The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-06-19
H. S. Wardner Thinks its
Duties Could be Done
BY Others

WINDSOR, June 19.-Henry S.
Wardner, whose views on state and ma
tional issues have attracted some atten-
ton, comes out fat-footed and proposes
the abolition of the Vermont public ser
vice commission.
Mr.. Wardner who earns his living as
an attorney in New York, nevertheless
considers Vermont his real home country
and his attacks on the direct primary in
the past have been characteristic of the
man who dates back his appreciation of
Vermont public men to Judge Redfield,
Edmunds, Morrill, and Z. ]. Phelps.
The article says in part:
ITO accomplish anything real in econ
omy we shall have to go further and
deeper than to talk about the consolida-
and appraise each commission separately
and see if it is actually worth its salt.
If q commission can be shown to be of
slight or of no value we should not con
solidate" it but should put it out of ex-
istence and try to do without
Take, merely as an actual case for
present discussion, our public service
commission. 1t is net a very costly frill
for Vermont as such things go. Other
states have similar commissions that are
far more active and expensive without
being more >useful. The call for their
abolition has not yet become popular; yet
| know of one instance where a governor
of one of our great states in the Middle
West was told by a prospective appointee
to the Office of chairman of the public
service commission that under no circum-
stances would he accept such position
and thereby become an active participant
in the squandering of state money on the
r,f
is refreshing to find now and then, citi-
zenship of this sort. 1t is encouraging
to think that men are beginning to ques-
ton the prOpriety of accepting a public
Office which instead of being help to the
state may possibly be a burden.
Duties of Commission.
The duties of Vermont's public service
commission are varied To start at the
beginning, let us suppose that Judge
Gage and some of his neighbors at the
Corners in the town of Weathers6eld
want to organize a small electric light
company to supply their houses and the
two village churches with light and per
hapS furnish one Or two small industries
with electric power. 1t IS not a very
large enterprise the entire town of
Weathersfield has little over 1000 inhabi-
tants divided among the hamlets of
GreenbUSh AmSden. DowncrS, Perkins
vile, Weathersfield Center, Weathersfield
Bow and the Corners-now unhappily
called acknowledgements with a
handful of people scattered in between.
oppose it to be only Ascutneyville which
the new company intends to serve. No
matter how small the enterprise is to be,
the public service commission of Vermont
must give to this new prospective indus
try its study and approval before Judge
Cages little company can get its charter
and operate.
Let us follow the procedure. For
three weeks in a newspaper published in
Windsor county runs an advertisement
of Judge Cages plan with a notice that
on certain day there will assemble at
Lawyer Howland's office at Windsor the
members of Vermont's public service
commission, coming from their respective
distant homes for the purpose of holding
a solemn hearing" on the propriety of
Judge Cages proposal and adjudicating
upon the public necessity of having such
a company. They come. they hold a hear
ing. they adiudicate, the state pays the
bill for travelling expenses and the sala-
ries of these functiOnaries and their clerk.
Is this absurd or does mere prejudice or
error on the part of the writer make it