1TO QCtQ^f B 1
The Charlotte News
Publiihcd Dally and Sunday by
THB NEWi PUBLISHING CO.
W. C. Dow*. Pr«»ld*»t aad G«s. Mgr-
City Editor
BuBlnecs Offlc*
•Job Offlca
ITT
U»
1SS9
J. a PATTOS Editor.
A. W. CALDWELL City Editor.
A. W. BURCH Advertising Ugr.
•UBSCRIPnON RATB8
Thr Charlotte News.
Dally and Suaday.
Ona yeiir 14.00
C)lx montHa 3.00
’]|ir«e moctha
One. month *
One week
Sunday Only
One year
Six months
Xturea montlui
Tt*fee-Demoeret.
Aeal* Weekly.
One year *^22
Six months
Three montbi
AaaovaeeiaeBt.
The attention of the public le re*
»p»otfulIy invited to the lollowrlng:
In future. Obituary Notice*, In eM-
nscrlatn Sk^tchee. Cards of Thanks,
oominunjcution? “ipousinif tne cause
of • tr!vJit« entorpriBe of a political
c«n'idat« and llkr matter, will be
cRuriced for at th^ rate of ttve cents
o ll-fk There will bi» no deviation from
tbit rule.
SUNDAY MORNING, OCT. 16, 1911.
A MAYOR WHO COUNTS.
The average mayor of a city has
a Boft, though perhaps, boring
time. OccasioDally. in a career of
several terms, he has an opportunity
♦o veto an ordinance, just to see
that his pen atill writes, and there
hlB authority begins and ends. His
task usually is to act as social go
between He must theoretically turn
the key of the city over to visiting
conventions. He must eloquently por
tray the city's history—if it has any
—and dwell feelingly upon its “past
achie^ement8” and “future possible
ties.” Unless he thrills visitors witn
tne notion that his city is the head
quarters of progress and the open
ing gate to all that is to be, he is
likely to be fired. He must appear
.nc Sunday school picnics and tell
the children jokes. He must also
ride in the landau with the gover
nor—if His Excellency happens to
be passing during his term of office
In fact the mayor of the average
clt> is about as important to the
city as the groom is to the wedding-
He is a kind of municipal ornament
V nich would be missed in the scenic
effect were it absent, but which is
r'arcely noticed in its little niche
The same thing is true of the bride
groom. He Is but an unnoticed, yet
necessary fixture in the general
fccheme of matrimony.
This is the ordinary mayor we are
Bpeaking off—the one who meets in
coming trains of boosters and lets
the procession into the big show.
Indianapolis, however, has one of
nn entirely different stripe. His
r«?ne Is Shank, but he is not to be
imed for that. Mr. Shank, tired of
acting as a sort of social ointment
upon the body politic and decided to
get down into the real scramble of
life
During his reign middlemen got
together and forced up prices on
farm produce and other edibles en
joyed by the populace under his
t.heoretlcal charge. This was not to
liking. He decided to revolt. He
something crooked in this kind
c' a deal, and it was but a short
time until the mayor of Indianapolis
developed into a produce buyer. He
permited visitors to go unwelcomed.
The tale of the potato had to be
solved. Mr. Shank found that he
could buy potatoes at 65 cents per
bushel, and this is what he did—
bought them in large quantities, and
big gobs, and sold them to his charge
at cost. Of course middlemandom rose
up in revolt, but there were no
feathers on this Shank and the may
or let them understand that so long
BS he was head of Indianapolis his
foster children should pay no more
Xor potatoes than potatoes were
Morth.
Mr. Sbaak thonld be heralded afar
as the potato mayor—the friend of
the ultimate consumer—the only may
or in captivity of his kind—onew ho
deals in prices rather th^n platl
tudes.
He Is the sort of an ornament
!worth having around a town.
THE SOUTHERN RAILWAY COM
ING
The Southern Railway Company
reports a successful year’s business.
Cotton goods markets have gone to
siiiash and mills have curtailed, but
the Southern has flourished like a
green bay tree. It has wethered
the financial storm following the
Roosevelt panic and emerges with a
strong hold on the situation. Even
the reduction in passenger rates in
North Carolina has failed to put it
out of business. On the contrary, its
revenue has increased.
The Southern has our congratula
tions and best wishes. Some of the
facts set forth in President Fin
ley's annual report are of interest
to the public. One source of grati
fication to railroad officials should be
the aml5able manner in which all
disputes with its employes have been
settled. Arbitration usually was
the method employed, and the com
pany comes through the year without
a strike. President Finley takes oc
casion to praise the Erdman act as
providing a satisfactiry method for
settling disputes between capital and
labor.
