The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-06-19
Public Se7~UiCe Commission
Ought to be Abolished

vision of Judge Cages electric light COM
pany consolidating with similar com,
pany at Weathersfield Bow, but should
we not find courage in the thought that
we have laws to protect US and secre-
tary of state, an attorney general, q
states attorney, and a host of judges to
enforce those laws?
Inspecting the Railroads.
1t should not be forgotten that our
public service commission has the solemn
duty of inspecting the railroads and
examining once a year the roadbeds,
bridges, stations, rolling stock and equip
ment of all railroads in Vermont. This
performance is supposedly for the pur-
pose of aScertaining whether it is safe
for us to travel and to ship our goods by
rail. Well, what do our three commits
sioners know after they have made their
annual inspection? How many freight
cars have they examined? How many
passenger cars have they ridden in?
How many locomotives have they tried
out? What tests have they applied to
the railroad bridges? How many miles of
railroad track have they walked? The
mere putting of theese questions is
enough to show the farce of leaving to
any three laymen a responsibility such
as this and expecting anything of them
The statute which requires it is ridicu-
lous.
Formality of Reports.
All the public utilities make reports"
to some public official. / remember once
that among the numerous reports that |
was endeavoring to help public service
company TO prepare was one that had to
be made in unusual detail and which
served no useful purpose whatever This
might be said of most reports which are
required by state authority but the par
ticular one / had before me had to be
Ella bOrated to an unconscionable degree.
In my perplexity / mentioned the subject
to an old practitioner who advised me to
fill in the name of the railroad on the
cover of the blank, place between the
leaves a copy of the New Testament and
forward it to the commission. He said
it would probably never be examined by
anybody, but that if it ever was exam
ined no harm would be done and possibly
some good.
While it is perhaps asking too much
to ask that Vermont, in advance of other
states, should discard the prevailing fash
ion of requiring reports from public
utilities. it might not be revolutionary
fer the legislature to prescribe that all
such reports be made only to the secre-
tary Of state who could certainly file
them and put them to sleep as tenderly
as could the public service commission.
Issue of Securities.
VermOnt's public service commission
has also the duty of passing upon the
issue of securities by public utilities
For example, if an electric light com
pany decides that it must borrow money
and must issue corporate bonds to obtain
the loan, the statutes require the COM
pany first to gain approval of the public
service commission. In these days such
Il requirement is not unusual This does
not mean that it is useful or sensible; it
merely means that it is fashionable
Probably the exercise of this function by
Nermont's public service commission ii
less grOtesque than the performance of
the same function by the interstate com
merce commission in the matter of an
issue of bonds by one of our transconti-
mental railroads. The theory is that the
superior wisdom and virtue of the com
mission viii avert error and viii safe
guard both the corporation and the pub
lie, 1t is n noble theory. The object is
well-nigh sublime. But in Vermont why
should not the state treasurer or the
state bank examiner or the auditor of
accounts tassuming those officials to be
competent in the posts they now fill be
quite as competent as the public service
commission to officiate as supervisor on
these comparatively rare occasions when
such duty Is to be discharged?
In creating and maintaining its pub
lie service commission | cannot think
more than desire to initiate other
states. If it were otherwise and if It
was seriously the belief of our legisla-
lures that the duties now delegated to
that commission ought really to be per
formed by somebody it would seem as
though with our very small population
and our limited resources we might have
distributed these duties to our judiciary
our states attorneys, our secretary of
state, our state engineer and others of
our numerous office holders.
In thus suggesting the. extinction of
Nermont's public service commission |
who compose it. / do not know them
and they have never bothered me in the
slightest particular. My suggestion is
offered merely in the interest Of economy
and IS based upon a pretty well-founded
conviction that public service commits
Slons generally are of little, if any, value
and certainly are not indispensable.
The reader will observe, | hope. that |
have treated these gentlemen with cour-
tesy Even though | regard them as
supernumerarieS on VermOnt's payroU 7
must speak of them with the respect due
men OF their exalted rank for, by a queer
provision that has crept into Vermont's
statute law, our public service commits
sion stands on the plane of a court OF
record TO the extent of possessing the
power to punish for contempt. There
tore 1t IS with every gesture OF politeness
that l point their way to ''the shade of
private life where. | trust, they will find
soIace IN the society of the major part of
Nermonts present army of judges.
Nothing in the major leagues that can
tie the Cardinals in heavy hitting when
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