The times., 1898-10-09
STREET RAILWAYS.
Some Facts About Municipal 0wn-
ership of Lines.
(From the Boston Transcript.


The rapid extension of street railways
has been the means of bringing into ex-
istcnce so many other problems touching
on the whole question of municipal gov
ernment that it is hardly possible 10
treat the street railway question without
discussing at least some OF the questions
which the annual transportation of bill
ions of human beings involves Fore
most among these questions Is that of
municipal ownership, which has been
much discussed in this country of late,
because of certain experiments now on
trial in the United Kingdom. / have pre-
pared a brief statement OF facts up 10 last
September. when l visited the six cities
mentioned below:
Glasgow shows a profit of s437 7S3 TO the
city, with an equipment of s4,oi6, l95 Gin
horse car equipment put in during the
last half Of 1s94), when an American firm
stood ready to give the city bonus of
s25, 600 and install an electric plant free of
.ost
HuddersfieId, in iamentable efforts TO
establish municipality operated railways
has muddled away 1906, ,631 in deficits, and
has 100000 invested in twenty-five miles
of track.
Leeds, city of over 40 coo population,
with twenty-five miles of track, may be
said 10 have done fairly well because it.
has not run behind; but does anyone In
the United States believe a population of
this size can really be served by twenty
two miles of street railway?
Sheffield is making a beginning, and
wisely feeling out after the best sys-
TEN. The excess of receipts for the
first year is TO indication of what Shelf
field will do when she has Installed a
system of thirty-five miles. The pri-
vate company paid $50 600 a year into
the city treasury, and has paid off for
the city much of the original investment
in track. The city thus fell heir
to the whole plant for a song, and
naturally shows a profit the first year.
Those in control in Sheffield are in no
sense prepared to underwrite municipal
operation, at least. until after an ex-
perience of ten years.
Plymouth. small affair. is behind
s25 900. while the operation in BlackpooI
last year yielded a profit to that city of
1886
Here we have the sum and substance
of the municipality operated tramways
in the United Kingdom up 10 date For
a more detailed statement of these ex-
periments. 1 respectfully refer those
who care to carry the inquiry further
TO a statement which / made last De-
cember, before the Massachusetts COM
mittee, which was printed as a part of
the testimony.
AS an offset to these cities, the at
tentlon OF municipal ownership enthu-
siasts IS respectfully invited to the
city of Boston, population about the
same as that OF Glasgow: Miles of street
railway, 452; Brooklyn. population about
the same as Sheffield; miles of street
railway, 305; Baltimore. population
about the same as that of Leeds; street
railway mileage. S91: and. lastly, if there
is any city in the United States of 100
0d0 inhabitants not better supplied with
rapid transit than Huddersfeld and
Leeds. or a seaside resort on the jersey
coast that cannot beat Blackpool ten
to one, I should like to have our munic-
ipal operation friends, name IT. Here
we have a population of 1.6s7.231 sup
piled with less miles of track than
Washington, D. c., with a population of
250. 600.