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Show THE CHAMPION PUBLIC MEETING I Meeting Called to Listen to Mr. Hatch Lasts Four Hours. Prolonged Dis- I cussion Ends by Leaving Situation Exactly as it Was. I The special meeting of the Commcr-clal Commcr-clal club and represcntatle citizens 0& Thursday evening for the purpose of considering the electilc llcht situation situa-tion brought out at least one hundred business men, talks fiom eight or ten of these covering a period of four hours, and the Ilnal passage of a resolution reso-lution to the cllect that the city council purchase or secure by any other means the Logan sjstcm of the Tellurlde Power Co. If It can be done on an equitable basis. This resolution means absolutely nothing, as a matter of course, but served the purpose of closing the extended ex-tended session and thus may bo considered con-sidered of great worth. Aside from the good resultant fiom a general dis-, dis-, cussion of the various phases of the light fight, and the Information obtained ob-tained from Major Robinson about the city plant, the meeting was of lit tle consequence. To all intents and purposes the meeting was not In any sense a necessity, neces-sity, In fact not even advisable at this time, and to a casual observer was .nothing more than a move to give Mr. 11. K. Hatch, and others Interested, an opportunity to present an array of figures before citizens rather than the city council uhlch must pass on all such propositions. Did the city .council .coun-cil say that it was In need of the as-- sistanco of the Commeiclal Club? Did the Klectrlc Light Committee say as The Journal said, that they were In need of assistance, that they were up against a situation wherein a y-CvV Moses was needed to lead them from tho darkness? Was there any legitimate legiti-mate reason why Mr. Hatch should i ignore the city council and first present pre-sent his matter to the Cache Commercial Commer-cial Club? Tiik Rhpuiilican does not propose to question here the wotth of those llgunsor the plan which Mr. Hatch presented, but does say that If he had presented the same to the city council coun-cil that body would havo been glad to investigate the proposition thoiough-ly thoiough-ly and K'hls flguics could be shown to be woith one-half their lace value, and no better plan could have been suggested, these would have appealed in such a way that that council must haveaccopted them without any such Spectacular preceding as that of Thins-day Thins-day night. The necessity of tho Tln'isday night meeting must thereby have been done away with. If the council had refused to investigate Mr. Hatch's figures or lef used to take action ac-tion ho deemed best, would not then have been the time to bring the matter mat-ter bcfoie the business men? However, How-ever, this Isof little real consequence now. The council was present last night, heard Mr. Hatch's pioposltlon and should, and doubtless will Investigate Investi-gate the merits of It, legardlevs of advantage ad-vantage he sought to take ir. the matter. mat-ter. The Meeting. The meeting opened with statements state-ments from Mayor Robinson as to the condition of the Logan city plant, the nature of the light now on hand, tho probable need of the city plant In the furturc, and assurances that the advice ad-vice of the business men would bo accepted ac-cepted In good splilt and put to use if possible. He said that the electric light committee embodied lis sentiments sent-iments in the lecent resolution which was presented to;the council. This les-olutlon les-olutlon was icad, and those w ho followed fol-lowed its publication in this paper aie awaie that the proposition contained therein was to levy a three mill tax, and icduce the lights to ten cents. This tluee mill lev? would enable the cltj to Install a new unit and it was believed would meet the Tellurlde competition In such a way as to defeat them completely, they rctlilng from the Held. The Major explained that there was no cflert to rush this through the council; that It was tho Idea to have It discussed fully, and the merits of thisorany other proposition proposi-tion thoroughly Investigated before action was taken, Mr. Moses Thatcher asked a number Of questions calculated to shed light on the matter, but which mlghr. easily be construed Into an adiolt effort to piesent the situation In as unfavorable unfavor-able light as posslb'e. The mayor answered satisfactorily however and a summary of the questions and answers ans-wers Is that the city plant has cost to date about S!5,000 or $D0,dOO. Mr. Hatch followed with some iig-u iig-u res as to the burden a thtec-mlll tax would place on the people. He touched on what we are carrying carry-ing at present, figured on a $5,000 deficit de-ficit of the Roaid of Education- and