Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 3.djvu/618

 604 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

of the whole situation by a representative of the city, consci- entiously striving to do his sworn duty, we find, etc."

The same undue haste was shown in both chambers of councils ; in common council no arguments were presented by those favoring the lease ; to every appeal for further time and a fuller consideration the reply of its advocates was, "We have the votes," and the moving of the previous question. Before common council had passed the ordinance on Monday, a special meeting of select council was called for Tuesday ; in the latter body the lease's principal advocate devoted the larger part of his address to an attack on those who had been active in opposing the lease, especially the officers of the Municipal League, and I could continue this enumeration of incidents of the passage of the ordinance through its several stages if it were necessary, all tend- ing to show a disregard, not only of the wishes of the people and the previously expressed views of the members, but even of the common decencies of parliamentary procedure ; but enough has been said to establish clearly my point that the people's interests and influences were set aside and ignored ; while those of a rich and powerful corporation were carefully subserved and followed.

In the absence of any demand for leasing the gas works, we are led to ask if there was such a crisis in the management as to make an immediate sacrifice of millions of dollars essential? It was brought out before the subcommittee at a public hearing that the city was manufacturing gas at a profit. One speaker, Col. John I. Rogers, himself the president of a large gas com- pany, although as a Philadelphian opposed to the city parting with its works, demonstrated to the satisfaction of every reason- able man that in 1896 the plant yielded a net profit of $510,806. He reached this conclusion after he had carefully analyzed the reports of the bureau. To quote his own words : " Now let me recapitulate : Here is what these works do, and I am consid- ering only the running business of 1896. The profits, as I have read, according to the report of the bookkeepers in the bureau, were $352,986, to which should be added the gas furnished gratis to the city.