While the figures offered in his
annual statement are voluminous w'e
reproduce a few facts of geueral in-
teresl, which tend to show the excel
lent condition of the road under
present management:
"The taxes of the company this
'•.iur are $1858,863.52 i.n excess of
last year, aniounting now to $3,-
212,967.87. The company opemtes 8.22
miles less of road than it did in 19iO.
Its gross operating revenues increas
ed $3,050,554.05. The total operating
expenses increased $2,291,044.14. The
net reveuue showed an increase of
$698,502.05. The total gross income
showed an increase of $571,239.91.
The total dividends were $1,200,000.
The balance carried to profit and
loss shoved a decrease of $300,6878.-
92. As to the matter of dividends,
President Finley says:
“The financial condition of the com
pany Laving so improved as to make
sucli action entirely consistent with
a sound and conservative policy, a
dividend of 1 per cent on the pre
ferred clock of the company was
declared and paid in April, 1911, and
revision has been made for the pay'
ment in October of a similar divi
dend out of net income earned dur
ing the year. It was considered that,
as a fair recognition, under all the
circumstances, of the just expecta
tions of the holders of its preferred
stock who had recsived dividends for
a series of years until the conditions
which culminated in the financial
panic in the fall of 1907 and the
subsequent business depression ne
cessitated their suspension, a reason
able proportion of the comany's
cash resources could properly be de
voted to the ayment of dividends. It
is the expectation of the board of
directors that, with a continuance of
favorable conditions, the rate of divi
dend may gradually be increased un
til the full dividend can again be
properly paid.”
Think of torn* of the great prMi-
dentff' cf the past “swinging around
the circle” to tell the people what
great things they had done! Modesty
appears to be an unknown quantity in
political circles of today.
President Taft and Colonel Bryan
met recently at a banquet and nothing
whatsoever wa» lald regarding th^
lapse of time between drinks. ,
Mr. Lewis W. Parker is one cotton
manufacturer who believes in revis
ing all schedules alike which are in
need of revision.
Moving picture people have taken
pictures of Columbia, S. C., probably
with the view of showing how the
other half live.
Among the exhibits of state forests
at the state fair next week one will
look in vain for displays of senatorial
timl)er.
The “swing around the circle” to
be undertaken by Senator LaFollette
WMi be In the nature of a “chaser.”
Messrs. Matheweon and Bender are
looming large ae presidential possibili
ties just now.
Judge Clark is of the opinion that
the press is mightier than the lungs.
Senator Simmons is likewise enjoy
ing a “swing around the circle.”
Turkey is beginning to appreciate
Sherman’s definition of war.
Occasionally China gives evidences
of real life.
OUT OF THE WASTEBASKET.
Of hasi&f than a collegiate freshman
ever euffered..
If this was all to the ctib’s breaking
in, however, the want of an analogous
transformation would still be on the
easy side. Not only must he' become ac
customed to doing his best work amid
the confusion of the crackle of the
linotypes, the click of the typewriters,
and the rattle of the telegraph sounder.
In respect to his habits, he must
adapt himself to the practice of com
pressing a day’s work into half a day’s
time. In respect to his pride, he will
make mistakes for which the paper
will have tCL_apologi*e. In respect to
his salary, he must learn to make
one “hot-d9g” do ^hat two “hot-^gs”
have done. In respect to his* i(Kals,
he will discover that the business
manager censors the editorials. In re
spect to his philanthropic purpose, he
must assimilate the notion that a news-
ipaper is purely a business enterprise,
and the editor’s chief function is to
see that the linotypes never get out of
copy. In respect to his morals, he
will be shocked to discover that day
before yesterday’s specials to the met
ropolitan dailies are clipped, for to
morrow’s paper, and are printed with
the dates moved up, a few “waaes”
changed to “has beens” and the “to*
days” crossed out:—The Hit of hie
tribulations is long.
Some of those that etart in the race
stick. It takes a strong heart as well
as an extraordinary combination of
qualities. But if the cub is made of
the right stuff he will get his second
wind, after a season. The time will
come when he is no longer reproached
with being the new man; when his
copy is no longer the joke of the
composing room; when the force looks
on him as one of the boys. And about
this time he will discover that the
newspaper boys are as clever, jolly,
care-free a bunch as he ever struck
in with. He even begins to realize
that he has been admitted to the soph
omore rank. Far off in the distance
looms up the possibility of a juniorship
Seniors? Well, mighty few of u^ ever
get a diploma in this sch9ol.
win tell yon that hisVasta—^the great
cost in business—has been converted
into profit, and converted Into profit
by “saving.”
