The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-01-01
PROGRESSIVE SOCIALISM.
THE NATIONS ARE MARCHING ON

(The following is from the advance
sheets of work on Social Upbuilding"
which is about to be issued by E. D. Bah
bitt, LII. D., Nj. D., dean of the College
OF Fine Forces at East Orange, N. J.:)
The following are quoted from the sta
tistics Of the day, and will show how
other nations are getting the start of us
in these respects.
Sixty-eight governments own their tel
egraph lines.
Fifty-four governments own their rail
roads in whole or in part. while only
nineteen, the United States among them,
do not.
In Australia one can ride 1000 miles
(first-class) across the country for $3.50,
or six miles for 2 cents, and railroad
men are paid more for eight hours labor
than they are in the United States for ten
hours. Does this impOveriSh the cOun-
try? In Victoria where these rates pre-
vail the net income for 1894 was Suf1i
cient to pay the federal taxes.
In Hungary where the roads are state
owned, one can ride six miles for a cent,
and since the government bought the
roads, wages have doubled.
In Belgium, fares and freight rates
have been cut down one-half and wages
doubled. But for all that, the roads pay
a yearly revenue to the government of
$4,000 900.
In Germany. the gOvernment-owned
roads will carry a person tOur miles for
a cent while the wages Of the employees
are 120 per cent higher than when the
corporations owned them. Has such
lO oI->
declared it must be? No. During the
last ten years the net profits have il
creased Al per cent. Last year QS94,
the roads paid the German government
a net profit OF $50 5000 900.
1t has been estimated that government
ownership Of railroads would save the
people of the United States a billion dol
lars in money and give better wages to
its employees two million Of whom
would doubtless then be needed instead
Of TOO, 900 as at present.
Berlin. Germany. is called the cleanest,
best paved and best governed city in the
world. 1t owns its gas works, electric
lights water works. street railways, city
telephones, and even it's fire insurance.
and thus makes a profit every year Of
5000 900 marks. or 81 .250 900, over all ex-
penses. In that city the citizens can
ride five miles as often as ~they please
every day in the whole year for $3.50,
while two trips a day on the elevated
railroads of New York would cost $50. 90
MI F. G. II. Gordon has biven in the
Twentieth Century the statistics with
reference to lighting number OF Ameri-
can cities. and finds that the average
price OF each are lighI by the year when
under municipal control. is $52.12ia,
=!
parties by the various cities is S105. IS
per light each year. or a little more than
twice as much as when run by the cities
themselves.
Under the light of such facts, the rulers
of our cities are criminally stupid nr
dishonest, who will sell their franchises
to private corporations that. for their
own selfish aggrandisement, will skin the
people by forcing upon them The high
est possible pricas.
Telegraphs. Telephones. etc-The
price for telephone service is enormous
The average price for teleglans in the
United States in 1891 was thirty-two and
& half cents. In Germany. where the
talegraphS are owned by the government,
messages of ten words are sent to all
parts OF the country for five cents. From
the greater distances and higher prices
for labor, here, we would probably have
to pay from five to twenty cents, accord
ing to the distance The remarkable
advantage of having each municipality
control its own gas, water, coal and street
railways. has been demonstrated by
Birmingham, Glasgow, and other cities
TO commit these things which are sacred
to the rights of the struggling people,
TO cliques of greedy capitalists is an out
rage upon humanity.
The system of nationalism being grad
ually extended in all directions, the
whole people would have all things at
wholesale price, and life would become