The Advocate and news., 1897-12-01
Munioipal Ovnership in This Country.

conditional leases OF pubic services LndI
are in their nature onopolies-water
supply, street and house lighting, street
railways, and the like-is the issue that
is forcing itself to the front in all Amer
lean cities. Facts are the indispensable
basis of intelligent discussion. Without
stopping here to consider the open ques-
ton OF whether or not on grounds OF
public policy it is wise or eXpedient to
enlarge the area of municipal enterprise,
the first large fact that confronts us is
that within the past ten years the scope
of municipal enterprise has been greatly
extended.
(1) Waterworks. When the war
closed So per cent. OF all the waterworks
in the United States were private prop
critics. No one now thinks of objecting
TO municipal ownership of waterworks,
that it Is socialistic or obnoxious to
American principles Of government, but
twenty years ago the objection was
raised, exactly as 1t Is now, against the
municipal ownership Of gas, electric, or
street railway services. To-day the bal
ance is not heavily with municipal
waterworks, only about So per cent. Of
the water supply plants Of the United
States being publicly owned. Very sig
nificant, however, is the fact that in the
chief cities public ownership has become
the rule by large majority. OF the fifty
largest cities in the United States only
nine are now dependent upon private
companies for their supply, namely, San
Francisco, New Orleans, Omaha, Denver,
indianapolis, New Haven, Paterson,
Scranton, and Memphis The changes
from private to public ownership of
waterworks have been very rapid since
1890. The strength of the tendency is
shown by the fact that while 200 cities
and towns have changed from private to
public ownership, only twenty have
made the reverse change. Massachusetts
leads all other States in her preference
for public over private ownership Of
water supply plants. There remain in
that State now only thirty-eight private
against 113 public works. Not single
water supply plant in Massachusetts
built by city has ever been turned over
to private company.
(2) Gas and Street Lighting. Twelve
American cities now own and operate gas
plants, the most notable examples being
Philadelphia, Richmond Wheeling and
Louisville Over two hundred American
municipalities have experimental with
public electric lighting plants Included
in this number are the cities Of Chicago,
Detroit, Jacksonville (Fla.), Little Rock
(Ark.), Bay City (Mich.) and Dunkirk
IN. ". Philadelphias gas plant ex-
pertinent is said by the opponents OF
municipal ownership to have been fail
ure. 1t Is admitted that it's management
by irremovable trustees has been had.
Yet gas has been furnished steadily and
is to-day being furnished to Philadelphia
consumers at rs cents per 1000 feet
cheaper than to New York consumers.
Granting that its management has not
BEEN what it should be, it is, neverthe-
less, true that for the year 1895 the pub
liCly owned gas service of the Quaker
City saved to its people in one way or
another grand total of $1,7O2,1OO.
Chicago became the owner of its cleo
trio lighting system in 1887. To-day the
city owns 2,254 arc lamps, of 1000 candle
power. Their average cost, including all
items, is $96.4O per lamp per annum.
Chicago is, at the same time, leasing 200
lamps of exactly the same power from
electric lighting companies, and pays
$137 per lamp per year for them. Here,
then, In the same city it plainly appears
that municipal ownership saves to the
taxpayer $4O.70 on every lamp. On the
1884 lamps which Chicago owns it saves,
therefore, over $4,000 year, calculated
on the basis OF the price it is actually
paying for the lamps 1t leases from pri-
vate corporations. In Wheeling, w. Va,
the private gas works were bought by
the city many years ago, and paid for by
the sale of bonds. All the bonds have
been redeemed out of the profits on gas
without levying one dollar on the people,
and the public service is now yielding
a yearly net income of about $25,000 to
the city treasury, besides supplying the
people with gas at 75 cents a thousand.