Judge Clark, of the Statesville Land
mark, takes us to task, in a ponderous
reprimand, for an inoffensive observa
tion, “Hog killing time in Dixie.” As
an authority on pig-pen lore we stand
ready to accord all honors to the
Statesvlllian, still insisting that Octo
ber and frost not infrequently usher in
the happy period of piggish decima
tion.
PELLAGRA.
According to the Greenville News,
government figures show pellagra to
be far more prevalent than was first
supposed. The News has heretofore
urged upon local physicians the neces
sity for starting a movement looking
to the establishment in this city of
headquarters for the proposed inves
tigations. Certainly the needs justify
the means. We quote official figures
as follow's:
“It Is said that the malady Is In*
h*easing annually at the rate of more
taan 100 per cent.
“There are more than 10,300 cases
In the 11 Southern states alone this
summer, as opposed to about 1,000 in
13 states two years ago.
“This is the remarkable statement
contained in a report by Surgeon
Wyman, of the general public health
and marine hospital service. The
sum of $50,000 will be asked from
the next congress. Dr. Lavinder,
now in charge of the Savannah hos
pital, was sent to Italy last year by
the service to study the disease
there, and made a valuable report.
‘Surgeon General Wyman’s report
goes on to say that the 11 South
ern states where the ravages of the
disease are fiercest, and where there
are approximately 1,300 new cases
this year, are Virginia, Qreorgia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Ala
bama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louis
iana, Texas and Kentucky. It is report
ed that in one North Carolina vil
lage, where there are less than 800
Inhabitants, 200 cases of pellagra have
sprung up this summer, and one North
Carolina physician has estimated that
there have been 50,000 pellagra cases
in this state alone since the disease
was discovered there six years ago.
“Few Northern states have been
shouldered with any prevalence of
the disease, though Illinois has fur
nished several of the most interest
ing subjects of study and has a
greater number of cases than any
other Northern state. New York
has had a few cases and the Dis
trict of Columbia has had several,
though most of those discovered in
the District could be traced directly
to some point further South. In all,
the disease has been reported from
31 states though the problem has nev
er become serious except in the South,
and, possibly, in Illinois.”
Governor Coal Blease became in-
lulled because the Spartanburg Jour
nal suggested a political melo-drama
with the governor as “villlan.” A chal
lenge was immediately issued to “lick
!he editor” for calling the governor a
‘villain.” It would seem that Cole-
Qoan has fallen to the idea of assuming
the role without even waiting for the
ttage. *
The Raleigh T^mes has not produced
\ pMlID in several weeks. Are.
bfii^ that the erstwhile sweet sitiger
>f the Timei paMed out with IBlmme?
We have perused in vain the volumi
nous discourse of the president on “ar
bitration treaties” for some suggestion
looking to a settlement of the difficulty
between the insurgent and regular
wings o^ the G. O. P.
Mr. Crowson, one of the best known
and most popular of state newspaper
men, has sold the Burlington News
May succew follow him in his new un-
deruking. aa It hM ln:hla piUt ca
reer. e * -
“Strangers in a strange land are the
best critics of its beauties and cus
toms,” is a brilliant set to the same
music as the epigram, “A prophet is
not without honor save in his own
country.” “Familiarity breeds con
tempt,” is a sister thought. In the
authority of these truisms, the impulse
to write of first impressions can be
considered neither abnormal nor pre
sumptuous.
* e •
Newspaper Hazing.
Positively, there is no analogy to the
experience wherewith a cub reporter,
fresh from the green fields of inexper
ience, breaks into newspaper harness.
If you will take my word for it there
is just one other transformation
which is in any particular comparable
to the process.
All men are freshmen either twice
in their lives or not at all. That
statement is a truth ^ich holds good
with the exception of those men who
die after the loginning and before the
completion of their college course.
When men step from the conditions of
every day city or country life into the
secluded, private, model-life habits and
manners of colleges or universities
they find themselves handicapped by
! inexperience. On acount of this inex*
perlence they are named freshmen,
and for it they pay a price which in
college vernacular is termed hazing.
