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Show ,' .4 . . 4 4 . ..,.44 ' -' . ' --' '' . ' . ' 4 , 4 4. . . ... I. UrU-44 , . ... . . i i ,....- 4 . - . ... . i . . M , 4 t I 44444.44l. I I 4 . . - " , . - . , ClxrgedHiat Because crTiieii Church Connection llicy Are Directly Interested in flight Trust Corporation; ; . Councilmen Wells, iJarnes and Tuddenham will be tied up, so w far ns toting for the light trust franchise tonight, if a complaint i .-,' x - .... v i' certain property owners are preparing is filed this afternoon. .This , , .complaint makes sensaUonal charges and the purpose is to prevent y the three Councilmen from voting for the light trust grab.1 The j ' . :'. ' " ". - 1 Council will hold a special meeting tonight and will ate'tmpt to rush through the franchise. Stiping times are predicted at the Council meeting if the trust stands by its plan and attempts to pass.. the ordinance. or-dinance. ' . v ' , ; ; . ,lt will expire July 1, 1955. Under exist-J lng rights the light franchise will ex- , pi re May 18,-1947; the street railway,: January 1. 1954. , - ' I "What do we get?. The Light' and I Railway company surrenders a pre-tended pre-tended right which -It allowed to lapse years ago and which is used now by it as a club with which to exact a new franchise,, relieving It frcra.a part of j the' few restrictions now. Imposed,' and giving it "valuable extension. " . , "la it cheaper t follow the suggestions sugges-tions of the Mayor or fight It out T By all means surrender no point. As a matter -of 'principle; in self-protection the city should not submit to being held up or coerced. Everybody believes that the company bas no rights of any particular par-ticular value and It Is evident that the Mayor believes it yet he Is willing to surrender In order, to put through a pet hobby of his. . .-. , : Sensational stories concerning the light trust's plana to rush through the franchise grab at tonight's . session of the Council are afloat today. It Is stated upon good authority that certain property owners will file a petition In he-Pl?rljft tourt asking for an Injunction Injunc-tion restraining Councilmen ' Wells, Barnes and Tuddenham from voting for the franchise tonight.. Petition It Sensational. . ' 1 The Mormon church figures in this petition. The petition, it is reported, will - charge that Joseph F. Smith, as trus-' trus-' tee in trust, nolda and owns a part of the stock of the light trust for the three Councilmen and other members of the Tha Financial End.' - ;" . "Some seem to think that because we pay out no money it cost us nothing. But we surrender income-producing rights. The present company during the year' 1904, paid interest charges in' the sum of $330,000. ' It made profits in addition of $120,000, having declared $SO,000 dividends In last year's business. A better plant could be built for $4,000,-000 $4,000,-000 to $4,600,000. ' "Its bonded indebtedness represents $21000,000 franchise value, . and In addition addi-tion It has $4,000,000 preferred capital stock, also common stock, which all is franchise valuation, for which it pays the city a total of about $8000 a year, $8000 of this being in light and power. Its total 'Income From the city Is from $1,000,000 'to $1,100,000 per annum,, and It is lncreasing,rapldly with the growth of the city. ' Qne Striking; Peculiarity. "'There' is this peculiarity about ' Its church. . . .It will also state that Rulon S. Wells 1 Is one of the high officers of the church, I ' holding the position of one of the seven ' presidents of the seventies, and as such, ; . receives reasonable compensation for his services. Etock of the Trust, fit will B.I80 contend that because of j jlg church connection, Rulon 8. Wells dlrectjy Interested In the' light trust rjorporat.ion, as are the other defend-Kts. defend-Kts. The' court will-ba asked to re-y strain these three Councilmen from voting vot-ing for the light ordinance. - 1 Will Ba Filed Today. It Is known that this complaint Is being be-ing prepared and unless there la a - change in plans It will be filed in the .District court v this afternoon. The Itght trust plans to pass Its or- dlnance tonight . The citizens' committee commit-tee will have representatives present at . the Council meeting and a stirring legal le-gal battle is promised if the' trust attempts at-tempts to carry out Its programme to. night. ' fXhe City 'Buyer's job. The claim Is made that the light trust j has already won over enough Council- I men to 'give it three votes to spare. The creation of the. $3000 city buyer's Job is said to bo the central point of a i daring political conspiracy by which the. people will be sacrificed and the light trust given its franchise. ' - Surrender kothihg, r eut n::if IT OUT, SAYS r.m. SAHFORD Alia.. T. Sanford, the well-known at-torney, at-torney, who has carefully investigated ' the franchise question, said this morn- rit sems that Mayor Morris does not rv p the value that Is being placed on ,V --.'bile Utility franchise in the flnan- world,. or that in his de6lre to have t a waterworks extension on the road t ' -vard conpletlon during his ef'.mlnls-t ef'.mlnls-t tlon. li la wilJlrj to eurrenier. val-u val-u ,t!e rl'MJ on other points. , ' 'He f 'i that the proposed fran-y fran-y Ise - . : 1 ti 'Average extension cf 1 cr '-t years.' By lis terra ( payments to the city. It is largely in light and power and with the development develop-ment In the generation and distribution of electricity. It Is constantly being cheapened, so that the larger the city grows, the greater the Income of the company; the amount paid by it to the city will be practically stationary or lessened. . "Allowing for this city's growth on most conservative lines, forty years hence, the expiration of the present franchise, they oughf to be worth from $30,000 to $50,000 per annum. . figuring only 1 per cent on the gross income, and generally 2 is allowed. In franchise now granted.. Under the franchises as extended, ex-tended, we will at that time- receive almost al-most $10,000 per annum, figuring light at Its present ..value. We will lose on a most conservative basis $20,000 per' annum for an average of ten years, or $200,000. .Probably $300,000 would be more nearly the correct amount. Other Linea Shut Out. ' "In addition to this we practically I shut out interurban . lines from the south, except on such conditions as the Utah Light and Railway company may Impose. For If It should extend Its Murray line to Bingham Junction and Sandy, .any interurban line-from the south will be a competitor and have no right to use its line in the central part of the city. Also, w-e give them a monopoly mo-nopoly of the street oar system. . "Our Supreme courf held In the Dooly block case that we could not have three tracks on a street, and it will be Impossible Im-possible to have another system unless it can, reach the depots and central point. While I personally believe ln-one ln-one street car system properly regulated. regu-lated. yet.it is unwise to tie our hands. "It may be that this company will become arrogant . and - give such poor service that . the only remedy will be another system. This right, of Itself In the ponslbllity of -egujatlon. Is worth more than the Big Cottonwood power rights. We had a recent illustration of this. When Mr. Newhouse asked for a franchise with reduced rates the present pres-ent company , met his proposed rate. "And. above all, we surrender the right of regulation and control, which should be safely guarded as one of the sacred r!hts of the people and should never be delegated. .... |