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people have had an opportunity of expressing themselves on the subject, it has been in accord with this fundamental thought.
The great demonstration of last spring against the proposed extension of the existing gas lease for a period of seventy-five years was a concrete manifestation of the thought and feeling of the people on the subject of franchises. In this case they were successful in stopping what otherwise would have been a great outrage upon the people of Philadelphia, not to call it by harsher terms. Moreover, in 1901, after the passage of the "midnight" laws and ordinances relating to street railways, the expression of public opinion was such as to indicate a substantial acceptance of the league's principles. Unfortunately, in that case the demon- stration was not sufficiently extended to stop the prostitution of the people's rights ; but this much can be said, that public senti- ment in Philadelphia in the matter of franchises is growing steadily, and will in time manifest itself in the election of repre- sentatives, both to the local and to the state legislature, who will treat franchises in accordance with the modern principles em- bodied in the league's platform.
In 1897 the league led the fight against the leasing of the gas works to the United Gas Improvement Co., the story of which has been told in the American Journal of Sociology, Vol. Ill, No. 5. The league's contest was based on the ground that so valuable a property should not be committed to private hands, and that the city should reap all the benefits accruing from its operation a position that was more than sustained by the first year's opera- tion of the plant under the lease. Payments to the city for the year ending July 31, 1899, amounted to $467,628.41. Presi- dent Dolan, in his annual report to the stockholders of the United Gas Improvement Co. for that year, reported the profits for its fiscal year to be $1,864,129, an increase of $489,930, largely due to the new lease. The Equitable Illuminating Gas Co. (which was brought into existence by the lease, and was the company created in the financing of the scheme) paid on June 3, 1899, a dividend of $3 per share. Inasmuch as there were 62,500 shares, this represents a payment of $187,500. Adding the amount paid to the city to the increase in profits and the divi-
