Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-06-18
PUBLIC OWNERSHIP.
GREAT BRITAIN'S EXPERIMENTS IN
MUNICIPAL SOCIALISM.

The following account of public own
ership in Great Britain is taken from
the report of James Boyle, United
States consul at Liverpool, under date
of April 25, 1902:
For some years past there has been
quiet but gradually increasing de-
velopment of u certain phase of social
ism in Great Britain. Reference is
made to what is generally known as
municipal trading" and sometimes
and more correctly as municipal So
cialism.' The first appellatlon is rath-
er msnomer at the existing stage of
the movement. Municipal socialism
does not mean division of private
wealth or property "share and share
alike" but the ownership and operation
of certain undertakings and enterprises
Qn America generally described as
public utllities'9 by the municipality
for the public good as claimed. AS
generally explained, the enterprises
within the proper sphere Of municipal
socialism are public necessities" But
here arises the question, Where Is the
line to be drawn? This line Is by the
great majority of advocates of the sys-
TEN drawn at those enterprises and un-
dertakings which by their very nature
are essentially public or semipublic in
their functions and which are of neces
sity more or less monopolies, as, for
instance, street railways, waterworks,
gas lighting, electric lighting and elec-
trio power. incidentally, 1t may be
mentioned that the domain of national
socialism has been entered into by the
British government by its ownership of
the telegraph system and by it's pro-
posed gradual absorption of the tele-
phone system, and a movement has
sprung up for the naturalization of
the railroads and even Of the coal sup
ply as well as of storage Of wheat for
use in case Of war.
In 1875 the capital invested in mu-
nicipal undertakings in Great Britain
was $465, 100000. while in 1900 there
was $1,50O,0O0,OO0 invested.
There are now in Great Britain 931
municipalities owning waterworks, 90
owning the street railroads Tor "tram-
ways" as they are called here, 240
owning the gas works and 1S1 supply
ing electricity. Most of these are in
England. Municipalities We're not al
lowed to work the tramways until
1896. 1t Is estimated that half of the
gas users in England use municipal
gas. In a number Of places, Liverpool
among them, the municipalities supply
electricity for lighting and power,
while the gas supply is still in the
hands of private corporations. In the
case of Liverpool the gas company is
quite willing to sell to the municipali-
ty, but the latter will not buy, first, be-
cause under the charter of the gas
company the municipality would be
compelled to pay perpetual dividend
of 10 per cent to the stockholders, and,
second, because 1t is believed that in
the near future electricity will practi-
cally supersede gas as an illuminant.
The municipalities of bennington
and Harrogate own Turkish baths, two
of the best ut present existing in Great
Britain, and Harrogate also gives fire.
works displays at municipal cost. Glas-
gov, like Liverpool, owns it's water
works and trans and provides munich
pal lectures. Glasgow has quite re-
Gently reduced the fares on the tram
cars, so that there are now not only
halfpenny Il cent? fares, but a distance
of two and one-half miles can be trav-
eled for 2 cents. Universal penny e
cent? fares will probably shortly be in
troduced In Liverpool. The transfer"
system, as prevailing in America, is
not used in Liverpool or In any other
British municipality, SO far as l know.
Glasgow was the first city to establish
municipal palace" Manchester
owns shares in its ship canal Out of
its municipal tramway profits Shelf
field has appropriated $4,000 for the
erection of shops and business prem
ises, which it will rent.
Liverpool Is one of the foremost cities
in municipal socialism. 1t owns the
waterworks Zone of the best systems in
the world; it operates the street cars;
it supplies the electric light and power;
1t has one of the largest and best pub
lie bath systems anywhere and pro-
poses to erect the finest Turkish bath
in Europe; 1t provides public laundries
for the poor districts; it furnishes flow
ers and plants for the windows in the
slums; 1t sells sterilized humanized
milk for the children of the poor at
cost price; 1t has u salaried organist to
play its famous municipal organ; it
gives municipal lectures and all these
in addition to the usual undertakings
Of municipalities, such as parks with
concerts, technical Schools etc. But
the greatest socialistic undertaking by
the Liverpool municipality is that of
providing dwellings, for the very poor,
the dispossessed tenants Of demolished
insanitary dwellings Of the slums.
There are two principal slum areas
in Liverpool-one in the north end of
about 1888 acres and another at the
south end Of the city of about 100
acres. Most of the houses in these two
districts are structurally insanitary.
There are rows of them built thack to
back" There are other districts where