The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-03-26
GATE RATE CAUSE
OF GAS INCREASE
Opened Way for Action
in Federal Court Re
sulting in Hike
HUGHES SAW IT AHEAD
In Dissenting From Order Of
Commission lie Predicted
the Result

sprI.I FOO Tho uurr
OKLAUOMA CITY Mur.n 25-
The day Of pruul.t. uH uf miracles.
may luys rI..Ud buf r,rrv user Ot
natural pl. u oklahoma has good
reason to believe 'Hn. one member OF
tho corporation .uww sion is pos
f.saDd OF o. r.ii which much rcHym-
hlos ihut ui prophecy
When tine corporation commission
is.u.I DO. order i.t Juno o.t1hl.Hh-
iUE tho 'r.Ie ufD" for euH. Commits
rIoutr ilulh,s d.Ht0ulod. Sut only
dI1 Doc dissent nut Doc ala sp with
considerable punch. and filed dis
srutug statement which appears iu
the record Commi !aaeg Hughes
IId not undertake to criticize the
Folc ratio method. 'por 500 hut ne
gullod attention To- certain conditions
tNlsl,Hg which, in his opinion, iusli-
flod the Withholding ol such an or
der for tho present and predicted
that n IL were issued tho result
would bo 90 uullify existing con-
tracts ana open tho rHto TO large In
rrcascs In rates. Among other things
Commissioncr Hughes said was this:
MIR. Hughes Prediction.
"lt is my opinion that II this conn
tracts between tho Oklahoma Nat
ural Gas company and the different
distributing companies. n viii afford
the oklahoma Natural Gas company
m opportunity 90 90 10 the federal
courts ana secure rates for gas fur
niehod that are not Justified under
present conditions ana under the
torms OF the present contracts
From this distance tho dissent Of
MIR. Hughes reads like the words Of
q prophet, All that hc predicted has
come 10 pass
II is not realized BY most people
Interested In the present gas rntc
disturbance that II was the instnlln-
tion Rof the gate rate which immcdl-
Htoly caused consumers rates 10
soar. Prior to the gate rate order.
contracts were entered into between
the Oklahoma Natural, which sup
plies gas In the role Of wholesaler,
aud local distributing companies act
ing In the capacity Of retailers. The
local company usually. under those
contracts. kept ouc-third Of tho coli
lectiona from consumers and paid
two-thirds to the oklahoma Natural
for supplying the gas. So long as
thcso contracts between the COM
panlcs were I'm existence, and 30 long
as the distributing companies were
governed by their contracts with tho
cities ps 10 prices charged con-
sumcrs, the commission retained itt
control over rates.
Companies Escape Commission.
when, however. these contracts
were all nbrogated by establishment
OF "A gate rate, under which th'
oklahoma Natural collects for nj
gas furnished at the city border
then there was nothing left betwceI
the company and the federal courts
Meanwhile, the distributing com
panies. which had also been re-
leased from their contracts. and had
also by the commission order beer
snddled with all leakage and lin'
loss. proceeded likewise to take theiI
troubles TO the courts, and the whole
situation appears to have escaped
from the commission. That the gate
ratio order was Immediately respon'
sible for this thoro seems To be nc
doubt, since the essence OF that or
der WAS TO abrogate all existing rat,
contracts both between distrlhutlnf
companies and consumers ana be-
tween distributing companies and