The advocate., 1897-09-22
OFFICIAL STATE PAPER.

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a sinking fund big enough to pay off the
total first cost of the roads at the end Of
the lease (3) enough to reimburse the
city for all repairs and renewals, and CAD
an annual rental of $3.50 a mile. And
they were allowed to charge on the av-
erage about 2lb cents as a fare!
Manchester built its street railways
and leased them to a company which
pays the city interest on the cost and a
net dividend Of 10 per cent. per annum.
Yet this company may charge only about
3 cents, and must run 2-cent working
mems trains morning and evening.
In Birmingham the private company
which has leased the street car lines
built by the city pays all the interest
charges, Is paying off the FIRST cost of the
roads, pays the city in full for keeping
the lines in perfect repair, and charges
about the same fares as those In Man
chester. At the expiration Of the lease
Birmingham, like Manchester, will own
the lines outright free from all encum-
brances and in perfect condition.
In New York the street railway fran
Chises have been either sold for song
or given away outright. The street rail-
ways charge Scent fares, pay the small
est possible heed to public convenience
and comfort, and altogether bring into
the city treasury about $352,000 year.
And 100000 of this sum comes from
the Broadway road which, under the
system of the British cities, would be
paying upward of $S,000,000!
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. 1t has
accumulated 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
it has started a system of renting gas
stoves. The cost to the taxpayer OF
street lighting in Glasgow is less than
100000, and that sum is constantly re-
duCing. Like the gas works, the electric
light plant Is on business basis and
will soon be paying for itself, with no
cost to the taxpayer
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go cents the thousand feet, and the gas
works earn for the city, over and above
all expenses, $500, 900 a year, 100000 OF
which goes to pay interest on the gas
debt and 100000 OF which is paid into
the city treasury to reduce general taxes.
Birmingham bought out the private
gas companies at huge rate. Yet 1t
at once reduced gas to rs cents, making
even on that basis profit Of $4,000.
Gas is now so cents the thousand feet.
New York gets nothing from its gas
companies but a rather inferior quality
of gas. 1t pays them and the electric
lighting companies about $1,0O0,00O
year for public lighting. Citizens Of New
York have to pay $1.20 the thousand feet
and are charged for leakage under the
extortionate system of the gas trust.
Glasgow has perfect supply Of alb
solutely pure water at a pressure so
high THAT the efficiency of the fire de-
partment is greatly increased. The cost
of water Is about quarter of a cent a
day for each inhabitant At this price
the debt Of the waterwOrks Is being rap
idly paid.
Manchester had to go ninety-fve miles
for it's water supply, and Birmingham
had to go eighty miles. In both cities
the WaterwOrks are more than self-sus-
tanning, although the water rents are not
much higher than those of Glasgow.
New York, which had to go only four
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