Southwest Washington labor press. [volume] (Hoquiam, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1926-03-05

EDITORIAL
1Hn COUNTRY It IS TODAY


Councilman Mcclellan states that he
does not believe in municipal owner
ship. and 70 his mind i Is > reEsrsion
to the policy Of European paternalisns
and not in accordance with the prinei-
pies that have made this country he
country It Is today.
Onr reply to Mr.. Mcclellan e that
whatever may have been the theory
Of s.fhe fathers as 70 the proper 1une-
tiens Of government. facts and figures
indicate That our American govern
ment. national, state and local, have
successfully carried on public enter
prises. We wish 70 further reply that
Il and wherein our present forms e
government nay be poorly adapted
to the proper control Of pnbEe ely owned
utilities. they may be and actually are
being changed. One Of The 1uudamen-
tai basic principles Of the American
form Of government Is the Kseat q
the people 70 sitter and change such
forms. r, therefore, any changes IN
our forms of government are neces-
sarv in order to enable them 70 more
effectively carry on the public owner
ship and operation Of public utilities,
such changes may be made. just
such changes as this are gelng on
gradually all the time. and have made
the country the country It Is today.
There are now 1851 municipality
owned and operated light and power
plants in the United States. More
cities are taking over their plants
every year. 0vsr TOO cities have ess
tablished municipal plants in ne last
five years. Municipal ownership q
this respect has grown steadily and
with increasing rapidity since gae liIst
municipal plant was sstabllaned =
1881. eThis has also made tie coun-
try the country II is TO-DAY"
The Reason Why
Lower rates, better service, and
more Of it, and more power as well q
cheaper LIGHT for The city, home and
factory. better treatment Of labor and
! rfeater diffusion of wsalths comfort
and convenience among tte people
these sfs Some Of tIe IeasoN4 mat sAEe
steadily driving cities 70 municipal
ownership and e'help TO melEe the
country the country it IS today."
And. finally, Mr.. Mcclellan tells
us that when fair, competent and
impartial report is made on thea pro
posed Wynooche project he win vote
to submit the proposition TO the peo-
pie.
II is almost unbelievable that any
fair-minded person would refuse to
accept the reports Of Engineers J. L
stannard and B. e. Torpen as moi
heine fair. competent and impartial
In a special ssCushman Project issue
Of the Tacoma Ledger. under date q
February Is, 1926, we read: @To those
who are familiar with the history q
large engineering projects the tact
that the first unit Of the Cushman
newer development has not only been
CONSTRUCTED within the estimates sub
nitted to the city council in the early
stages Of the work but that more than
was originally planned has been built
with the money provided, speaks more
eleouently Of J. L. Stannard, chief en-
aineer of Tacomass new project than
could many words And under Mr.
stannard's photograph we read the
following:
"Chief Engineer J. L. Stannard Of
the Cushman power project, who gen.
ius is credited with giving Tacoma 9
bigger and better development than
hoped for and far within the estimates
Of cost given the city council in the
beginning. just such men have
made 'the country the country it is
today"
"WelI Done Coed and Faithful
Servant
It must be remembered that ali Of
this praise comes directly from the
Perkins press who were at one time
bitterly opposed to municipal owner
ship. We are told that strong sen
tinent against municipal ownership
existed at one time in the Tacoma
Chamber Of Commerce On the day
that the Cushman power plant is
officially opened, mayors and other Of
ficial representatives Of more than
fifty cities in the Western section Of
Washington viii be the guests Of the
Tacoma Chamber Of Commerce at .
banquet. and = unique celebration viii
take place. Eight civic organizations
are nov represented on the committees
working out the plans Of the celebFa-
ton. Let's follow the example set
By Tacoma, and make Aberdeen "the
-s4-- oha l. 49, f..f1e.4 %