Time passes, and they move out of the
freshman state. Finally, as seniora,
they are supposed to have acquii^Bd
full experience in, and Imowledge of
college life. Then they are thrown back
without apology into a life which they
have forgotten: into conditions as
strange as four years antecedMg had
been college conditions; and, forsooth,
they are freshmen again. Obviously,
that other class of men who have not
passed in and out the campus- gates
have no hope of achieving freshman-
ship at either end of the opportunity.
What of these men who become
freshmen for the second time? Do
they pay again the pftce of inexper
ience? Echo answers in full chorus,
they do! Freshmen again; hazed
again! This in general; but what, par
ticularly, of those men who through
mishap or choice find themselves cubs,
that is, newspaper freshmen? Is the*
newspaper brand of hazing so peculiar
and especial a quality as to warrant
the statement that there is no analogy
td the experience thereof? Answer
echoes again — though in smaller
chorus, as you would expect—’tis so!
Of the innumerable stock examples
of the cub’s first story the most popu
lar is that in which he is assigned by
the city editor to cover a small uptown
fi**^. His report as turned in to the city
editor invariably begins: “Fire! Fire!!
The dread alarm sounded over the
frightened city! In an Incalculably
short time the braV^ fire-laddies dash
ed upon the scene! The lurid fiames
were leaping Heavenward through roll-
Ing clouds of smoke!” And so on for
about a column. The city editor is sup
posed always to glare at the descrip
tion, and the acount as rewritten and
inserted reads: “Fire thie morning at
217 B street damaged the rOof of
the dwelling in the amount of $200.
The origin of the blaze could not be
determined. The loss Is fully covered
by insurancs/'
Personally, i have always thought
that these typical cub stories
were exaggerated burlesques. At any
rate, I had determined that when
my first assignment came I would
make no such exaggerated blundeA
There would be no brilliant flashes
or jutting figures when I went to
report a fire. I would profit by the
experience of a two*hour course in
journalism which I had elected at the
university. I was to tell “what, where,
when, and why” ip the very beginning.
Thus i planned to avoid a portion of
the cub’s hazing. It wae much the
same sort of thing as trying to escape
a blacking crowd by Juntping out the
window. I put in all ay cholcert $d-
jectivee ^nd smoothest expressions on
that first story. It was^ neither re
written ?or printed. The^paper had
gone to press when I had it completed.
I had Uken t6o long >lth ex-
SreMibns; they were tdo choice. My
fst newspaper hazing!
So, all of us in newspaper wmiag
have to lee^n'firet^thatt tj^fe is a Very
happy between
Random Shots ■
I
Governor Harmon will be one of the
9t*r attractions at the ttatO; fair next
apd we ar;^ expe'c^^'r th^
and Observer to issue a red hot Hv-
mon boom.
FROM* OTHER
SANCTUMS.......
State Stiff Far Behind In Education.
That the average .child outside
North C^olina has a 50 per cent
longer school term, a 50 per cent
better chance for an education, in
spite of our decade of educational
progress, than the average boy or
girl inside North Carolina; that the
Japanese, with one-tenth our wealth,
are'giving their country children ten
months’ schools, while North Caro
lina doesn’t give five; in short, that
the great educational crusade in
which Mclver, Aycock and Joyner
have been leaders, is yet but liad
won—such was the basis of Mr. Clar
ence Poe’s “Founder’s Day” address
at the State Normal and Industrial
College in Greensboro Thursday.
Average length of-oschool term in
days: North Carolina, 101; United
States, 156; North Atlantic States,
179; South Central Sta,tes, 128; North
Central-SUtea, 164; Weiterft BUtes,
161.
“Virginia, 181; South Carolina, 98;
Georgia, 132; Flordia, 115; Tennes
see, 128; Alabama, 115; Mississippi.
123; Louisiana, 130; Texas, 128; Ar
kansas, 98; Oklahoma, 140.
“These "figures , show the average
term for both city and urban
schools,” says Mr. Poe. “As far our
North Carolina country boys and
girls—our white boys and girls on
the farms—they are getting only 93
days, less than five months, whereas,
when I enquired of the national
bureau of education in Japan a year
ago this fall, I was told that the
average school term furnished the
country boys and girls of that so-
called ‘heathen country, ^ in ten
months. More than this, I was told
that the attendance is 98 per cent
of the boys and girls between 6 and
14 years of age. And yet it is but
fifty years since a North Carolina
secretary of the navy planned the eX'
pedition that opened up this so-call
ed ‘heathen’ country io the world.”
Morgan ton News Herald.
ils Regards High
Gas And Watei
RMes - The Lm
“The great cost In business is
waste.” John D. Rockefeller once said
these words and showed his genius and
should have set thousands thinking
years ago.
