The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-06-25
NJ LELLAN MAKES
EXCELLENT RECORD
New York Now Enjoying Its
Best Administration
SOME PERTINENT ADVICE
People Should Not Go Around Com.
planning About Their Home City.
Municipal Ownership Propa-
ganda Not Popular.
SOME PERTINENT ADVICE
BY sEWELL HAeeARp.

New York June 24-(speciaL)-on of
the best pieces of advice ever given to
city or its people was given the other
day by a public speaker who said:
Don't complain so much. If you have
anything wrong at home rectify it. Don't
go round letting the world think you
are from the slowest or the worst gov
erned town on earth"
He was pointing out the difference be-
tween New Workers. and residents of some
ether cities. He found Chicagoans al
ways telling what d fine city they have.
New Workers We're always parading their
ills. And that is true, too, with a large
percentage of her population. The prin-
cipal complaint has been disagreement.
But it should not be so now.
New York is enjoying the best admin
istration it has ever had and under Tam
many. The best proof of this is that the
citizens union, the chief reform organ
ization which has fought Tammany tooth
and nail, is likely to endorse Mayor Nc
Clellan for reelection. All the signs point
to his reelection. The only opposition in
dictated so far is from the republicans
under the leadership of Ex-Governor
Odell. They are crying for a non-partisan
candidate, but non-partisanship to them
means republlcanism.
Municipal Ownership Propaganda.
The only organization that has even
1irted with them so far is the municipal
ownership league. The municipal owner
ship propaganda here is fostered mostly
by a lot of cranks led by persons who
are seeking political promotion. Their
principal accomplishments are wind and
red fire, the opportunity for which comes
every time they can get crowd to-
gether. Their latest opportunity was the
arrival in this country of James Dalrym-
pie the expert of the municipality owned
street railways of Glasgow, Scotland
They burned several thousand dollars
worth of fireworks in his honor and now
he has disappointed them by intimating
if not saying in so many words, that
American cities are not prepared Tor
municipal ownership. Mr.. Dalrymple was
quick to picture in his minds eye Just
what municipality owned public utilities
would be under political management.
/ New York's Experience.
In this may be found New York's OBJ
lection to municipal ownership. New
York knows politicians. 1t has mad
demonstration IN It's water NoIhS System
of what municipal ownership and graft
combined will do. An ex-commissioner
of water supply has said that the bulld-
ing of the system and its management 1or
several years afterward justified no mllder
term than robbery.
Hence IL is not surprising that the con-
sentative advocate of municipal owner
ship have come to agree with Mr.. Dali
rymple that American cities, the large
ones especially, are not prepared for it,
They believe it wiser to hold municipal
ownership as a club to insure decent adj
ministration of the public utilities. II the
uuasi-public corporations are so corrupt
that they are unbearabe threaten them
with municipal ownership. 1t is effective
medicine in nine times out of ten. This
advice is as good for Birmingham as any
other city. although l believe Birmng-
ham is getting on very well with her
public utilities But it is well to bear in
mind the remedy for the disease may de-
velop any time.
There is one thing, talking of munici-
pal ownership that it seems to me al
most every city could do. That is util-
ize its waste for lighting the public
buildings and perhaps the streets. In
New York are several electric light
plants owned by the city which con-
sumo waste instead of coal Several
parks and the new Williamsburg bridge
are lighted from them. Street Cleaning
Commissioner Woodbury. says if he is
kept in office until he can carry out his
plans he will make the citys waste light
all its public buildings and parks.