The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-09-22
Municipal owner.hip OF Pabi,e Usiii,ies

To the Editor Of the journal and Courier:
Allow me to comment briefly on a
letter in your issue of Saturday last,
signed by Jno. F. Douglass.
Mr.. Douglass begins his effusion by
warming "the general public" that the
question of municipal ownership is like
Iy to be seriously considered" He
gratuitously adds his opinion that the
advocates of 1t are not representative of
the great mass of careful, conservative
and thinking taxpayers" Never hav-
ing heard of Mr. Douglass before I
looked him up in the city directory and
in the city tax lists. would like to
ask Mr.. Douglass what he considers "a
careful, conservative and thinking tax
payer?" Is it to be one of the best citi-
zens without trade, calling or profess
sion? Is ii to have somebody else to
pay your share of the taxes? To my
| establishment find that John r. Doug
lass does not pay a nickel of taxes to
the city of New Haven. His. name
does not appear on the list.
My pleasantly on the possible candi-
| dacy Of member of the committee for
| the Office of mayor he covers with
grave-clothes and calls from the grave
my departed friend TO support him in
! his half truth which he makes a whole
untruth., Suppose he proves my Sim
plicity'' Il wish he could) and suppose
| he demonstrates my irresponsibility?
| Does that touch the question at issue?
OF course not. But he deliberately mis-
quotes Mr.. Benefits letter and begs
| the question by mean innuendo.
He quotes. George Wallace as telling
him that work done for the munich
pality costs twice as much as work for
| a private corporation Mr.. Wallace
| told me this afternoon that he said
| nothing of the kind. He said sit usu-
ally costs more" And more was
straightway stretched to mean "dou-
| bia,"
Mr. Douglass says he has not taken
| the trouble to collect facts concerning
municipal government good or bad and
blandly assumes that everyone believes
that there is hardly a. city or, town in
the United States but is more or less
honeycombed and rotten with corrup-
| ton, just because he says so. 1t is too
bad you do not take at least some trou-
BILE to know what. you are talking and
writing about. Anybody who knows
anything usually has to take trouble
and what people know is usually in pro-
portion to the trouble they take in
| finding out. He points to Philadelphia!
Just as passing thought. I suspect the
gentleman is Republican-his letter
bears the earmarks-his logic or rather
| lack of logic gives him away. Now it's
! unfortunate that a Republican machine
in the Quaker City could not be de-
pended upon-too bad but did Mr..
Douglass ever hear of the traffic in
franchises in st. Louis? City officials
were bribed. True, but who hrihed
them? The corporate brigands who
posed as careful conservative taxpay-
ers!
In his next communication I hope Mr..
Douglass will talk to the question. The
question is-Why should we pay one
dollar per 1000 feet for water gas when
other cities sell it at profit at fifty
cents? Why should sons Of men be
forever kept out of electric light be-
cause clique Of men have fixed the
legislature and monopolized the bust
ness so that they can get rich quickly?
When God charged the air with cleo
tricity million years ago was it to
enrich half a dozen best citizens and
keep the rest in their power? When
the gas company increases their bonds
by millions of dollars, what does it
mean but that we are being made day
by day more powerless to relieve our
selves Of the incubus? The Winchester
company put in their own light plant.
The Y. M. c. A. put in their own cleo
trio plant and why should not the city?
Anyway, why should there not be
full discussion Of the questions at issue
without descending to personalities.
Compare notes; talk statistics; but it's
a mean dirty business to sling mud
| and it's a game all can play at and to
which there is no end. Do take trou-
BILE, inform yourself, Mr.. Douglass,
and when you write again write of gas
and prices and taxes and government.
- Alex. +. Irvine.