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Show LIGHT MONOPOLY WOULD RAISE ITS RATES WHILE GETTING LONG FRANCHISE Burden Would Fall on Small Consumers; Analysis of Utah Light and Railway Company's Request. ) ) The request of the Utah Light and Rail-j Rail-j way company for in extension of fifty yeers of its monopoly of the street rali-i rali-i way, electric and gns lighting privileges ; In Suit Lake City, made to a committee 1 of the City Council, has awakened wlde-! wlde-! spread Interest. It Is construed that the extension asked, if granted, would make the life of this monopoly ninety-two years, a term which In effect makes It perpetual. : Already Has Long Franchise. Tnder existing conditions, the Utah Light and Railway company practically controls every avenue of transportation within the city's boundaries. It also has a practical monopoly of the lighting, heating and pow.-r privileges. The life of these special franchises at the present time is forty-two years, longer than Is iiHUal for such franchises in other States. Yet the company is asking a further lease of fifty y.nrv According to legal authorities, authori-ties, there Is some doubt of the power of the City Council to ft rant such an exten- slon. but upon this point they are- not agreed. Lawyers interviewed by The Telegram Tel-egram desired to investigate the subject further before announcing a decided opla ion. Raise on Small Consumers. The chief feature of Interest, however, in connection with the proposed extension Is the fact that the company, instead of making concestions for what it hoeee to obtain, in reality proposes to Increase Ita prices for both electric light and gaa. In Salt Lake City the use of electricity for hghtlng is almost universal. Under present pres-ent conditions the minimum charge per month to ujurs of electric light la SL This the company proposes to raise to SLo. This in effect would be a raije of SO per cent on not' less than one-fourth of the consumers of electric light those least able to bear this additional expense. Where the Shoe Pinches. During the months from Aprtt to October Octo-ber it is safe to say that the snonthly Mils of one-third of the consumers at current cur-rent meter rates, do not exceed the minimum min-imum of 1. These persons, however, are compelled to keep on deposit with the company tl' as security for the meter. It will be readily seen what a burden this raising of the minimum charge would become. be-come. Larger consumers would not be affected, for It is not proposed to raise the meter rates. The use of khji Is limited, but the company com-pany nevertheless proposes to raise the !nct; of this commodity 1 per cent, thus forcing an additional tax upon those compelled com-pelled to use gas. No Improvements or concessions are vroposed In the street railway service. Should the extension be granted there my not be secured any reduction of fares, as U proposed in many other cities. All the Monopoly's Way. The only compensation offered for the privileges a3ked Is the surrendering of certain water rights of the supposed value of IKAOoO, for the purchase of which the city has already provided in the issue of bonds voted last month. Analyring the request of the Utah Light and Railway company. It is hard to see where the city derives any benefit, while the compensation of the light monopoly is manifoM. |