Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1922-04-26
CITY SCORES
FIRST POINT
ON MERGER
Judge Hay Decides
Corporation Can
Not Unite.
LACKS FRANCHISE
Dissimilar Utilities
Are Held Without
Rights.
LACKS FRANCHISE

The city Of indianapolis and the city
of Kokomo today won the first step in
their suit to set aside the order of the
public service commission authorizing
the Indiana Electric Corporation to pur-
chase and operate seven Indiana unitlity
plants.
The victory came IN the decision of
Judge Linn D. Hay In Superior Court,
room 2, overruling a demurrer of the de-
PENDANT corporation and the public serv-
ice commission.
The court holds that the city has a
right to restrict utilities from the I'M
authorized use Of its streets, and that the
public service commission has no power
to authorize a corporation without fran
chise or other property, to merge two
dissimilar utility properties.
These two questions have been points at
issue throughout the proceedings sur
rounding the merging Of the utilities
,, valued at nearly s2000o, 600.
SEVEN COMPANIES
| SEEKING TO MERGE.
The c"~oanies which the Indiana Elec-
trio Corporation is seeking to merge and
which it has authority from the public
service commission to merge are: The
Merchants Heat & Light Company Of In
dianapolis, the Elkhart Gas & Fuel Com
pany, the Valparaiso Lighting Company,
the Indiana Railway & Light Company
of Kokomo, the Putnam Electric Com
pany, and the Cayuga Electric Company.
/ The case will now proceed in its
regular course, but the ruling on the de-
murrer is looked upon as a victory for
| the city. In this decision the city, which
has consistently opposed the merger, has
won its main points.
RULING as TO
| STREET CONTROL.
In ruling on the right Of the city TO
control its streets the court said
'If the Indiana Electric Corporation IL
permitted TO consummate its purpose, it
will result In It's invadingthe rights now
vested in the city to control the
occupancy of its streets and to determine
the kind Of product 1t is to recover.
THE commission has no right to per-
NIT utilities to use streets"
| In speaking Of the corporations lack OF
right to unite dissimilar utilities the
court said:
II am inclined to believe that under
the utility act a newly organized utility
might purchase the property or plant OF
another utility and apply for permission
to issue securities for that purpose. and
that such permission would authorize
it to conduct a utility business, but the
statute certainly intends to limit his
RICH TO a single company, or companies
furnishing like service or product In
the same city"
SHANK PROUD
OF DECISION.
Il am mighty proud Of the way Cor
poration Counsel Groninger and the at
| torneys associated with him, handled this
case and know that the decision will
! be approved by every man, woman and
child in indianapolis said Mayor
Shank in commenting on the decision.
Judge Hay has made himself a very
pei ular man. The people now will feel
that in him they have a man willing to
protect them from corporations.
Personally, I am mighty glad about it.
because Of the criticism I received for
the march I led on the Statehouse pro-
I testing against the merger This ought
to prove that parade was not a mob,
but crowd Of citizens with a real griev-
ance.
II feel that the action has been one
that will be far reaching, not only in
Indianapolis, but all over the United
States"
GRoNINGER
ALSO ELATED.
Corporation Counsel Taylor e. Gron-
niger Joined the mayor in elation. At
torneys for the city regard the over
ruling of the demurrer as a complete
victory practically.
81 regard Judge Hays opinion as one
of the most important that has been
rendered In Marion County courts for
many years" said Mr.. Groninger.
at is important in that 1t more clear
ly defines the powers Of the public ser
vice commission and declares that the
commission has no powers other than
those expressly delegated to it in the
act which created it.
I'm other words, the public service
commission is commission of power
limited by express provisions of the
statute and section 9515 OF the public utiI-
ity act provides that only utilities fur
nishing the same product or service in the
same community or whose lines paral-
lei or intersect may merge
SECTIONS MUST
BE READ TOGETHER.
1.-The court decided that the second part
of section 9514, applying to the sale OF
utilities, must be read with the first
part which that only similar utilities
may merge.
ut is important also, that the court
decided municipalities still have power
alleys That power has not been sur
rendered to the public service commits
SION"
Attorney General U. s. Lesh declined to
comment saying he had not had an op-
portunity to confer with the public serv-
ice commission. The attorney general is
defending the case In behalf of the COM