The Washington times., 1923-11-06

on the outskirts Of the city.
on the investment, but are also pay
ing off the principal by means oi
q sinking fund ana, IN addition, arr
providing for the perpetuity Of the
syster3 through an adequate deple
c1atlon led. p
There are. profits" taken 81
hydro consumers, too: the sums
representing the difference b
tween what they are paying fOl
light, heat, and power now and
what they would pay If the privite
systSme still functions. And, u
funds are set aside each year t.
meet bonds at Iuaturity, there 4
bound to be further drop I'm rates
for q, long time to come. The
bonds are In no case, Of cCurSe
being refunded. The central and
distributing plants will have paid
for themselves in the term Of thirty
years mentioned IN the debentures
Another tabulation, that OF do
mestie rates paid in large cities, il
Of interest. It il follows:
Less than 2 cents per XVIII,
1921. . cities; 1922, IS cities.
Less than 3 cents per XVIII,
1921; Is cities; 1922. 25 cities.
Less than 4 cents per XVIII.
i, 1921, % cities; 1879, 26 cities. -
Less than cents per XVIII,
, 1921. 30 cities: 1922, II cities.
There is q great increase In the
use OF all sorts OF domestic appli'
ances. Director King reports
Electric ranges are being installed
1T the rate of 1000 per month.
Taxes Are Reduced.
Taxes are lowered" said .Di
rector King, because the municipal
lighting and power costs less under
the new system. But private cor,
porations pay taxes: does Hydro?
The commission pays the provinces
for the use Of the waters. The
IocaI commissions pay no taxes
How much, then. do the cities
lose?
'I have that figured out. II, in
1921, Hydro in Toronto paid taxes
IKE a private utility II would have
added 43.7 cents TO the yearly ex;
peYise OF each domestic user ana
S1.A3 for each commercial user. But,
since the average domestic consumer
saves S3667 and each commercial
user 31s9.s9 every year, as against
the price they would have had 20 pay
the old private companies for the
same service, you can understand
why-I never heard anything about
taxes while. was in Ontario.
"The Ontario system was not set
up by Socialists or radicals. but was
started and put over by manu-.
facturers, Hnanciers and business
men. Such legislation Rs was neces.
sary was passed by . conservative
government.
Purely Business Proposition.
ut was not inspired by senti.
fnentaltSm. 1t was a cold.blooded
business proposition. done for selfish
reasons and cash In hand. Inol.
dentaly, 1t has benefited the farmers
and the working people more than
all the 'upiift' chatter, conferences,
Investigations, academic articles and
pions hopes we have witnessed In
the United States for q quarter Of \
century,"
Director King points out that re-.
suits are not due to the fact that the
Niagara river is haFneSSed, but be-
cause OF the cooperative scheme
evolved in Ontario. The same thing
would apply in the District of Colum.
oia The people here do not own and
could not well own the Potomac
Electric Power Company. All they
couid get together on in the matter
OF electric light. heat and power
would be through public ownership
through the Federal Government, in
all probability-of the oft,aEitated
development at Great Falls.
Expert Cites Low Cost.
The cost Of generating a kilo.
watt or electricity In q modern
power station driven by coal is s or
mus, by water power Q or 3
nils. That does not account for
customers' paying 10 cents q Kilo.
watt hour in American cities az
against 2 cents in Ontario cities. I"
This Is the way Director King puts
Asked whether vast economic loss
In the matter OF private existinQ
plants would not ensue IL such de.
pelopments as that anticipated al
Great Falls, or in proposed super,
power zones were arrived at by the
public ownership route, he declared
me utiilty corporations have
always challenged public ownershir
advocates to put the matter of com
petition to a test. Here is the on
portunity to accept the gage OF
battle: For development Of hydro
electric power will come to be the
biggest industry in the United
states. The, question liz, whether
privately-owned corporations are Il
control our waterways, or the peo
pie. whose property they are.
The Canadian business mer
have put one over on us. The,
originated and have in successfu
operation absolutely the higReg
electric light and power plant II
the whole world.
Is the United States to be out
stripped In efficient application O.
hydro electric energy % progress
and human welfare2H