Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 86.djvu/167

Rh nothing is due him for promoting, managing or by way of compensation for hazarding loss.

Further, profits are the basis of speculative activities, and the one thing that must be recognized above all others, and without which no valuation can be made justly or equitably, is that public utilities are not speculative in character. If they become so at any time, the speculative element must be excised ruthlessly and surely.

A point around which much discussion hangs is the character and place of "going concern value." Once we have taken care of absolute maintenance and the deficit theory, together with the accompanying details of surplus and profit, there is nothing left of "going concern." It is an inclusive term to cover matters not fully grasped in the early days of the valuation discussion, and should have no place to-day.

In conclusion, we must admit that in applying any principle to the adjustment of human affairs, the personal element must be recognized. There is always the matter of wise and unwise payments in the construction period; the personal honesty of officials especially during the period of development. What are we to do with the case of a trolley concern that builds to develop a subdivision? If, through greatly facilitated communication, the subdivision prospers, if the promoters of the real estate transaction and of the trolley company are one, if also the real estate deal produces big profits, but the trolley runs at a deficit, what is to be done? It is useless to deny that complications of the most puzzling kind will be found in arriving at valuations for any purpose. Questions innumerable will arise involving equity, the early history and conduct of absorbed utilities, subsidiary companies, and a complexity of others. But if a few basic principles can be established and adhered to; if the courts can be prevented from piling up a mass of conflicting, baseless precedents that will become millstones about the neck of the appraiser; if skilled appraisers are sought; and if the great, the tremendous importance of these valuations and their profound influence on social and economic conditions are recognized, there is a hopeful future for public service utilities, their producers and their users.