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The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, March 02, 1917, NOON EDITION, Image 10

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Persistent link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1917-03-02/ed-1/seq-10/

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HAND OF PEOPLES GAS, LIGHT AND COKE GO.
SHOWN IN FIGHT ON INDEPENDENT ALDERMEN
A startling exposure of the part
that our six-hundred-million-dollar
public utility corporations played in
the recent primary campaign was
made yesterday when a confidential
statement credited to Pres. Cowdery
of the Peoples Gas Light and Coke
Co., became known around the City
Hall. It shows the real issue of the
hot fight that eliminated Aldermen
Buck, Kearns and Werner and
threatens Merriam, veteran foe of
big business.
The statement, carried by the
wires "of the Illinois Telegraph Co.
ticker to every Board of Trade mer
chant and later printed in the finan
cial section of the Post Wednesday,
gave what was purported to be the
views of the head of the gas com
pany on the result- of Tuesday's bal-
loting.
As printed, the interview reads:
"The result of yesterday's election
looks rather favorable, if it is as it
seems to be, but we are not quite sure
yet what the result it. It would be
quite favorable if Aid. Merriam were
eliminated, as vote indicates.
"Our earnings this year, of course,,
are not attractive, and until our posi
tion with the city is readjusted, can
not be considered good, as we are
paying extraordinarily high prices
for material and labor and these
prices are still rising. There are no
new developments in our negotia
tions with city authorities and the
outlook is not promising."
The school issue, sitrred up by the
City Hall and the trust press, led by
the Chicago Tribune, was a blind,
used to cover the silent fight ,that
the public utilities were making on
"troublesome" aldermen, was he
opinion expressed by some wise poli
ticians. Blame for the ousting of the public-spirited
Buck, Kearns and Werner
as laid to the "City Hall" by news
ers anxious to cover the tracks i
of the public utilities, which never
once showed a hand during the quiet
year-long fight which terminated
Tuesday.
The "City Hall," glad to smash
the insurgent.aldermen and friendly
to the wishes of the public utilities,
took the blame and boasted of the
victory.
So everything was pulled in a
regular, orderly manner until Cow
dery's statement appeared Wednes
day. Then the truth of the primary
fight burst out.
Aid. Merriam, when shown a copy
of the alleged Cowdey statement,
made this comment on it:
"Now we have the real issue for
hard fight that was made on Reams;"
Buck and myself in the primary.
"I am surprised, if the statement
is authentic as quoted by the Illinois
Telegraph ticker and the Post, that
Pres. Cowdery was so frank as to
where the interests of the gas com
pany stood in the campaign just past.
"But it shows how the public util
ities feel toward some aldermen.
"The Peoples Gas Light and Coke
Co. does not want men of the Buck,
Kearns and Werner type in the coun
cil when a matter, of franchises that
will mean a million or. two a year is
coming up for a vote.
"Chicago is the only large city in
the United States that has stopped
the gas companies from grabbing
bigger profits by substitution of 'heat
unit' gas for the candle-power stan
dard without a corresponding dgr
crease in price to the consumer. It
takes more heat unit gas to cook or
light than it does candlepower gaa.-
"In other cities the new gas, made
much cheaper than the old, has been
foisted on the people and tliey saw
what had been put over on them only
when tne bills started to come in.
"In Chicago, however, we stopped
them, and Buck, Werner and Kearns
paid the penalty.

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