Imperial Valley press., 1935-06-03

about disaster. and that the people
I have no right 10 interfere with the
I special rights and privileges of the
private power companies, which
rights and privileges are paramount
/ TO those of the people.
Let Us briefly examine and look
! into the reasons lying back OF the
! change in ownership of these utth-
/ ties from private to public hands.
/ First. let's take the question OF
/ sewers. IN the beginning it was
/ not necessary that each resident in
a town connect with the sewer sys-
TEN. II the price charged for the
. service was. in his opinion. too
high. he could make his own ar
rangementS. IN other words, the
system was competitive. but as time
went on and the health of the COM
munity became paramount, he was
forced TO connect his property with
The established sewer system. In
this way. the sewer system became
Of importance and affected the
well-being and living conditions OF
every man. woman and child in the
community. The Importance became
so great that it could not be han
died properly under private owner
ship. For example. imagine the ef-
feet on the sanitation problem and
health of the community if the
connection with an individuals
property. was cut off because he did
not pay his monthly bill. 1t just
couldn't be done. it was COM
munity problem and as the town
grew in size the system had to be
enlarged and extended, regardless
Of whether or not it could show
profit on the investment. Thus we
find the people demanding the
right to control and operate their
own sewer systems, for the reason
that 1t was not q function which
could be properly rendered through
private ownership, or in other
words, II was a monopolstic serv-
ice.
Take next the question Of water
supply. At the start private water
companies were organized and Of
fered service to the residents OF
towns. Quite often more than one
water company was organized in
the same town, and each competed
for the business available. At that
time IN many Of the towns there
was a town pump or the homeown-
CT could put down well IN his
back yard and get an ample sup
ply Of domestic water, # he cared
to DO SO, so that il the rates charg-
ed by the private company were
considered excessive. he had an
other means Of supplying his own
service. But as time went on, the
water companies were merged so
there was only one in each town,
and because Of the danger Of con-
tamination, the hOmeoWner was
forced TO give up his well and take
water from the private company,
which resulted in the elimination OF
competition. Moreover. it was
necessary to go out beyond the then
present supply and find new sources
Of water. These developments made
the question Of service more i'm
portant than that of profit, and be-
cause Of the importance Of an ade-
quate and safe supply OF domestic
water for each inhabitant OF
town, there grew up the. demand
that the people themselves should
own and control the water systems,
as only by this method could they
be assured Of proper protection, both
in the matter Of service as well as
in cost. Putting it another way, the
importance Of this service was too
great to permit it to remain as a
monopoly in the hands OF private
individuals, and it came to be con-
sidered the function Of the local
government to supply this service.
Power Conditions Similar
We are going through much the
same transition in regard to cleo
tric power. We are fast reaching a
point where. in especially such
communities as Imperial Valley
electric power is nearly as impor-
tant as water. Il used to be that
the people could use candles, kero-
sene or gas for lighting. and in ac-
dition to the .atJer two, wood 10
cooking. but as developments pro
ceed. the need Tor an adequate sup
ply Of low-cCst power becomes more
and mere important. ImpeTla. VAL
ley has many advantages. but it also
has some disadvantages, as regards
living conditions. It is not neces-
sary TO enlarge upon this matter, as
I believe we all realize that cleo
trlciCy w5ll become more and more
vital 70 the success OF this com
munity ana 70 The welfare and nap
. piness Of It's people Under our
laws. competition IN the matter Of
power service has been practically
+ eliminated as between private com
panies. Il would Re virtually I'M
possible for another private com
pany 70 build its lines into Imperla!
Valley. and the same applies in
. other parts Of our state and coun-
try. 50 that we have created a
monopoly Of the power business and
with the development Of uses Of
electricity. We have become more
and more dependent apon IL, until,
, as I have already said, it is getting
, TO a point where electricity is near
( " as important as water Because
Of the similarity IN the conditions
D. affecting these two services. We finC
} the people demanding the right tc
own and operate their own power
= systems. as they have their water