New-York tribune., 1902-12-10

nary functions Of municipal administration are
conducted with thoroughness and efficiency in
these Yorkshire cities. The streets are well
paved and lighted and are Systematically
cleaned. The sanitary laws are vigorously en-
FORCED The bulk Of the refuse is consumed by
dust Instructors and sewage is disposed Of by
precipitation the works in Sheffield having
cost over 81 2250OO There are no fmnrove-
ment schemes in either town equal in magni-
tude to Corporation-st. Birmingham where be-
tween 5000 and 1000 houses were removed,
the slums cleared and broad thoroughfare
opened and lined with handsome and substantial
business structures. which would ultimately
vert to the town. and possibly be worth
much as 100000; but both Sheffield and
Leeds have been delivered from unwholesome
tangles OF alleys many streets have been wild
ened and Strengthened, the mortality rates
have been reduced and the cities rendered more
habitable and slightly. The Birmingham plan
or improving the slunls, securing the recon-
struction Of unhealthful districts seventy
nve-year leases and making permanent invest
ment for posterity has been followed tentatively
in Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield Bradford and
other towns; but the protracted terms of the
leases remove the benefits of reversion to a re-
mote period The municipal industries yield
moderate returns almost once, and offer
promise of large revenues at the end of thirty
years, when the loans have been paid and the
capital expenditure has been Hquidated. For
this reason they are now preferred by progress
slVe communities like Leeds and Sheffield as
investments for collective benefit. The Town
Councils Of these Yorkshire cities general
committees representing the Corporations, which
include all the ratepayers and citizens: and
not content with conducting all the normal
functions Of municipal administration with
painstaking and efficiency. they have made
of fbe cra6Yt horro or +be
cities and have invested masses of capital. by
which the rates will be relieved with cumula-
tive force and all classes benefited by lower
water and lighting rates and cheaper and more
convenient facilities for local transit Corpo-
ration-st-. Birmingham may be a great in
vestment for the grandchildren, but the munich
pal industries Immediately effective for min
istering to the convenience and comfort Of tax
payers.
The municipal movement has been SO success
full in English and Scotch cities that capitalists
have sought to retard its progress and to divert
the profits of its organized activities to private
corporations Birmingham. where Mr.. Chamber
lain was one of the pioneers of progressive local
government, deliberately selected the
battlefield where these issues could be deter
mined by appeal from the grand committee
Of the Town Council to the Corporation itself.
with its thousands of burghers. on the question
of having the tramway service remain in the
hands of private companies, dependent upon
electrical syndicate, OF having 1t municipal
lied in accordance with the practice of other
English towns. The struggle has been a strenu-
Gus one, for the opponents of collectivist activi
ties were well assured that the capture Of Bir-
mingham would be a decisive defeat of the
cause which they sought to discredit ''mu-
nicipal socialism" Birmingham remained, how
ever. loyal to the best traditions of its own en-
hghtened municipal policy. and the capitalists
and syndicates with their press bureau and
mercenaries, were disastrously defeated The
municipal movement has received powerful
impetus from this decisive victory. and the
wholesome emulation existing among Eng
lish and Scotch towns will be a source of
energy and vigor in the evolution of good local
government for the collective benefit OF masses
and classes l. y. F.