The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1921-02-15
" ANARCHIST OR
DREAMER. " SAY
COMMISSIONERS
Facts of Vital Interest to
Everybody in Georgia
n ationa1 Association Of
Railway & Utilities Com
miSSiOners Warns
Against Radicals

The National Association of Rail.
way and Utilities Commissioners met
in Washington, D. c., November 9Th,
1920.
This association is made up of rep
resentative men from each of forty-fve
states; these men are selected by tho
people of these states to Study the
operations of public utilities and to
regulate their rates and practices
They are not interested in the cor
porations which they control, but they
represent the public, and speak al
ways in the interest of the public
welfare. They have given many
years Of stud. to the problems of the
various corporations which under their
regulation furnish the street rail
way, gas and electric light and power
service to the public of the United
States, and by reason of their ex-
perience they are qualified, better
than any other men Of the nation, to
speak with authority as to what is
best for the public interest. The Rail
road Commission of Georgia is one
of the members of the Association
and was represented at the meeting.
The following quotations are from
the report of the Committee Of this
Association on Public Ownership and
operation and are of interest to ev-
cry Georgian:
"The question of priUatc ownership
auth regulation as against public
O1O11erShip without regulation should
no longer be considered by intelligent
1Uestigators an open question.
eff the real facts might be ascertain
ed and the same test applied to the
'publicly-owned and. operated utility
as is applied by regulatory bodies to
the privately owned and operated
utility, the general result will apply
in all instances.
at seems remarkable that any sane
man soith q knoaoledge of the increase
an all costs of ltUing should think or
!erpect that atntiLity corporations
might be an exception to the general
7',tle. No reasonable man has thought
$50.
"The operation of these general
laws has again produced the politi-
lcal agitator who has sought and is
seeking to make political capital out
of present necessities. We all know
him and we all understand his mo-
tives."
alt stands to reason that no bust
ness enterprise dependent upon the
varying changes of political thought
can be operated by the public in as
efficient, methodical and careful a
manner as can a similar business en-
terprise managed by a body of men
who have their capital invested there
in or who represent those who have
invested their fortunes therein"
"There are two classes of people
opposed to private ownership with
Government regulation"
"One is made up of the classes of tho
Communist, the anarchist and all
others lVho foIIolU the divers and %
rious governmental uagaries q0ith
lqohich they seek to supplant our con-
stitutionaI government. The other
general class is the dreamer, the vi-
Sionory aoho deals an ideals not facts.
"DestrOy privGte ownership 1Oith
public regulation and the nert step
as government ownership and goUern-
ment operation. When that time
comes, If it does, our system of goU-
eminent lUiU haze changed to meet
it,"
Would Load Georgia With Debt
To add any comment to these strong
words from the Association OF Rail-
way and Utility Commissioners of
forty-five states seems like sacrilege,
but you are reminded that the NUM-
cipal League of Georgia is dominated
by James L. Key, Marion M. jack
son and John J. Eagan, all members
of-and inspired by the Public Owner
ship League of America, Chicago
organization of radical Socialists, and
that these agitators who are bowling
about water power development and
low rates for street car, gas and cleo
trio service, are the agents in Geor-
gia of a political organization seeking
to destroy our democratic form of
Government and they are brazen
enough to ask that many generations
of Georgians be loaded with debt and
taxes to enable them to begin their
operations. They want the Legisla-
ture to vote them hundreds of mil
lions of the States money so that
they may make an experiment in
p-blic ownership of private business,
which experiment has failed wherever
tried.
Raid Treasury for Politicians
They want Georgia to place its
credit for hundreds of millions of dol
lars in the hands of the three leaders
of the Municipal League of Georgia,
men who have no knowledge of the
business of public utilities, and who
simply want to raid the treasury of
Georgia and with it build political
machine at the expense Of the peo-
pie.