Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-01-31
A Strong Argument ..:....
for Public Ownership.


5, ~ TIE ARENA.
Vehicles, one horse. ...... rs cents
Vehicles, two horses. ....... .35 cents
Bicycles. ... &C.,. ........ 10 cents
Municipal bridge
Brooklyn bridge (cost s15, 900, ,OO0):
Ga L roads 3 cents u fares for S
cents if you simply wish to cross the
bridget you come from a distance
,or are going beyond the bridge it
costs nothing to cross in either the L
cars or the surface cars-the ordi-
nary car fare takes you over without
extra charge.
F1ot passengers. .......... ..... Free
Vehicles, l horse. e..............5 5 cents
Vehicles, horse. 10 cents
Bicycles ...... .............. Free
The net earnings of the St. Louis
bridge are 1t millions year, or Is
per cent on the Gould investment, and
II per cent on the impairable capital
the excavating of the tunnels, etc.,
will never be done over again. The
st. Louis charges may be objected to,
not only as extortionate, but as dis
eliminating. A passenger who buys
ticket In New York or Philadelphia
to ST. Louis or beyond has to pay Is
cents for crossing the bridge; whereas
If he buys ticket to East St. Louis
and then crosses the bridge in rail-
| road train it will cost him only 25
cents, or 10 cents if he crosses on a
street car. The St. Louis bridge is
managed for private profit; the Brook
lyn bridge is managed for public serv-
Ice, the aim being to make the bridge
as useful to the people as possible.
A normal public plant gravitates to
q lower rate level than a normal pri-
vate plant, because the latter aims at
profit while the former aims at serv-
ice, and the rate level for the greatest
service is much lower than the rate
level for the largest profits. More
over public ownership under good
management is able to achieve many
absolute economies, not merely max
ing lower rates but producing at
lower cost and saving Industrial force
Some OF the reasons for the great
eeouomiese effected by public owner.
ship are as follows:
l. Public ownership has no lobby
expenses or corruption funds to pro.
vide for.
2. Nor any dividends on watered
stock to pay.
3. Nor oyergrown salaries or mon
opolistic profits.
I. Nor heavy litigation expenses
and lawyers's fees.
5. It saves on interest and insur.
ance.
6. 1t gains through the <co-ordina.
tiOn of services, the civic interest OF
the people, and the higher efficiency
of better paid and more contented la.
bor.
7. 1t does not have to bear the bur.
den of costly strikes and lockouts.
8. 1t saves the cost OF numerous
regulative commissions and endless
Investigations into secrets OF private
monopoly.
9. The diffusion of wealth and the
elev alton of labor accompanying pub
lie ownership tend to diminish the ex-
tent and the cost of the criminal and
defective classes.
10. The elimination of conflict and
antagonism carries with it the cost OF
all the useless activities prompted by
that antagonism. Legislation would
cost us less, for example, were it not
for the private monopolies, for a
large part of the time and attention of
our legislators is given to them.
Great as are the benefits of the low
rates secured by public ownership,
there are other and still more weighty
reasons in it's favor.
/. Justice-The outrageous dis
ordinations in freight rates, etc, ,
that have done so much to injure hon.
est farmers, merchants, and manufac-
turers and to build up the most OBJ
jectionable trusts, could not exist un-
der real public ownership. of the
roads. Another injustice would also
vanish: the taxation without represen-
tation, and for private purposes,
which the private monopolies levy up
on us through excessive rates-a tax
alton by the side of which King
Georges efforts were insignificant de-
creptitudes. (s..s>
2. Good Government-1t is a mat
ter of common knowlege that the great
private monopolies constitute the
m0ct c0v.r, nt ~ 1 i,,11,1anoo IN r,,r mil