Ten years ago shops were fewer
and factories less, profits greater and
demand plenty. The waste in this and
that department in those times couid
be borne easier, and the seemingly
small waste unnoticed, but in this day
of hustle, hot and close competition,
increased cost of producing, shorter
profits and crowded markets, all busi
ness establishments must check on
the waste if they would pay dividends
and set aside a surplus.
• • *
Realizing “waste” as the heaviest
tax of all, cme of the great railroad
systems of the west have had printed
distributed and posted throughout
their entire system cards of cost in
formation ud advocating economy
among their employes. Some of the
itemp are u follows:
1 2-cent postage stamp equals haul
ing one ton of freight 3 1-2 miles.
lead pencil equals hauling one ton
of freight 2 ihiles.
1 tracic spike eqtials hauling one ton
of frei^t 2 mil^.
1 track bolt eiuals hauling one ton
of freight 3 1-2 hilles.
1 pound of Waste equals hauling one
ton of fraught 10 1-2 miles.
1 white lantern globe equals hauling
one ton of freight 20 miles.
1 red lantern globe equals hauling
one ton of freight 76 miles.
1 lamp chimney equals hauling one
ton of freight 10 1-2 miles.
1 station broom equals hauling one
ton of freight 35 miles.
1 station water pail equals hauling
one ton of freight 35 miles,
I lantern complete equals hauling
one ton of freight 100 miles.
1 gallon signal oil equals hauling
one ton of freight 60 miles.
e * *
Back in a little North Carolina town
Editor The News :
Public interest centers in the hearing
next Thursday night before executive
board on light and gas rates: The law
fully set forth—•
The meanderings ' of modern Taw-
making has reached the point of curb
ing and regulating trusts\and other
large combinations of capital, if it^his
not proceeded to the stage of absolute
control. This is especially true of'that
class of enterprfse known as public^
utility. c6ncei:ns.
The legislature of 1909 enacted a law
applicable only to Charlotte by which
it vested in the. executive board of i;his
city the power to regulate tnd super
vise all public utility corporations or
quqasi public utility, corporation!
with the exception of «team roads)
which operate or do business in the
City of Charlotte, as to all matters
exclusively in the City' of Charlotte,
to the end that all the citizens of Char
lotte shall receive from the said pub
lic utility corporations equal trea,t*
treatment; and also to the end that
and said citizens shall Have good serv
ice and Just and reasonable rates
from any and all said public or quasi
public utility corporations.” It is fur
ther provided that the executive board
“shall have power to make and estab
lish just and reasonable rules and reg
ulations governing the public utjli^ or
quasi public utility corporations which
operate” in said city. Any violition of
the action of the executive board sub
jects the offender to a pejialty 'of^fty
Dollars for eaclt offense. The Executive
Board “upon the complaint of any
person, firm or corporation residing or
doing business in'said city that any
public service corporation is charging
an unjust or unreasonable rate, or of
its own motion after due' notice and
hearing, shall hav^ the power to de
clare what shaJl be just and reasona
ble” In the matter under investigation.
An appeal to the corporation commis-
Peliagra In the State.
Every few years a new disease
makes its appearance, or else an old
malady comes into prominent notice sion of the state fropi a decision of the
and, under a new name, pivotes the Executive Board is allowed either
attention of the medical world. Ttie
last two diseases to appear in this
role are hookworm and pellagra.
When scientists first began to talk
hookworm the whole country laughed.
It seemed a huge joke, and in print
and in private conversation it was
the butt of ridicule. But by degrees
the laughter died down and people
began to take a more serious view
of the matter, for under experiments
and the new treatment persons who
had been afflicted for years began
to improve. They had called
ailment by some other name and-
had consumed nostrums of many
kinds for its cure, all without ef
fect; and now, under the scientific
diagonis and ca?e they them
selves on the road to health. The
cause of the hookworm was located
with the discovery of the diseMe;
but this was not true of that other
modem malady, pellogra.
So mucli liad b©en said and written
of this trouble in our state that the
last legislature made an appropriation
for a commission of fl^e men ot
science to study its cause and its
spread in the state of -Tennessee.
