Public Backlash Grows Against Utility Monopoly
Tacoma residents are rallying against a proposed power franchise that would grant the Tacoma Railway & Power Company control over city resources.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The power franchise asked for by the Tacoma Railway & Power company and the probable results if it should be granted has been a topic of general conversation on the streets today. Until the publication in The Times Saturday evening of an article exposing the schemes, the ultimate result of which would be a grab of the light plant, not much attention was paid to the fact that a new franchise had been asked for. Since the light of publicity has been shed on the latent move of the T.R.&P. to secure a good thing at the expense of the city of Tacoma, and the public has been brought face to face with the bald facts in the case, the innocent appearing franchise has assumed a new aspect. Public sentiment is forming strongly against the granting of the franchise in its present form.
“Since the light of publicity has been shed on the latent move of the T.R.&P. to secure a good thing at the expense of the city of Tacoma, the innocent appearing franchise has assumed a new aspect.”
The tension between private utility interests and public oversight remains a perennial issue in Tacoma, echoing historical concerns over corporate influence in city government.
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