it be voted to buy it.
The BOthersOme Severance Damages
These severance damages will be
added to the old appraisement plus
betterments, which according to the
statements of the lighting company
now reach around $4,000. No one has
any idea that the Railroad Commits
sion is going to fix a figure at the
price paid for the plant by the present
Myers paid this price because the La
dysmith plant fitted into his scheme
to use the Big Falls power plant as
well as to get mOneymaking plant
in a growing. city
| Again as to Power
| Council is continuing its investiga-
ton of power possibilities. Let it be
known that when the present company
bought the plant it took over the stock
of the Rusk County Construction Com
pany, which was the owner Of a con-
tract with the Menasha Paper Co. for
water power. That contract was for
a hundred years. 1t was renewable,
not at the option of the paper company
but the Construction company. When
| the new company came in and took
over the contract, a new agreement
| was signed between the Ladysmith
Lighting Company and the Menasha
Paper Co. by which the water power
was to be continued The lighting
company got the power from one water
wheel. With the plant-the load in
creasing to meet the demand of the
city. and with the probability of a
| smut uOWIl Ill the WIlteF lTOIl SOIuc
cause, the lighting company. in order
to protect itself, arranged for the
steam auxiliary. If the city took over
the plant, the same power is available,
for the municipality as for the COM
pany.
Lower Rates Certain
| The News-Budget does not believe
that either the council or the people
/ are to be scared by the bOgies raised
by the lighting company and present
ed to the public through the medium of
it's newspaper organ, the Rusk County
Journal. The lighting company knows
it has good thing at the prices
charged for current, naturally it
wants to hang on to it as long as posi-
BILE 1t makes little difference to the
fellow who is paying the big rates
whether the money profit is put into
1.-THE plant here or spent in Chicago OF
| Ashland. The result is the same The
dollar is dollar What the people
want and what the News-Budget is
fighting for, is a rate for current
equitable and lust and the nearest to