The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1918-11-19
NATURAL CAS- IS
UNDER CONTROL
OF GOVERNMENT
Director Wyer's First State
ment OF Measure Which
Will Be Enforced
Adequate Price Would Lessen
Waste, According To Re-
port OF Director

Washington, Nov. 16.--The recently
appointed director of the Bureau OF
Gas Conservation, Mr.. Samuel s.
Wyer, In an address to the represen-
tatiyes OF municipalities and the gas
managers OF the mid continent field,
told them that they were about to be
put under licenses; that any one who
did not stop the wasting OF gas would
lose his license to handle It.
The parts of his statement OF the
attitude of the government of inter
est to the consumer follow:
Unless arrangements are made
whereby needless waste is stopped,
the time Is not far distant until at
least the smaller distributing plants
will be left with nothing but an emp
ty or gasless distributing plant.
AS practical proposition that goes
to the very root OF the whole con-
servation question, ] made the state
ment this morning and this after
noon and will repeat II now that
you can never have conservation OF
natural gas until you have an adei
quate price. Whether or not this Is
desirable, II is simply cold-blooded
engineering and economic fact, and
no amount of juggling will ever
change Ii.
Twice as Hot at Third the Cost.
We believe, as a matter of public
education, that il is our duty to teach
the public what natural gas is worth,
and that 1t is our duty to teach the
public as to what they will have to
pay for substitutes for 1t when 1t IL
gone. And when we speak about
natural gas being gone, we are not
talking about anything that is vague
or visionary, or something far re-
mote. We have very practical
case I'm Richmond. Ind, where they
are now paying 30 cents for natural
gas. They Will have to 60 ON manu-
factured gas about October. For that
they will pay $l.35 for half OF the
heating value Of their 35-cent natural
gas. In other words, it Is equivalent
In that place, SO far az the public Is
concerned, to jumping the price to-
the public from l7h cents to $l.36..
1t ts a fact that the public must rec
Ognize. that what they are wasting
is a priceless resource, resource
that has never been duplicated, and
don't believe It ever will be, by any
made product @fs WS
We expect through publicity tc
show the public how the ordinary do,
oIt In IN
large waste on his own prentses For
instance, we have made T. seTits Of
tests that indicate 30 far as we have
gone that. as general proposition.
one-sixth OF all the natural gas that
passes through domestic consumers
meters is never burned. but is sim
ply wasted through leaky fixtures.
leaking cocks, leaking nipples, leak.
ing collars, elbow pipes and pin holes.
The Ohio Consumer. S,.,.G
The only way you can make the
producer eliminate the waste IL to
make the gas he Is wasting worth
saving In the case OF the oil well
waste of gas, you have got to make
worth more than the oil. That. OF
course viii have the inevitable effect
OF increasing the cost all along the
line For that reason ] made the
statement right at the very beginning
that while we as bureau will try to
keep out of the rate making phase.
am personally convinced you will
have TO adjust your rate situation in
order to live and make conservation
possible. The two 90 together.
SAM UEL S. WYER,
Chief OF Bureau OF Gas Conservation.