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plant, the constructing engineer, and for nearly
ten years one of the Commissioners—resigning
July I, 1902, and from four years previous to that
date up to the present time superintendent of the
plant—and although he takes a very active part in
Republican politics and always has done so, I have
not been able to find that political considerations
have at any time had any influence in the promo-
tion, disciplining or dismissing of any member of
the force or with the operation of the plant. It
ought also to be said that a large part of the
success of the plant and of the enthusiasm with
which it is regarded by the public are due to the
personal activity and character of Mr. Winches-
ter. His character in connection with the plant
and his dominating influence over its fortunes are
unique, so far as my observation goes. I under-
stand that Mr. Winchester, in the early days,
served the city in connection with the establishment
and management of the electric plant with-
out any salary at all, and in recent years has
served as superintendent for a smaller compen-
sation than he could command elsewhere. I be-
lieve also that every extension and enlargement
of the works recommended by him has been
speedily authorized by the city, and that in no
case has the expense of the work exceeded his
estimate as presented to the city meeting. In fact,
he has come well within every special appropria-
tion made for investment, except one for $S,00o
for motors, in which the original estimate was not
exceeded. (Schedule I., volume II., pages 667-8,
report entitled "Municipal and Private Operation
of Public Utilities").
In his early career, Mr. Winchester
took up the contrasting study of private
and public ownership of public serving
utilities from the standpoint of civic benefits
and economies. He had heard much
strong argument on both sides of the con-
troversy by his associates and others
whose opinions were shaped by connected
interests, so seldom substantiated by
clearly demonstrated facts, that he became
interested, not as a radical either
way, but in the belief that the question
was of such importance that it should be
given deeper and broader consideration,
from a purely practical and unbiased
point of view, than the opposing sides
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253
seemed able to agree upon. He wanted
to know the real truth, and although
already possessed of a fair insight into the
methods of private ownership, he felt sure
that a close investigation on both sides of
the question would fail to demonstrate
either the fallacies or the virtues of either
side to the extent alleged, and that the
best results for all concerned depended
not so much upon the title of ownership, as
upon the degree of honesty in the policy
of management and the perfection of
business methods and efiSciency of opera-
tion. When fully convinced that the
question of ownership was secondary to
service rendered, and that no up-to-date
reason existed why a well handled pri-
vately or publicly owned undertaking in
the service of the people could not operate
with equal satisfaction, Mr. Winches-
ter accepted the opportunity to prove his
hypothesis in South Norwalk, with the
backing of the people and the best type of
business men as his associate commis-
sioners in the upbuilding of this enter-
prise. The resulting plant owned by the
city, as previously mentioned, was de-
signed by him, even to the details of its
business methods, its system of rates and
accounting, and has always been under
his charge. From every point of view and
from its earliest existence this plant has
made good. Not only has it expanded to
many times its original size, but it is
famous all over the country for its long
continued undeniable success, and be-
cause it paid up its entire investment of
borrowed capital, of over two hundred
thousand dollars, with interest, from its
own earned profits and has never cost the
citizens one cent of taxation, but has paid
money into the municipal treasury in-
stead.
That Mr. Winchester is not biased as
to ownership of public utilities is evident