Graham guardian., 1921-05-20

the Court is disposed to see that no ac'
tion is taken until a reasonable oppor'
tunity has been allowed for the per.
fecting of plans whereby the rights OF
all creditors will be taken care of, anc
the plant as whole will be kept intact
and put on a basis that will allow it tc
continue as a going concern. And il
the creditors who may possibly have
visions Of securing the whole plant fol
their own claim and shutting out other
claimants, will make an investigation
of their claims of lien and of the claims
| inserted in the action by other creditors,
| they will no doubt arrive at the conclu-
( sion that a long drawn out legal fight
| is the ultimate and Inevitable result of
any attempt to force sale without
first trying to satisfy all creditors.
Let us keep in view this proposition in
considering the problem. THE LIGHT
PLANT AND WATER PLANT CAN
NOT BE SEPARATED: THEY MUST
LSTAND OR FALL TOGETHER. The
light plant be brought to a necessary
standard of efficiency and made to pay
reasonable return on the investment,
if taken alone. In the first place, the
number of consumers to be served is
too small, and will likely be too small
for some years; in the second place,
the cost of production of light is great,
and the smaller the production, the
greater the relative cost. But the
light plant added to the water plant
will pay and will help make the water
plant pay. This for the reason that
the overhead expense Of operation will
be about the same, whether the water
plant is operated alone or in connection
with the light plant. Hence, if we
want to maintain our lights in Stafford
we must keep the two plants intact as
one organization. II we want to go
back to oil lamps, separate the concerns
and we will have effective produced the
results desired.
AS we have shawn, the plant will be
sold under execution in the cases now
pending in the Court. That is. unless
the company is able to raise funds to
meet the debts. This, because of now
existing financial conditions, they have
thus far been unable to do. If they
are unable to raise the money by the
time of sale, they will not likely be able
to redeem the property in the six
months period Of redemption allowed
by law. We weuld be glad If they
should be able to raise the funds, and
so far as we know. no one wants them
to lose their investment, but the con-
tinuance Of the light and water service
in Stafford is at stake, and il they can
not save it. the town or the people
must. To put either the light or water
plant in proper condition to give rea-
sonable service will require an outlay
of considerable money. This cannot be
done in any event until the period of
redemption has expired. Hence, we
cannot expect any great relief until
this time has elapsed. But we can
safely get ready for that time, put the
house in order, and wait until the time
comes.
To furnish reasonable water service
at all times will require considerable
increase in the present storage capacity
of the plant. 1t will also require the
deve lopment of more water and the in
stallatlon Of pipe lines from the pres
ent intake to the springs that supply
the water. AS to the light plant, we
hear a great deal about worthless en-
gines. The engines now in use con.
stitute but small part of the cost OF
the plant. II we consider that at the
time of the purchase of the engines,