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Show The Costs of Government Govern-ment and Electricity The principal effort of the elec-t.:c elec-t.:c industry in recent years, aside from linpioviug service, lias been to lower rates. That is only good business. Cheaper power means greater consumption which, in turn, means expansion and profit for the industry. While the utllit.ea are regulated monopolies in their ..ections. tficy are competing thro-out thro-out tiie nation to give their town or slate better service at a smaller cost than is given the next town or tate. If ciitics can point out some way for the industry to still lower rat.-n and at the same time earn an adequate ade-quate profit, they will perform a public service. But it would seem more logical for these "economists" to turn their attention to where i". miiilit do the most good nameiy, ; co.it of government. Elrctric rates have decreased .-t'-aciiy and in 1929 they were 26 'i per ce.it under 101. The cost of Government, on t:ie other hand, was $135 per family in 1913 and $-100 per family in 1929. Whereas i;i the former the Government cost die aveiage family six times as much as its electricity, in the latter lat-ter year it cost nearly fifteen times as much. In other words, the cost of government has been increasing while the cost of electricity has been going down. Political management of an industry in-dustry has no incentive to imnrove service. It has no stockholders to answer to. and has no fear of being put out cf business by a more efficient effi-cient competitor. Attacks on the electric industry cannot long delude a public which has a stomach for facts. On the other hand, the very existence of private business depends upon the standard of serv-":e serv-":e it renders the public. |