This commission has lat^y
public its report to the effect that
there? were cases in 67 of the 9
counties. All told there are 316 cas
es and 95 per cent of these people
thus afflicted have been .addicted to
the use of corn meal as part of their
This seems a good headway for a
comparatively new trouble, and em
phasizes the wisdom of the commis
Sion’s appointment. The °
the investigation has snbiect
a very general interest m the subject
»nd 7et physicians all over the state
to work to watch its coming and
Back m a iiitie xsortn uaroiina lown f.radication.
there ii a J»tonUnent manufacturer who rrho fflct that 95 per cent of those
a few years ago was ju^t a shoe drum
mer working the trade of East Tenn-
.essee and Western North Carolina,
with a heavy hack loaded with trunks
of samples. The bulk of, his country
sales were coarse shoes. “Why not
make these shoes at home Instead of
going to Boston for them?” was a
thought that came to this man and as
he is a man of action he was not long
In bringing his thoughts into realiza
tion. He leased a vacant factory build
ing (afterwards >ought it) that had
two good tndbine water wheels and a
line shaft, and installed machines for
making coarse shoes with a capacity
of 36 pairs a day. Being a small manu
facturer and competing with the giant
corporations of the east, he had to not
only watch the cost of manufacture
but “the great cost-waste.” He arrang
ed to save the waste and has watched
this end of his business from the be
ginning. The leather scraps he baled
and shipped to the larger factories who
were prepared to use them. The busi
ness prospered and after three years
a tannery was added and hair, hoofs
and horns from the hides were “saved”
and sold to plaster makers and glue
factories. Lots of leather came from
this tannery that was not shoe leather
but the best of ha^-ness leather. This
manufacttirer could not see great
enough pdoflt in selling this leather
to harness makers so he installed
machines for making harness and col
lars—saving the wasted profit. He
was “w^ting” the profit in the hair
coming from the hides so he began
useing it iii making saddles and collar
p«ds. Every particle of waste around
thie factory was being put to use at
this time except the spent tan bark.
Three years ago a modem brick shoe
factory the largest in the South of
Lynchburg, was built, dear the site of
the old fne %nd is today using the
spent tan bark, that has been wasted
for seyeral years, firing the boilers in
the new factory., This manufacturer
and dicUon. It is to
this, and quite another to profit by it.
The slow process of acquiring the
i«pldlyv‘» ■ wWw
'distracting noise of the office goee on
about you is a more tedidui course
The fact that 95 per
persons who are affected use corn
Sieal as a food proves nothingjo
the average mind, ='°=e *1
may be said of any other ««ease.
In fact almost a hundred per cent
It t^f'soitt-s inhabitants nse c«n
meal in some shape as ^
They eat it and have eaten Jt
veMS li various forms bread,
S“s ’hominy and i^sh come da.»
to the southern tath-
tathers and cfra from
ers ate corn and drank com
early colonial times, but pella^a ^
unknown until about five years ago.
If it is a result of corn meal ®ating.
It took a long time to get m its
^*11^ cur state the cases of pella^a
too widely scattered to preset
anv of the features of infection.
w.amv is invaded to the exemp-
tZ of olhers. Sie majority c4 these
R rases were found among* t
poorer class who pay small
fo Se rules of »y*}ene- Thei'
ises were left uncleaned,^ and th^
»e iIHh»S
were found in families wner
regulations raStradic-
T thrSnUon
throw the burden back on f»d
“1S"o contradictory is the ej;
dence that scientists
niikA are puzzled to know the tr •
The state commission, from whose
Siort w* ,Sote. r of” t^e
give a definite explanation of the
Suse or causes of the trouble, it
reports conditions as they wwe tound
and leaves the way open to fwher
studv and effort at a method of
cure for' those already
for protection for the ® J
of people tow hom the
as yet but a name.—Commercial AS*
peal.
consec^tite *cOttp»i^, «iilch>|^^$r to T^he each day.
brosBkt to 'The KeWs office; acc6i]$^led t>^y ceita, %iil ai*
tiUe any reader of the News to Rand-McNally's 1910 Census Atlas of
the World, as advertised. Outfofrtown readers must add 25c to cover
transportation clwgej|k X^u|.of .tte
OCTOBER is
A-.‘.
party.
In Express Co., vs. R. R. Co., Ill
N. C., 463, the supreme court has held
that “the general assembly, may, with
out delegating its law-making, power
establish a commission with authority
to fix r^sonable rates * ♦ * prevent
unjust discriminations and exercise a
reasonable supervision and control” in
such matters. This would indicate that
the powers mentioned in the foregoing
act constituting the Executive Board
a commission to. hear and determine
these matters are perfectly constitu
tional and regular. This case definitely
settles the proposition as to the right
of such Boards to deal with such sub
jects, and to compel compliance with
their mandates.