was stopped thcie by Mr. Thain, clcik of the boaid, who challenged tho statement. Mr. Thaln said the deficit de-ficit might possibly reach $2,000. Mr. Hatch said ho quoted Mr. Jacques, member of tho boaid. Mr Jacques replied that It was a misunderstand- iiigonlho part of Mr. Hatch. The latter did not think so and tho matter was dropped. Mr. Hatch, then continued and begged leave to submit to those pie-sent pie-sent a plan to acquire the Heroines system In Logan, and liguics demonstrating demon-strating that his pioposltlon was net-ter net-ter than taxing, better than any proposed pro-posed solution of the' dlfllculty. lie said that he and othcis had put eon-sldciablc eon-sldciablc thought Into the matter and his array or liguicrs proved It conclusively. con-clusively. Inbilcf, Mr. Hatch's pioposltlon pio-posltlon was that Inasmuch as it Is Impossible for the city to buy, It should leaso the Hcicules system, the lease money to apply on an agreed puichaso price of said system, tho sj stem to be owned by tho city at the end of payments pay-ments amounting to the agiccd purchase pur-chase price. He llgured that in this way the city could atford to pay tho Tellurlde people $:i5;00O foitho system and get rid of the competition. Ills llgufcs were carried out for twenty years and with a monopoly of the business here, with lights at 33i cents each, the city at tho end of tho twenty years would have paid the $35,000 purchase pur-chase pi Ice of tho Hcicules system, paid olf all outstanding bonds against the plant, placed In a new unit, kept the sj stem in perfect condition, and acquiicd a surplus of i)7,000. That proposition was a stumper, for It looked too good to be true. However, How-ever, Mr. Hatch answered In a fairly satisfactory way the questions lired at him. On tho face the llguring looked good and taking the proposition at Its face value the only vital question seemed to be, "would the Tclhnlde people consider the proposed plan?" However, some weic not Inclined to accept the tlguies without Investigation, Investiga-tion, and there wcie thoso who Insisted In-sisted that the same result could be obtained by taxation as proposed, and without paying tho Tellurldo people an exoibltant price for their Logan system, Thero seems to bo a widespread wide-spread belief, not wholly without foundation, that the Hercules system Is worn out, and many insist that It would bo folly to pay them for something some-thing they have not- good will and a good system. M. J. Rallard followed In a very excellent ex-cellent talk in which he urged honor Integrity right and Justice In dealing with the Tellurldo people: that we had offered them every Inducement to como here, and now It was not exactly ex-actly right to pick them up and throw them out. Ho argued that It was poor policy, and that such a ic-cord ic-cord must keep foreign capital from Investing here. Ho made ninny other good points, John A. Ucndilckson took the stand that wo havo not dealt unjustly with tho Tellui Idc. He says they provoked pro-voked the light, refused to listen to reason In the earlier stage of the game, and that now tho question Is ono of 'dollars and cents. Hoargucdthat taxation taxa-tion Is tho proper method and objects to paving the Tellurldo more than their Logan system is worth. There was all kinds of discussion In which Messrs. Moses Thatcher, Mcl-vin Mcl-vin Hallard, J. A. Hcndrickson, Major Roblnson, Wesley Jacques, Hon. Jos. Howell, Wm. H. Thaln, Mr. Hatch, Councllmcn Carlisle, Lindqtilst and M Hansen, Moses Thatcher, Jr., Jos. K. H Wilson, Wm. and John P.dwaids, Ceo. M Hell H Mr. Ucndilckscn moved that a com- M mlttec of seven from the club, city M council and Tclluridc foices canvass M the situation and see If some amicable M arrangement could not be made. Fol- M lowing this came a do.cn substitute M motions which resulted In a lot of M argument and nothing more. At 12 M o'clock tho resolution set foi th above fl was passed and the matter -was left M exactly where It was In tho beginning, M with the Logan city council. M Some Facts Developed. M The city now furnishes power for M 1,000 lights. It Is estimated that tho H Hercules people have about 1,500. M The city plant Is within 15 per cent jH of Its normal capacity, but can carry M an ovcrioad of an additional 25 per M Tho capacity of the city plant in M horsepower Is 400. H The Installation of another unit H would enable the city plant to carry H all tho business In the city. This H would probably cost $10,000. jH The plant to dato has cost some- H thing less than $100,000. H Beekeepers. M The bcckccucrs of Cache county will H hold a meeting In the court house H Saturday afternoon at 2o'clock. Every H bee man In the county Is urged to be jH present as .business of Importance will H lie considered. H |
