The Holly chieftain., 1899-08-25
CITIZENS OWN TOWN.
GLASGOW THE MODEL CITY OF TIKI
WORLD.

ApFOpOs OI lut reCeut uSitHtlOu Iot
municipal ownership a few facts con.
cerning the much talked OF Glasgow
will doubtless be of interest, says the
Cincinnati Enquirer.
Eighty years ngo Glasgow was a
filthy manufacturing city, situated Oh
u muddy ditch. To-day she stands sec
ond in point Of population and com
merce In the British empire and in
matter of sanitation and municipal
government n century In advance OF
her nearest rival Till 1S45 the cor,
pUEaIiun levied no taxes. The whole
OF its revenue was derived from duties
made on all articles Of food brought
into the city. Every year this revenue
was in excess of the expenditure. and
the surplus was put aside. and in lsi5
they invested this accumulated money
In the purchase of ground right in the
heart OF the city. now known as the
common good" That purchase was
the foundation OF Glasgow as she
stands today. At first the income from
the common good" was only little
over $4,000. 1t now brings In over
$4,000 yearly.
Glasgow is owned by her popula-
ton. They own the ground. the street
railways, the gns plants. the water
works. the parks and gardens and con
cert halls. And. although every one of
these Institutions is worked more
cheaply than In any other town. each
l.,-it, In. . for ys.ur,
ly profit to the community. the total
profit per nnnuIu ON municipal under
takIn.s being 1914 500. The corporation
of Glasgow has spent over $l50,OOo.-
OOU In making their mud ditch into
river up which the greatest ships
aaoat cnu sail and In raising their
town to its present position And yet
its public debt is. taking into consid-
Grafton Its size. by far the smallest Of
any city in the world. The key to its
prosperity Is that every common I'm
provement has been done by the cor
poration.
Take. for Instance. the poorer DWELL
lngs In 1914 royal commission wax
sent In reply to u cry that the poorer
districts were unhealthily overcrowd-
ed The report OF the commission was
that the death rate was over ~ In ev-
cry 1000 Of the population and that
typhus fever WAS as well known as the
face of the oldest inhabitant. The cor
poration took up the matter. and today
Glasgow's model dwellings are the
very best Of the kind. To build these.
of which there are now 1--WE. capable of
housing 1000 persons every night. the
foul rookeries, which are still the curse
from every point Of view Of nearly all
other large towns. were swept away.
Any one. man or woman, can get O
thoroughly clean bed for the sum Of
I cents. And, although over $45OOOO
OF the public money was spent In
erecting these houses. n good yearly
return is paid on it-yearly per cent.
The death rate has been reduced to
1919
Instead of the city being supplied
with those necessities of life. water
and gns. by private companies. the peo-
pie. through their own corporation. sup
ply themselves at the nominal rates Of
In the first case II cents and In the sec
ond 81 as against II and "a when for
inerly supplied 10y companies. And il
may he added that not only is the
charge for water the very lowest of
any town. but the water itself Is ac-
knowledged by experts to be the very
purest supplied to any city or village.
Yet Glasgow reaps from the water sup
ply alone an annual profit Of S2l0.00O.
| At the same time that Glasgow pur-
chased the common good" property the
| markets were also bought. And al
though the lightest tolls are levied. SO
that the sellers are able to dispose of
their goods to the inhabitants nj less
price than In any other town. the city
garners yearly revenue Of $4,000.
and $l47.50O Is also gained from the
gas supply.
Working on the good results Of their
former enterprise In these directions.
| they have now taken over the electric
| al lighting OF the city at a yearly profit
| OF $l0.OT0. With this money the cor.
poration has looked to procuring public
recreation parks. with the result that
In the matter OF lungs" Glasgow
stands first In the world. II has some
700 acres allotted to this purpose.
which works out at one acre Of public
grass covered ground for every 800 of
the population. During the spring and
summer bands play In each OF these
parks. and there Is no collection. They
are paid by the corporation. which puts
aside $500 for this purpose.
In one matter Glasgow stands alone.
All laundries nre public property. BY
| this means the Inhabitants are able to