Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-11

The first question that suggests itself Is,
Ia IL fair to conhne an inquiry Of this ma
ture to cities of 10000 inhabitants? l be-
lieve that for general deductions we
ran hardly afford to take smaller towns
Into consideration. While hundreds OF sue
cessful municipal lighting undertakings
may be found in all parts OF the country
outside OF these thirteen cities, local con-
ditions affect them more than In larger
places. Tho value of the land occupied by
the buildings, the area lighted, the schedule
Of hours, the smaller salaries and wages
and, above all, the direct supervision OF the
taxpayers themselves--al make for better
results from electric lighting plants in
stalled on a small scale for town or village
purposes.
II municipal ownership is a practical
problem of municipal government, 1t must
relate to communities Of urban pretensions,
organized on lines of a large business cor
p~oration and manned by officers compelled
to shoulder responsibility for the public
affairs.
Some Points TO he Emphasized.
Before discussing the causes that have
led up to the present situation, let me en-
phasize the following points.
First-only two OF the thirteen cities I'M
utI CouhiutIdlluh puANhooOu NHV PAOPN'NJ Va
existing lighting companies, the others
building their own plants.
Second-While the original investment is
not particularly large, the capital outlay
Tor the year is a considerable item.
Third-The expense of maintenance and
operating is in all cases decidedly moderate
without outward indications OF extravaganza
Or ~iobbery.
~Fourth-Most of these cities rely on
their own electric lighting plants for their
entire street illumination, spending little
In addition for street lamps, and that for
gas and oil.
Fifth-only four OF the thirteen cities re-
turn an income from sales of electric light
10 private consumers.
Sixth-Commissioner Wright carefully alb
stains from venturing on average cost sta
tistics OF reducing expenditures to a pei
lamp basis.
By reference TO other exhibits In the same
bulletin we find that Of the 1856 American
cities OF over 1000 population, 80 own theiI
own water works plants, while SO are served
by private corporations, 5 own their own gas
works, while 1870 depend on private corpora
lions, OF the thirteen cities owning theil
own electric lighting plants, -three-namely
St. Joseph, Little Rock and Topeka-ar'
sui supplleu Win water Dy private COT
porations, while only Wheeling owns wateI
works, gas works and electric lighting plant
This exhibit, while it must be in a meas
ure disappointing to sincere advocates o
municipal ownership, seems to me to indi
cate that at the start too much stress
was laid on the financial saving T.
be effected by the municipal undertak
ing and too little account taken OF tn
powerful forces TO be overcome before tn
private franchised corporations could b
uprOoted.
First Disparity of Cost Reduced.
The disparity in cost. comparing publ
and private ownership, so striking an
even startling In the early days, has TO
great extent been bridged. This disparit
existed not only as to electric lighting b
public and private plants, but also as I
lighting In Inherent cities under dineren
private services. That the charges ex
acted through the contract system were |
many cases exorbitant and extortionat
will now be admitted by the electric light