Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-05-06
PUBLIC UTILITY CONCERNS
HARD HIT BY TIGHTENING
OF MONEY MARKET.
NO FUNDS WITH WHICH
TO MAKE REPAIRS
Raw Material Shortage and Railway
lnsffieisnoy Adding to Burdens
Waterloo Gas Company Has No
Money With Which to Connect
Services With New Homes.

| '~SAADos AA@y Wv III HO TlOHoy
and no credit and commodity and
labor market almost prohibitive
rublio service corporations in cleo
trio. gas and telephone lines in all
parts OF the west. Iowa included, are
passing thru the most critical PERIOD
of their existence.
Tho continued existence OF bank
ruptcy OF these Corporations will
be determined, by the financial de-
yelopments of tho next thirty days.
With all elements combined
against them the necessary relief
is not certain. Orders have gone
from the federal reserve bank at
Chicago to member banks in Iowa
TO call in all available outstanding
cash and grant no new loanseor ex-
tensions.
Service Corporations Harpsrsd.
This sudden tightening Of the
money market is beingssfe in all
lines Of business but, more rarticu-
larry with public ana quasi y.sblic
corporations whose operating ex-
penses and income % nearly bel
ance that COMPENSATORY income Is
out Of the question, 1t has merely
resolved itselfsantes \ fgat. tps COR,
porate existence. s n "a ~ "a "a I,
With income Ilspat6t tY,sfs .SGiti-,
Gems Gas and xiectStc cpmpa ny.s.Ava%
terloo. 10 one of thu concerns where
lower prices. greater income or
10th mus. Intervene very shortly
or disastrous effects Will follow
After passing thru tho war pc
riod Under, conditions which more
or less confronted every business
enterprise in the United States,
the company now ands. itself. fac
ins . arghsr and stsil FlsipgI Mar
ket on. all Items Of expense with
s az iPf3me ,yhtisA. hes sremained sta
Waterloo banks have fatty re-
fused to loan the Citizens Gas and
Electric Company any sum at any
rate Of interes-, the reason being
that undec the present condition If
the money market In the west. not
only this company, but all corp. ra-
tons. which normally are given
credit in almost any rcasona bio
amount can not now be accommo-
dated. al,
~ Valley Road Needs Monsy.
The Waterloo, Cedar Falls e
Northern railroad Ii also waking
a strenuous effotA to meet q Hltila-
ton that apparently Is Without
remedy. Il WINS announced by J..
s. Cass, president. some time ago,
that the future of the road Is a
question Of finance purely. f
In the absence of credit the most
feasible plan as viewed by the
company, is the increased fare on
local lines. This question willrreach
the city council and voters in due
time. s
At present the engineering and
auditing departments are working
on statistics which will show the in
come and expenditures Of the past
year or two years, with figures
showing how cost Of operation has
increased during that time land its
relation to the ixed rate of income.
provided in the franchise. trie ] !
AS . temporary expedient, to
meet q situation which has but one
enr. II not met, the Citixens' Gas
and Electric Cpmpany'ha considered
plan whereby builders Of new
houses In Waterloo and others.
desiring service extensions and con-
nections may install them themselves
and be reimbursed for the expense,
including Z per cent interest, In two
years or less.
The company from q financial
standpoint alone 10 unable to make
and pay for these extensions. but
realising that property owners will
face q serious difficulty II UNABLE
to equip their homes with gas and
electricity. u willing to stand the
temporary financial loss due to In
terest in the hope that the situation
will open up sufficiently to permit
the old method Of company, extern
sions before the two years have
elapsed. = =
Danks Refuse Loans.
Three large Waterloo corporations
have within the past ten days made
application for temporary tiding
loans from local banks and with one
exception have all been refused.
These concerns, owing to the strike,
car shortage, railroad insfncisncy
and other causes are unable either to
obtain raw materials for msnufao-
turing or 70 distribute the manufao-
tursd preducts in profit producing
quantities.