New Britain herald., 1930-08-20

and earnestly listen to a short dis
 cussion of state affairs, I am going
 to sSk one question. This question
 seems to be basic. It points right at
 a condition which is discreditable to
 the state of Connecticut and to all
 of it's citizens, particularly to those
 who adhere as I do to the repub-
 lican party.
 And here is the question:
 By what right does J. Henry
 Roraback president of the Con-
 necticut Light & Power Co.,, the
 largest public utility in the state.
 also hold the position of chairman
 of the republican state central
 committee, which, as he has always
 administered it, makes him virtual ly the head of the state govern
 ment? We know on good authority
 that no man can serve two masters.
 Whom is J. Henry serving,-those
 citizens of Connecticut who have
 entrusted him with a high public responsibility or the owners of the 1 power interests of whom he is one. Obviously. there are times when the
 duty of the republican administra- l ton to the people of the state and the duty of the Connecticut Light &
 Power Co.,, to it's stockholders are not the same,-may indeed conflict. l T hold that the two do conflict, | always have conflicted. and that Mir. | Roraback is no longer a good re- i publican or a proper leader for the | party. When he became public utility magnate it was his duty to
 retire When he did not retire, 1t
 was the duty, of his party to retire him and put in his place some dis interested republican who was in position to serve the public and not a private interest. I know this sounds like heresy but I believe it 1 and l stand here ready 10 take whatever is coming to me for hay ing dared to say it.
 Rocky River Charter
 For the proof of the charge l ap- peal to the legislative record. The record shows that the state of Con- necticut issued to J. Henry Roraback and his associates many years ago, when electrical transmission was re- latively in its infancy, a charter krown/a the Rocky River charter, which contained some unusual. some | extraordinary powers and privileges. This charter, as I understand it. was peddled up and down the market | for some years without a buyer. | Then as the possibilities of electrical transmission became better under stood this charter became valuable and was sold to some Philadelphia interests for a good round price and a position with a salary. Further legislation was needed to make the grant complete, opposition interests had to be kept out, additional laws were needed to meet particular emer- gencies and Mir. Roraback was able, by reason of his position as republi- can state leader, to procure them. He did procure them and delivered them and the Connecticut Light & Power Go. became the largest power | company in the state, able to sell power to smaller companies cheaper | than they were able to manufacture | it and eventually it will probably ab sorb every electric lighting and pow CT company in Connecticut. Then he became it's president. The whole scheme was made possible by free grants to Mir. Roraback and his as sociates of the exclusive rights to create water powers on the states rivers for which the state got noth- ing and out of which they made fat profits. Added to this has been the crime of taking away from land owners and the towns their proper ty without, in some notorious cases, the usual and proper compensation provided by law. These charges sound monstrous. They can be proved in detail.
 Now understand me on one i'm portant. point. The electrification of the state was a good thing for the state. The super power plan so-call- cd is a permanent benefit to the state and is good industrial insur- ance for the state It may spell the industrial salvation of New England. It is quite proper that the man who accomplished it should make good profits from it. so that they should be able to command the capital re- quired. But the republican state chairman had no right to be so heav- fly interested and benefited.
 Control of Legislature
 Because, through his control of the party he controls the legislature, the public utilities commission, the sound criticism, nobody has been able and willing to beat down and stifle opposition, investigation and sound criticism. Nobody has been able to say effectively to MT. Rora- backs lighting companies that the bargains they proposed were unfair. that the terms of franchises were not | justified. that their rates were too ! high The public utilities commission is supposed to look after rates in the 1 interests of the consumer, yet as ad- ministered in this state it is merely a sad joke. It can originate no in- vestigation. the consumer cannot .make out case without expensive engineering and legal advice which he cannot afford to pay for, the commission appears to exist solely
 for the purpose of making it appear that there is a public utilities com mission. Look for contrast at our neighboring states of Massachusetts and New York.
 Now Prof. Levitt has been saying this sort of thing and pretty effec-
 lively. He was laughed at at first but when Judge Jennings sustained
 him on the grade crossing question and when the supreme court sus- tained Judge Jennings and read the states counsel lecture such as no l attorney general or assistant attor- ney general had ever received in the 1 history of the state, the professors stock went up. He was invited to