The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-04-20
An Old Country Example.

nevertheless, as a rule, enjoy munich.
pal advantages compared with which
those to which We are accustomed in
free aud enlightened America seem in
many directions crude, gross and utter
ly unsatisfactory. Take, for instance.
the venerable city Of Glasgow and
compare it with our American Boston.
The two cities are neatly equal in
point Of population; in wealth, Boston
Is the leader. Boston, too, is our best
educated city while Glasgow is nearly
an average municipality, much III
'ferior to Birmingham and surpassed by
several other cities in the United King.
dom, With this explanatory introduc.
tion We proceed to summarize certain
points Of difference and comparison be-
tween Glasgow and Boston, letting the
simple facts themselves tell their own
story.
Glasgow's 200 miles of streets and
II, 600 court y ards and arsaways are
cleaned regularly oHce 3 day, and
sometimes thrge times, In Boston,
only the Streets are cleaned daily; the
courts have to trust to the thoughtful
janitor and the weekly garbage collsc.
tor. From the sale Of her street sweep
lngs Glasgow derives an annual revs.
nue. Of $3.50 600; Boston. with twice as
as much refuse. gets oalV 100000, and
New York, with five times as much.
gels absolutely nothing. Glasgow
owns It's municipal water supply, has
numerous iarZe parks, maintains Il
large central market and since 1869,
when at 4 cost Of 50 600, 900 it bought q
city gas plant, it has decreased the re-
tail cost Of gas from 81 II per /. 600
feet to &C cents while the quality has
been distinctly improved. NotwiJh.
stand!na tails decreased cost aud il
creased quality OF service Glasgow's
three big gas plants today retur d
profit to tue city, With the exception
Of her parks, Boston has none Of these
things. Glasgow has built hundreds
OF model t5nsmeats and municipal
lodging houses for the poorer classes.
A nights lodging, with the use of a
range TO cook on, in the morning, costs
men from : to 8 cents and women 6
cents, These investments, too, all
pay 4 profit. In addition, Glasgow
has numerous public baths and public
laundries, where, for a few pennies,
the poor can enjoy all the luxurios Of
cleanliness. -Four cents is the charge
for a Turkish bath. All Wholesale food
markets are owned by the city and
conducted under the constant super
vision of expert food inspectors, assur-
ing that meats, fab, game and vsge.
tables exposed for sale are WHOLESOME.
Prices for these fooI articles are ex-
tremely low. In Boston, excepting for
FISH, food is expensive and the munich
pality takes no part in its preparation
or sale. Boston mas many notable cheap
lodging houses and public baths, but
those not conducted FOR profit are opsr-
ated by organized charity and not as a
part Of the Guys duty to its citizens,
The question Of rapid trauais. such a
common stumbling block in American
municipal government, las been
answered in Glasgow in q manner that
fairly takes ones Yankee breath away.
When, in 1865, George Francis Train Of
fered to build a tram car line in Glasgow,
the canuy aldermen Of that entsrpris-
ing Scotch city decided to look into the
subject themssiyss Thu result was
that the city took out it's own charter
and in 1870 began the construction of
its W street railway system. When
everything had been completed, at the
city's expense. it was decided to lease
the railways operation to some sxpsr
fenced corporation. Hsrs is how the
city father of Glasgow provided for
the welfare Of the taxpayers and the
travelling citizens OF Glasgow: The
lease was to only twonty-two years,
and by its m the company agreed to
pay, first, the annual interest charge on
the full amount Of the eity's invest
nent, as represented by bonds; second
a yearly sum for a sinking fund suff-
cient to sxtinguish the entire cost of the
road third a renewal fund of four Der
cent on the cost Of the road.
from which it was to be kept in
perfect order, and restored to the city
in first class condition in 1894, and
fourth, a mileage rental Of $3.50 per
mile. But this was not all, The fares
were limited to a penny tive cents) per
mile and Glasgow's e%ompactnoss rarely
makes one passengers total fare more
than four or six cents of our money,
while the great majority Of passengers
pay only the minimum rate. The lease
provides, further, that during certain
honrs in the morning and evening
workingmen shall have special cara and
enjoy 4 special half.faIs rate.
But. 1t will be asked, would any cor.
poration on earth be 30 foolish as to
bid for such a leaseH This question is
best answered by a reference to the
facts. 1t Is q fact Of record in, Glasgow
that n company did bid $3.50, 900 for the
lease and that after setting aside inter-
est charges, sinking fund for the ex-
t~inction of the roads first cost, a A per
cent. reserve for repairs and paying its
$3.50. per-mile rental this company has
been for years aud Is today paying
dividends Of from o to II per cent. at
fares averaging nearly so per cent. loss
than those paid in Scranton. When
this lease expires the city of Glasgow
will get back the money which ii in
vaatad in hnildino tha road, ,o;Ii rat