The age-herald., 1897-09-11
Several Great Cities.

According to pr. Albert Shaw, the three oldest British organizations in the shape of municipalities are Glasgow Manchester and Birmingham. Glasgow has about 750000 people. Manchester has 520,OOO. but dts municipal government di- rectly affects S,000,oOO. Birmingham has about 440,000.
 been within The pas, twenty-five years They began their reforms shortly after our civil war closed. Their councils are divided into executive committees, each committee being at the head of each de- partment of the public service. The members of council serve without pay, and ihe frequent elections make very few changes in these officials. Ma tional questions never enter dnto the munich pal campaigns. Local affairs are the only issues, and there are no party lines Nominations are made by a. petition signed by ten vosers, and yet there are very few candidates. Am official with a good record Is never opposed for re- election. City affairs are completely d. vorced from politics.
 Tn these three cities the chief revenue comes from the pubNc works-water, gas, electricity, streel5 railways, etc., and not from the taxation of the people. Most of the municipal departments are supporting, and some of them pay a profit. The municipal bonded debts are large, but the interest is paid out of the profits of municipal enterprises Year by year the taxes are growing smaller and Glasgow has practically no general tax. Manchester and Birmingham have very low taxes, and the public debts are decreasing. Glasgow owns her street railways and makes profit. Yet the average fare is cents, and on working mems 'train morning and evening Lhe fare is 1 cent. Manchester owns her street railways and leases them to a company, which pays the city interest on the cost and a net dividend of 10 per cent. per annum.
 1t is i.he same in Brmrgnam, but the lessees pay the interest, and are pay
 
 pay the city for keeping them in repair The following from Dr. Shaw's book on British cities will be of 'interest:
 In Glasgow the gas and electric light plants are owned and operated by the city. It has built new works. It has paid off half the original debt. It has accumulated a large sinking fund. Yet it has reduced the price of gas to 60 cents the thousand feet, and that too in the face of the fact that the price of gas-making coal has greatly advanced
 To prevent the electric lighting from
 making serious inroads on the use of gas 1t has started a system of renting gas stoves The cost to the taxpayer of street lighting in Glasgow is less than $100,000, and that sum is constantly re- ducing. Like the gas works, the elec- tric light plant is on business basis, and will soon be paying for itself, with no cost to the taxpayer.
 In Manchester the city supplies gas at 60 cents the thousand feet, and the gas works earn for the city, over and above all expenses, $500,000 year, $200, 900 of which goes to pay interest on the gas debt and $300,000 of which is paid into the city treasury to reduce general taxes.
 Birmingham bought out the private gas companies at huge rate. Yet it i at once reduced gas to 75 cents, making even on that basis a profit of $170,000. Gas is now 50 cents the thousand feet. New York gets nothing from it's gas companies but a rather inferior quality of gas. It pays them and the electric lighting companies about $1, ,0000 a year for public lighting. And the citizens of New York have to pay $1.20 the thou sand feet, and are charged for leakage under the extortionate system of the Gas Trust.
 Glasgow has perfect supply of ab- solutely pure water at a pressure so high that the efficiency of the fire de- partment is greatly increased. The cost of wateS Is about quarter of a cent day for each inhabitant At this price the debt of the water works Is being rapidly paid.
 Manchester had to go ninety-five miles for its water supply. and Birmingham had to go eighty. In both cities the water works are more than self-sustain- ing. although the water rents are not much higher than those of Glasgow. In these British cities the people pay very light taxes, and have model streets. tenement houses and public improve ments, while the big American cities are deeply in debt and heavily taxed. It is time for the American people to give r1unininaJ yarnh1arrao off