Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1899-08-25
CITIZENS OWN TOWN.
GLASGOW THE MODEL CITY OF THE
WORLD.
Changes Wrought In Fifty Years Of
Good GONcrnment-Nenrl All the
Public Utilities Are the Property of
the People.

Apropos of the recent agitation for
municipal ownership a few facts con
eerning the much talked of Glasgow
will doubtless be Of interest, says the
Cincinnati Enquirer.
Eighty years ago Glasgow was n
filthy manufacturing city, situated on
a muddy ditch. Today she stands sec
ond in point of population and com.
merce in the British empire and in
matter of sanitation and municipal
government century in advance OF
her nearest rival TIL 1915 the cor.
poration 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 lS45
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 q 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 gas 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
one is made to bring in a greater year
ly profit to the community, the total
profit per annum on municipal under
| takings being S3I4, 500. sPhe corporation
of Glasgow has spent over Sl5O,OOO,
600 in making their mud ditch into a
river up which the greatest ships
ahoat can sail and In raising their
town to its present position. And yet
its public debt is, taking into Consid-
Grafton it's 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
ings. In 1914 n royal commission was
sent In reply to cry that the poorer
| districts were unhealthily OvcrCrOwd
| ed. The report of the commission was
that the death rate was over A in ev
cry 1000 of the population and that
typhus fever was as well known as the
| face of the oldest inhabitant. The cor
| ha
| Glasgow's model dwellings are the
very best Of the kind. TO build these,
Of which there are now five, 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
thoroughly clean bed for the sum OF
7 cents. And, although over S40O,OoO
! of the public money was spent In
erecting these houses, n good yearly
return is paid on it-yearly q per cent.
| The death rate has been reduced TO
| 1919.
Instead of the city being supplied
| with those necessities of life, water
and gas. by private companies, the pco-
pie, through their own corporation. sup
ply themselves at the nominal rates of
| In the first case - cents and In the sec
ond 81 as against II and "a when for
merly supplied by companies. And 1t
may be 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 $4,000.
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 at less
| price than In any other town, the city
garners a yearly revenue Of $16.500,
and STAT 800 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
|
of S1G,0TO. 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. 1t 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 are public property. BY
this means the inhabitants are able to
| have their clothes washed in the very
best manner at the very lowest price.
And one can feel. when indulging in an
extra clean shirt that any profit made
on it goes to the public welfare.
There Is one great source OF evil
| which up to the present Glasgow has
not been able TO cast Off. Millions up
on millions of tons Of coal are con-
! sumed yearly. and the black, suffocat-
ing smoke hangs continually over the
city like death pail. But it is not
Glasgow's fault that 1t has not been
removed. The corporations are willing
to pay any one $l0,OOO.000 who will
dash it away.
BY running their own street rail
ways gas plants and vaterworks and
also being owners OF their own city
| they have been able to build Glasgow
at practically no cost TO themselves.
And not only this. BY improving their
city they have saved every year an
average of over 200 lives, and scOurg-