Undoubtedly, the subject of greatest interest to
the stockholders at the present time is the eifect of
the decision of the U. S. Supreme Court in the
Eighty Cent Gas case, which has just been decided.

The suit was commenced on May i, 1906, the
day on which the reduced rate went into effect. Be¬
fore that date, and under the Act which had been
passed in 1905 authorizing the Company to supply
the City with gas at 75 cents, the City had com¬
menced a number of actions against this Company
and its allied Companies, to recover penalties aggre¬
gating many thousands of dollars, for failure to
maintain the pressure prescribed by that Act.

When the Eighty Cent Act was passed, a year
later, in 1906, the same pressure provisions were
repeated, and a penalty of $1,000 was imposed for
every violation of that or any other provision of the
Act, necessarily including the sending out of any
bills at a price in excess of 80 cents. Moreover, by
the Gas Commission Act of 1905, under which an
80 cent rate had been ordered, it was provided that
the mere fact of making a charge in excess of the
statutory rate should in itself constitute a complete
defence against the entire amount due, in an action
against the consumer.

In 1905, the total sales of gas by the Company
were in excess of 13,000,000,000 cubic feet. At 20
cents, that would represent a fund of at least $2,600,-
000 a year.    It was obvious that, unless this fund was