The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-25
PROBLEMS 0FAC CITY
MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP DISCUSSED
BY THE MEMBERS OF THE
CONGREGATIONAL CLUB.
THREE BRANCHES HANDLED.
HON. s. NJ. OWEN GAVE A TALK ON
THE ADVANTAGES 1T
AFFORDED.
MIR. HALLAm ON IT'S DANGERS.
Judge Russell, of MINNEAPOLIS. Road
an Interesting Paper on
"Experiences."

Municipal Ownership" was discuss
ed by the gentlemen Of the Minnesota
Congregational club last evening in the
rooms Of the Commercial club. Debat-
ed by the st. Paul and MINNEAPOLIS
gentlemen having parts on the pro-
gramme and those taking part in the
informal discussion which followed, Il
was productive of much interest among
the members upon the confronting
problems OF the new era which the
opening OF the new era will mark. Pre-
ceding the more formal portion of the
evenings programme, the members.
nearly 100 in number, gathered around
the banquet board and discussed for
an hour and half the excellence Of
the menu and current topics of inter-
est to the club. When the first por-
ton Of the evenings diversion was fin
ished the gathering adjourned to the
large and spacious parlors Of the club,
where three fifteen-minute after-dinner
talks were listened to, viewed from as
many standpoints, by gentlemen con-
versant with the municipal govern
ment Of cities and the granting of
franchises to corporations and its eff
fects.
Hon. Sidney NJ. Owen, of Minneap-
oils. made the first talk, giving the
Advantages Of Municipal Ownership"
which was warmly received by his fell
low clubmen. He was sorry that the
time was so limited, as the question
of municipal ownership, municipal
franchises and municipal monopolIes
was one of the all-important questions
which the citizens Of the large cities
had to face. Mr.. Owen gave an account
Of what 1t cost the city railway COM
pany to operate its cars. Under it's
present system OF electric Iocomotion,
they would be able to maintain their
lines and operate their cars for 90
cents per mile per car, against is cents
for the old horse car transportation
and 13 cents for the cable line. He
said years ago, before the street car
became as popular as 1t is now, he
thought Of the magnificent opportunI-
ties the streets presented for making
money. And then, later, how the street
car had come into vogue, and by q
series Of inventions the cost Of Operat-
ing had been reduced, and the saving
thus made had gone into the hands Of
the few rather than the municipality.
Mr. owen cited Toronto where they
operated horse cars at nearly twice the
expense Of the present electric system
in the two cities, and yet they had re-
duced the fare, for school children and
WOrkingmen, during certain hours in
the day, and by buying q dollars worth
| Of tickets a saving could also be made.
| The great danger OF private ownership
| of the great monOpolies, was the cor
| rupting influence which they eXerted
! over the politics of the municipality.
ard even the legal profession were sub
| Ject to the same subtle influence. They
were insidiOusly taking possession of
| all the government, in noiseless but
| sleepless way. Mr.. Owen thought NUM-
| cipal ownership was desirable in most
| cases as a present the aggregate wealth
| of the nation was in the hands Of the
| few, and to extend this would mean
! disaster. The COrrupting influences of
| the power Of the corporation was felt
| everywhere They were sOUlleSs and
| without heart, it was impossible to kill
| them 1t was high time for the men OF
| the city to awake to the necessity Of
municipal ownership, and destroy the
| political corporations Of the large cities.
It was the duty of every man to over
| throw any corruption which grew into
| the body Of the public. We must meet
| the proposition. Shall these corpora
lions possess us, or shall we possess the
| corporations?
oscar HaIIam. Of St Paul. next gave
] q very COMPREHENSIVE 81 . AIlItLlNB IiAC
strain Of which was more against the
municipal ownership Of privileges now
! operated by corporations. dangers
was the subject of Mr.. Hallam's paper.
in which he took a rather derogatory
view Of the subject Of municipal own
ership. 1t was, he said, very hard
| question or series Of questions TO solve.
and the solution depended largely upon
the time and place Of application Of
! the question. We are chiefly interested
! in American municipalities, and must
consider the question a present one.
The cost Of production Is governed by
the element of personal interest taken
in the production Of everything. Inter
est begets industry thrift and econo-
my. The United States census commits
| sioner tells US that in public indus
| tries men are paid the highest wages
| for the shortest Of working hours, and
that the result of investigation along
this line shows that labor Is PAID 5O
per cent more in the fields Of public In
dustry than is paid where the munic-
ipal government is in rule, and 1t costs
| more to produce. because Of the lack
of interest Mr.. BriCe, an Englishman,
who has become very familiar with the
government of cities Of the United
| States had said that the signal fall
ure of the people Of the United States
was in their government Of large cities.
The municipal officers were not elected
! upon a municipal ticket, but on party
! politics, and it was not because they
knew anything about municipal gov
| eminent but because they were poll
tiCians. The tenure of office was short,
and there was no merit system in the
distribution Of the municipal offices.
The remedy for all this is not unbrl-
| died monopoly, but in regulation or
the corporations who owed their eXls-
tence to the people. 1t could be done,
Mr.. HalIam thought. IF they could not
trust their city councils to regulate the
CORPORATIONS who operated under mu-
nfcipal franchises. they could not trust
them to run them.
Hon. Robert P Russell Of Minneap-
oils. read a paper on the subject, his
norton Of the argument being ''Ex-
periences." Judge Russell gave an ex-
ceIlent paper on the subject replete
with statistics on municipal ownership,
and the experiments of other cities IN
running their own water works and gas
plants. Judge Russell also cited num-
Der of decisions of courts in various
states on the subject.
Preceding the programme Of the
evening. the executive committee OF the
club held a session and decided to hold
their next meeting on WashinSton's
birthday They also arranged for
meetings to come off in March and
April The secretary was voted sal
airy of 500 per year.