New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-10-20
LONDON NOTES.
THE METROPOLITAN TRANSIT PROB
LEM CONTRASTS OF AMERICAN
FINANCE-POSSTBLE CHANGES
IN THE BRITISH
TREASURY
TREASURY
London. October 3.

The equanimty with which Londoners regard
the operations OF American electric railway syn
dcates is easily explained. They are weary of
The sluggishness and inertia of their own transit
corporations, and welcome an outburst Of Amer
ican energy and enterprise. When they read
the announcement that in Berlin electric cars
have been everywhere substituted for the horse
trans, and that a worxingman can be carried
ten miles by rapid transit for a little more than
penny. they are wellnigh prepared to sur
render all the projected underground undertake
ings in the metropolis to Mr. Yerlkes and his
American hackers. They are convinced that the
London County Council will never be able to
solve the problem Of metropolitan transit on the
lines Of municipal ownership, and that the Eng
ish private companies will take their own time
and exhaust the patience Of the public They
have faith in American energy and engineering
skill, and are not disposed 10 resent the invasion
Of the metropolis by foreign capitalists
The two old underground companies in Lon
don. the District and the METROPOLITAN. did not
consider the expediency of substituting electric
traction for steam until trolIeys were trundIing
everywhere in the United States and Germany.
They began about a year ago to experiment in
g leisurely way with electric motors and TO cal
culate the expense Of a change Of traction by
which the tunnels would be cleared of smoke
and the fumes Of carbon and the train service
greatly accelerated. In the course of two or
three years this improvement will probably be
brought about. but every stage Of the process
viii be deliberate and sluggish All the other
electric enterprises are in a backward state. It
is ten years since the City and South London
Company opened its electric line from Stockwell
10 the city, and the extensions in one direction
20 Clapham and Brixton, and in the other to
Islington are not yet completed. The under
ground electric line from Waterloo Station to
the city has been in successful operation about
eighteen months. and the central underground
tube following Holborn, Oxford-st and the
northern line Of Hyde Park to Shepherds Bush
has been opened for traffic about three months.
It VIII be two three years before the Water
loo and Baker-st. line, with it's connections at
one end with the Elephant and Castle, and with
Paddington in the north is finished, and It will
be fully eighteen months before the Great North
ems electric railway between Finsbury and the
City is in working order. The other projects are
schemes on paper with Parliamentary powers
already acquired, but without the requisite cap
ital for imparting momentum to them.
Among these projects is the five mile under
ground electric line between Hampstead and
Charing Cross, which the Yerkes combination
has taken up and is promising to carry out
with American enterprise and skill Another is
the Brompton and Piccadilly Line which is a
project Of the District Company, and will vir-
tually be spur Of the proposed deep level ex-
press line between EarI's Court and the Man
sion House. This line is beyond the reach OF
American capitalists, since it will be con-
structed by the District Company. If anything
be done with it; and there signs that the
projectors are deeply interested in undertaking
the work. There are. however. eight or ten other
projects mainly feeders for trunk lines which
are open for American competition: and If every
scheme for which legislative authority has been
secured were carried out, there would still be a
fresh series Of metropolitan transit problems
10 be solved. There IS indeed. other great
centre Of population where the daily movement
Of traffic is so constantly obstructed and re-
tarded Millions can be expended during the
next ten years electric lines, and practical
measures on a large scale for the relief of the
suburban districts and the congested centres Of
traffic viii still be requisite.
The contrast offered between American fnan- |
cial conditions at the close OF the second Cleve-
land administration and at the present time is a
most remarkable one Five years ago English |
fnanciers considered America a debtor country, |
which could not get without the aid Of Euro |
pean investors. The loan which was financed
At high cost in London was regarded here as a |
desperate device for maintaining the Resumption |
act and preventing the outflow of gold from the |
United States Treasury; and when President |
minded Englishmen there an immediate |
rush 10 sell out American securities Of all kinds
and when prices went to the bottom the COM |
ment heard every side: How can
Nation which is without credit in England pre- |
sumo to faunt the Monroe Doctrine in our faces |
and affront us with an insulting menace in |
Venezuela Times have changed since the |
stump Of the American market in December, |
1885, and the foreign loan for the prevention OF
suspension Of gold payments. 1t is America that |
is now the creditor Nation, lending millions to |
Russia and Germany. taking up large portion
Of the tenders OF the Chancellor Of the |
Exchequer and supplying capital for metropoli- |
tan electric railways.
The changes wrought under the Mckinley |
Administration are now understood in England, |
Tor American prosperity is again the marvel OF |
The world: but I can remember how briskly the |
Free Trade orchestra tuned up during the early |
period Of the operation Of the Dingley tariff, |
and trumpeted its complete failure a revenue |
measure. No allowance was made for the heavy |
lmportations preceding the enactment OF that
measure, and the fact was emphasized that the |
new duties had not at once filed the Treasury |
and prevented a partial deficit. How natural |
was the English warning that American finan-
GERS BY making duties excessive as to ex-
Guoe OF check importations. were exhausting
me sources from which revenue drawni |
How men in their Senses" these censors ex-
Claimed, could have imagined that increased |
receipts were TO be produced by prohibitive and
eeh-prohibitiye import duties passes compre-
hensionr' The echoes of this Free Trade moral
zlng are no longer heard. America has con-
uucted costly war and regained her position
he mo-