Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1922-07-14

distributed by district participation Canada shows the same condition.
 Let us look in upon Los Angeles county, which has both municipal power and privately owned power Manufacturers have quit San Fran cisco because of exhorbitant power rates of privately owned power cor porations and settled down in Los An geles, where they were able to get power for less than one-half the northern rate.
 And looking over the report of R. F. DelValle, president of the board of public service commissioners of Los Angeles, we find that during the ifs cal year 1920-1921 the bureau distrib- uted 63,5O0,000 k. w. h. of electric energy from plant in San Francis quito canyon at a cost of $274,320; that this same power would have cost the people, if purchased from the Southern California Edison company $736,734. Some saving to the people, We will say. Suppose the power of Boulder Canyon, which runs up into the millions, was turned over to the Southern California Edison company, how many millions of dollars would the people have to pungle for the use of the power, over and above the cost under public ownership? MT. Del Valle further states that during the year 1921-1922 the little plant paid to the people of Los Angeles county a profit of $561, ,790, or total profit of the two years of $1,023,7O4. The plant cost $3,310,000, the saving in two years being one-third of the en- tire cost.
 A recent government report shows that government ownership is by far greater economy than private owner ship; that installations under private ownership is 100R more than under government ownership, and that dis tribution under private ownership is more than 60% higher than public owned utilities. These facts come from the department of commerce of the federal government and are from actual figures gathered by the statist- ical department. A special census of privately and publicly owned power and water works in the United States, in cities of over 30,0O0 population showed that it cost 36H6 higher when built by private than by public cor porations. In 1916 the investigation ,Dy the agricultural department of the government disclosed the Iact that prlvately owned power plant cost tor construction $3Ul per horsepower, wnlie publicly owned plants cost but SloS; that the average cost per kllo- watt unuer private management was shown by the capital charges to be 944U, wnlle under public ownership it was but $ZU9. This would not ln- aicaue that prlvate ownership was more to be desired.
 Recently at Phoenix, we heard a man scouting the desirability Ot pub nc ownership, and asked hlm why, if private ownership was so desirable, lne people ot the valley did not turn over the Southern California Edison the distribution of power from Roose- velt dam. He replied that they owned the power, and why should they turn It over to anybody to exploit them. It IS the same old story, when man has two pigs he cares not to divide with his nelghbor, but he is willing to give away everything that he does not have. The people of the Salt River valley have been caught by the species plea of the Southern California Edl- son company that if they get the power o1 the Colorado river they will pay large taxes to the state and the people will be correspondlngly bene- Ilted. But they fail to see that the cost of this installation by this pri- vately owned concern would be more than double the governmental costs; that profits are based on costs, and that the people would have to pay, and pay, and pay.
 Take the cities served by publicly owned power and water, and you will find that the ratio of users of these utilities is greater when owned by the municipality than when in the hands of private concerns. In 173 cities, where the population was in excess of 100000 souls the users of water and power was as to II, while in Brook lyn, where power and water was in the hands of private ownership it was l in no. And it would have to be the same if the power and water of the Colorado went into private hands, which appears to be the goal of our Salt River valley friends. And instead of inviting manufactures, it would, like San Francisco, drive them to some other locality where cheaper power might be obtained.
 Look over the figures presented by Director Davis and get some real facts as to the potentialities of the two damsites. The Miner has published the figures showing the impounding areas at eyery heioht from 50 to 600