The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-18
REALIZING ON ASSETS.

have been so wasteful of assets as
have been the communities that make
up the United States, whether it be the
states, united or several, or the civic
divisions thereof. If one we're to look
for facts to support the thesis that
men, acting in mass, act with the
thOughtlessness of children, with their
incapacity to cOrrelate means to ends,
their want of sense Of value, he could
marshal a formidable array of proofs
in the instances in which states and
municipalities have wasted legitimate
assets, lavishly giving them away and
fortressing them behind the doctrine
OF vested rights. Evidence of develop
ment comes in the spasmodic instances
where cities have put a price upon
the franchises they have in their pos
session, and the hope is that this new
sense Of values and this conservation
OF them may spread rapidly. Much is
beyond recall; but, with invention Gre
at1ng improvements calling for a new
use of public powers, future legitimate
assets may be utilized for the public
fsc
New York city, having the option Of
taking over two street railways, whose
charter is about to expire, has a bid of
$4OOO,OOO for grant Of the franchises.
Other cities make these uses CT the
streets source of revenue. Gothen-
berg has gone further in its revenue
getting out Of public franchises.
and has set an example that all
others may we'll initiate. 1t takes over
the liquor traffic and gives it to pri-
Vate companies, who pay over all
profits above an agreed percentage on
their investment. Why should not any
nlunlc1paI corporation, getting it's
life from public grant and making use
OF common property in public or quasi
public service, be similarly treated?
PUBIC servants that they are. why
should not their compensation be
reasonable return on their capitaI
with the surplus for their EMPLOYER?
Why a different treatment for the pub
lie servant from that given the private
one?
france goes part way to this logical
end in the negotiations completed with
the Bank of France, now pending for
confirmation in the chambers. It gives
to the bank the exclusive right to is
sue its notes to circulate as money. 1t
bestows valuable right out of which
profits can be made by those enjoying
IT, The bank performs a necessary
function clothed with a public nature.
commerce and trade demand some
medium Of exchange less cumbersome
than either gold or silver The steady
| tendency is to eliminate both from
the the exchanges in the interest Of econ
omy, saving abrasion and loss, and
saving effort. France has had her
lesson in the results ot governmental
exercise Of this business. and wisely
| delegates it to private enterprise. where
1t legitimately belongs. Whether It il
wise to grant a monopoly of note-is
suing is another question.
But the present interest is in tba
manner in which France converts the
franchise into an asset. In considera-
ton of extending it's charter until 1920
and increasing its capital to 5000 0OO.-
600 francs, the bank is to loan the gov
eminent $3S,O0O,OOO without interest
and is to give the state one-eighth of
us profits, the amount to be not less
than 100000 a year In addition the
bank transacts all the business of
the state connected with rentes and
the revenues free of charge and estab-
fishes number of new branches in
the provinces. The value of the fran
chise is indicated in the dividends Of
from 10 to Is per cent which the bank
pays, and this shows why the bank ia
willing to pay thus highly for the
privilege. The application of the ex-
ample to any scheme for private note
issues is too plain to be lost sight Of