In the case of R. B. Turner vs.
Southern Power. Co., 154 N.. C., 131,
that went up from this county, in
which Mr. Turner was severely burned
in attempting to turn on a small elec
tric light in his store in this city, and
in which a recovery of $500.00 was
affirmed by the supreme court, it is
held that “a corporatioh engaged in
furnishing electric power and lights
to its patrons in the exercise of char
tered rights and privileges conferred
by the law-making_.power, in part for
the public benefit, are quasi public
supra, and as to every class of int.,
affected with a public use,
ers, water companies. Spring Valilv
Schottler 110 U. S. 347. The
fixing rates is a legislative Win!
which the courts cannot exercisr ft
it is competent for the courts. certaiS
in the absence of legislative rSj
tions, to protect the qublic against .t'
action of oppressive and unreasonahu
charges and discrimination “Ti,
franchise of laying pipes through tS!
city streets and selling water to th!
inhabitants being in the nature of!
public use, or a natural monopcly th«
company cannot act capriciously
oppressively, but must supply watel
to all impartially and at reasonabu
rates, and an injunction will igsm «
prevent the cutting off water sunn ?
where the customer offers to pay i
reasonable rate and the company d“
mands an unreasonable one.” 2 Beach
Pri. Corp., Sec. 334 Munn va. Illinois'
Lumbard vs., Stearns 4 Cush, tiu.in the
29 A. & E. Enc. 19 it is said; “The
acceptance by a water company of its
franchise carries with it the duty of
supplying persons along the lines
of its mains, without discrimination
with the commodity which it was or
ganized to furnish. All persons are
entitled to have the same service on
equal terms and at uniform rates.” i{
this were not so, and if corporations
existing by the grant of public fran
chise and supplying the great conven
iences and necessities of modern city
life, as water, gas, electric light
street cars and the like could charge
^ny rates however unreasonable, and
could at will favor certain individuals
with low rates and charge others exor
bitantly high or refuse service alto
gether, the business interests and the
domestic comfort of every man would
be at theii^ mercy.They could lill the
business of one and make alive that
of another and instead of being a pub
lic agency created to promote the pub
lic comfort and welfare these corpora
tions would be the masters of the cities
they were established to serve. A tew
wealthy men might combine and, by
threatening to establish competition,
procure very low rates which the com
pany might recoup by raising the price
to others not financially able to presist
—the very class which most needs the
protection of the law—and that very
condition is averred in this complaint.
The iaw will not and cannot tolerate
discrimination in the charges of these
quasi-public corporations. There must
be equality of rights to all and special
privileges to none, and if this is vio
lated, of unreasonable rates charged,
the humblest citizen has the right to
invoke the protection of the laws equal*
ly with a'hy other.”
“While the defendant oannot charge
more than the rates stipulated in the
ordinance granting it the franchise be
cause granted upon that condition,
those rates are not binding upon the
consumers who have a right to the
protection of the courts against un
reasonable charges. Since the consti
tution of 1868, Art. 8, Sec. 1. if the
rates had been prescribed in a charter
granted by the legislature, they would
be subject to revocation, and indeed
independently of that constitutional
provision (Stone vs. Farmer’s Co., 116
U. S. 307 R. Co., vs. Miller, 132 U. S.
75; Chicago vs. Munn 134 XJ. S. 418;
Ga. vs. Smith 70 ga. 694; Winchester
poTTiora.tions. and may toot stipulate
against their own negligence or trans- vs. Croxton 98 Ky. 739) still less can
fer the obligation incumbent upon these ^tes bind consumers (if unreas-
them in the absence of legislative au- onable and discriminating) since the
thority to do so.
town had authority to grant the fran-
The leading case on the subject of chise but not to stipulate for rates
reeulation and control in this state, binding upon the citizens. The le^sla-
and one that is cited with approval
by Judge Dillon .in hfs work on munici
pal corporations. Is that of. Griffin vs.
Goldsboro Water Company, 122 N. C.,
206 The opinion is by Chief Justice
Walter Clark, and is unusually able
and comprehensive even for so noted
a judge. As it is comparatively short
Igive it in toto. ,
“The defendant corporation is the
owner of a plant which supplies wa
ter to Goldsboro and its inhabitants
under a franchise granted by the city.
