Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-04-09

the establishment of from four TO six
more gas storage tanks properly distrib-
! uted. l shall undertake to stop the
waste Of the city's money for maintenance
of gas street lamps that furnish no light
but serve to reduce pressure in the
mains. These lights, many of them,
burn twenty-four hours in the day. |
shall undertake to compel the company
to meet the demand for coke of local
| dealers without commission cost,
For the last five years the manage.
ment of the company has allowed ia
vOred jObbing company in Cincinnati 5
per cent on the selling price of all Of
the coke produced by the company, when
at the same time hundreds of tobbers
would have been glad to perform the
same service for less than one-t tenth the
amount. Think of the absurd PROPOSE
ton Of allowing jobber from .$25 to
S35 car for selling coke that he did not
have to load on the car or unload at its
destination or for which he did not have
other jobbers were selling coke for 81. 90
a car. AS nearly as 1 can estimate,
without access to the books, the man
agement has wantonly wasted of the
900 in the last five years. A sum sufficient
to erect all the storage tanks necessary
for the equalization of pressure.
81 shall undertake Immediately to have
the manufacture Of gas increased to such
an extent that householders and manu-
facturers may be supplied with any
quantity Of gas desired and at not to
exceed sixty cents per thousand cubic
feet, and of the required 600 B. T. O..
The plan so to do is entirely feasible.
This will forever do away with the visits
of inspectors to enforce obnoxious pro-
hibitiOns of the use Of gas and will give
to the consumer the advantages, both as
to quantity and quality, contemplated
when the Citizens Gas Company re-
celved it's charter.
"To this end, l shall recommend If
70 In Of ha
plans as stated, the displacement Of the
/ Impractical college professor as manager
Of the Gas Company, and the appoint
ment In mis- place of a practical business
| usn of high character.
COULD REDUCE
TEN PER CENT DIVIDEND.
The 10 per cent dividend which was
all right upon a contemplated temporary
Investment, now that conditions seem to
have made forever impossible the dons-
ton of this plant to the city, could
Justly be reduced 20 9 or per cent, tax
! free stock, as a permanent investment.
For the necessary increased production
additional capital must be provided. This
can be secured by increasing the cap
/ ital stock Of the company; Offering the
additional stock at par, first, to the con-
sumers; second, to investors seeking a
permanent, taX-free investment. In fact
/ have the assurance from some of the
most substantial men of the city that
tuey NOhll make extensive SUBSCRIPTIONS
II the gas company were established I'M
/ der practical management. The same
high public spirit that financed the Cit
liens Gas Company in 1907 can be de
pended upon to provide the additional
capital needed. Evidently the only rea-
son this plan Of financing the required
enlargement Of the plant has not been
suggested is the reluctance Of the pres
/ ent management to reduce to par the
value Of their outstanding stock now
selling at a high premium. The CitiJ
Zeus Gas Company IN its brief recently
filed with the public service commission
/ state:
For FIVE years, with every article Of
daily use rising In value, In some in
stances twofold or moro, the citizens Of
Indianapolis have continued to enjoy a
daily necessity at the same price at which
IT was furnished twelve years ago, when
the basic elements entering into that
product, both IN the form Of material and
labor, only represented a small fraction
Of their present cost
This statement is all right except IN
one particular:
1t Is absolutely untrue. The price of
gas has been increased In the last twelve
years and the quality decreased. which
Is equivalent to a further increase IN
price. According to the price sheets ex-
hibited to the public service commiss sion,
the gas manufactured was n by-DrOduct
and the chief product was coke and other