The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1922-03-16

company as the producer; that the
producing company is charging it(the
distributing company an increased
price and therefore it being but mer-
chant in gas must add a profit.
Again it occurs to me that if the
franchise was with a producer of gas
it might we'll provide that if he or it
ceased to be producer of sufficient
gas to furnish the city then the fran
chise should be terminated and the
city would be given the privilege of
taking over the mains and connections
within the city at fair remuneration
to the holder.
The experience of cities in Oklaho-
ma in what has heretofore been the
gas belt all goes to warn others that
the granting of gas franchise by a
municipality ought to be attended
with the deepest study and the most
careful and farseeing consideration by
those whose purpose it is to guard the
welfare of the citizenship of the mu-
nicipality.
If this information will be of any
benefit to you | am glad to be able to
give it to you.
Very truly yours,
Roy l.. Fury
Secretary Chamber of Commerce
Enid, Oklahoma.
We shall not take issue with any
statement of Mr.. Vickers, but we do
wish to make few comments on the
letter from the secretary of the Enid
Chamber Of Commerc.
The first question mentioned by the
writer of the letter was the matter of
rates. We are of the opinion that the
rate asked is not unreasonable. Oui
reason for the belief is not based Who'll.
ly on comparison of rates in Other
towns, which is unfair, because Other
towns might be paying either tor
much or too little.
The price should be based on thu
cost of the gas, whether produced b!
the distributing company or purchased
from others, as the first factor; th'
cost of distribution; the cost of dis
tribution the second. Then a reason
able depreciation on the system, plu
) a reasonable profit.
There is authentic information OF
this subject, and according to this in
fromation it seems that the rate asket
here is not unreasonable, and that i
will furnish heat at considerable less
cost than coal, to say nothing of the
added convenience.
This information comes from an un.
questionable source and is more reli-
able method of establishing the ques-
ton of rates than any comparison.
The secretary of the Enid Chamber
does not say what percentage of the
consumers turned to coal, and we will
venture the assertion that they were
a negotiable quantity. His statement
that he expects more to do so in the
event of raise, is hardly competent
statement in opposition.
We fail to get the viewpoint of the
writer in regard to the distributors
buying the gas of producer. Suppose
the ordinance did provide that the
city take over the system, is it not
reasonable to suppose that the pro-
ducer would ask the city just as much
as they would the distributing COM
pany, and would not the city be better
off without the investment in the dis
tributing system?
Our idea is that the distributing
company has heavy investment in
equipment, and that as a matter OF
self protection they will not make the
price so high that people cannot afford
to patronize them, for should this be
the case they would be the heavy los
ers. Of course the Enid gas comes
thru a pipe line which supplies other
cities and is quite different situation
from that which effects Liberal.
w agree that the letting of a fran
chise should be attended with deepest
study, and consequently we have spent
weeks going into the matter from a
disinterested viewpoint and the more
we learn the better we are satisfied
with the proposition we are offered.
A rate comparison with the Anna
rilla is interesting. The maximum
hate asked here is fifteen cents high
er than the maximum rate at Anna
rilla. However the Amarillo rate
maintains for the first 10000 feet
while the Liberal rate comes down for
smaller quantities, and on the basis
100000 feet the rate asked here is
but little higher than the Amarillo
rate.
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