It has no competition. The complaint
alleges that to prevent competition the
defendant reduced its rates largely to
certain parties who threatened to es
tablish a rival company, but not only
did not make a corresponding reduc
tion to the plaintiffs and other con
sumers but proposes to put in naeters
whereby the rate to plaintiffs and oth
ers will be greatly increased, and
threatens to cut off the water supply
of the plaintiffs if they do not pay
the increased rates, which will m to
their great injury; that the rates charg.
ed by the tiorporation are not uniform
and those charged the plaintiffs a^
unjust and unreasonable. The defend
ant denies, as a matter of fact, that
the rates charged the plaintiffs are un
reasonable and contends, as a "proposi
tion of law, that the company s rates
are not required to be uniform and
that it can discriminate in the rate it
charges. It also reliesupon a shed-
ule of rates contained in the contract
with the city and avers that Ihe chaf
es to the plaintiffs do not exceed the
rites therein permitted.” _
“The defendant corporation operates
under the franchise from the city,
which permits it to lay its pipes in
the public streets and otherwiw to
take benefit of the right of eminent
domain. Besides, from the veiy nature
of its functions it is “effected ^i^^ *
public use.” In Mmiu vs. Illinois, 94
U. S., IJ3, which was a case in regard
to regulating the charges cd grtin el^
vators it was held thftt, in Slngland
from time immemorial and in this cojitt
try from its first colonliation, it has
been customary to fegulate te^es
common carriers, hackmen, bankers,
millers, public wharfingers, auction*
e6rs,.inn-keep,ers and many other mat
ters of like nature, and, where the own
er of property devotes it to a use in
w^h the. public has an interest, he in
effect graiits to the public an interest
in such uee and must to the extent
of thut interest submit to be controlled
by th» pubUc.” . , x
“P^ably the Most familiar instanc
es, us thA p«i«c mUls whose
tqll» :ir^ ^ed .by? statot^, and taUr
rbad, telegraph and tel^^hChe tom-
panies, for the regulation of whose
conduct and charges there is a state
coiwtoi»8tQn*.«8tablish««^;^' Thep^
ha^ft^'hsfeiv in-.tiw
United States supreme cdurt and iii
the several etateg afltnning the doc-
ture did not confer that power. That
rates are binding upon the company as
a maximum simply because acting for
itself it had the power to accept the
franchise upon those conditions.”
‘“Singularly enough it appears inci
dentally in the evidence furnished by
the defendant that in the towns in
North Carolina which do not own their
own water works, the maximum rates
charged consumers are from 100 to 400
per/Cent more than the maximum rates
charged consumers in Wilson, Ashe
ville and Winston, the only towns
which own their water works.”
The allegations of fact that the
rates are unreasonable and, oppres
sive are denied. That they are not un
iform is not denied and the defendant
contended that it had the right to dis
criminate, which cannot be> sustained.
On the final hearing thecost and value
of the property will be material in de
termining as to the reasonableness of
the rates charged. Smythe vs. Ames,
known as the Nebraska case U. S., su
preme court, 1898. The evidence offer*
ed on that point on the hearing below
is not satisfactory, the mereamount
of mortgage bonds issued on the prop
erty being no reliable guide to the
courts as to the true value of the in*
vestement. It may be, as sometimes
liappens, that the bonds and stocks
are watered. Nor is the evidence cf
the cost of construction and operation
cttoclusive, as has often been held, for
it may be that the work was extrava
gantly constructed or is operated un
der Inefficient management and the
public are not caiied on to pay Inter
est upon such expenditures, in the
shape of extortionate or unreasonable
rates. Mo. vs. Smith 60 Ark. 221; Chi
cago vs. Wellman 143 U. S., 339; Liv
ingstone vs. Sanford 164. U. S. 578.“
“The court below properly continued
the cause to the hearing. No error.”
This case was decided May 24th,
18$8, by a full court with no dissenting
opinion and has been the law of this
land ever since; While it is directly
applicable to a water compS,ny, and
will be read with interest by those who
are interested in our local water situ
ation; still one can readily see by an
alogy, that it also directly applies to
'the attempt of the Charlotte Power
Company to force up rates in this city
and compel the sigi^ing of a contract
that will work a hardship upon the al
ready over burdened citizen.
As this is the first complaint brought
under the Act above referred to I have
demned it of interest to the general
poblic to sate the law as it is, and in
doing so have set it forth fully
fairl^ MI have found it to be.
THbS. W. ALEXANDER.
Would Never Do.
Mrs. - Kni(*er~“What is the
Aer ■ ■
Bride-*-‘"rtie-recipe \^s for cotta^i
pudding and ours is a bungalow, "j
trine laid down in Munn yg, Ql^ois.New York Sun. C'-i