The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1905-04-26

Used-Street Lines to BE Appraised,
and Amount Fixed VIII BE Deposit
ed with City Treasurer, and own
erS Can Take or Leave 1t.
Judge Edward +. Dunno, elected
mayor Of Chicago Gu the municipal
ownership ticket, who recently went to
New York city to tell New Workers
something of the plan Of which he has
been a champion for years, expressed
the belief to New York Times report
or that municipal ownership of Chicago
street railways will come within two
years of his term, although he admits
that this is a short time in which to
bring about so sweeping change.
Judge Dunno tells an interesting sto-
ry of how he first became deeply inter
ested in municipal ownership. 1t hap
| pened some years ago while he was
travelling In Switzerland. While in In
terlaken he stepped into a telegraph Of
fee to send message to Lucerne and
when he came to pay for 1t was told
that the price was about cents. He
thought a mistake had been made and
told the operator that such message
would have cost 40 or so cents in the
United States
But, you see, here the government
operates the telegraph SYSTEM" said
the operator, land the rate is much
cheaper
This, Judge Dunno said, set him to
thinking. and wherever he went he
| found that the case was similar where
public service utilities were concerned.
! From that time he became the cham
! pion of municipal ownership.
1--WE have in Chicago" he said, ''the
worst street railroad system in the
country. We mean to take hold Of
this, re-equtp it and run it in the inter
| ests Of the people We will accomplish
| this without one cent of taxation on
! the community simply by the power of
| condemnation, which every railroad in
| the city has exercised for years against
the owners of private property. You
see, that law was supported by the
! street railway companies. Now we are
| going to give them taste Of their own
medicine. We will show them that a
! law can work both ways, and they
surely cannot kick if we fairly apply
| to them the laws under which they
! have themselves acted so long.
/ IF they kick, we'll and good. While
the kick is in progress the city will
| have control Of the roads, and the
| courts will in the meantime decide the
! cases. | estimate, and may be few
| millions out of the way, that we can
acquire the street railway systems of
! Chicago for about $27 100000 1t will
take $3O,OOOO00 to $4O,OO0000 more to
mOdernize them. The tangible values
! of the properties has been placed by
experts at about $30,000,000, and they
are capitalized for about $120,0OO,00O.
! Their stock exchange value just before
my election was about $S0OOOOOO, and
| this was kept up by manipulation and
! wash sales.
"Now. under the law we can take
| these roads by issuing street car GER
| tificates, in reality income bonds, the
! interest being paid out of the receipts.
! When the roads pass into the hands
| of the city all the employees, from su-
| DcTlIlcuu6uL
! come under civil service rules. We nat
urally will do just as Mr. Morgan
would do if he got a road-get the best
man possible to operate it. When
! Yerkes built his London road he got an
| expert from Glasgow to show him all
about it, and the lord provost of that
! city has promised to send on his super
| intendent, who has been running roads
! under municipal ownership for ten
| years, to help me in my work.
1T is too early yet to think Of reach
ing out for the gas electric Lighting or
! telegraph or telephone franchises, but
! the law will be amended in time so as
! to give US these rights. First we will
tackle the street railways. II we are
hindered we will fight in court and out
of court The money value put on the
roads by experts will be paid into the
city treasurer's hands, and the roads
can take or leave it, just as the owner
Of private property could do when the
roads moved in condemnation proceed
ings against him.
Now, on this question of municipal
ownership let me give you a few
points. In Chicago we have been run
ming our water plant for forty years,
and we have the cheapest water in the
world.
I'VE paid for the whole plant out of
the earnings diverted $40,000,000 from
them to build sewer system in our
city and have now $1,000,000 in the
treasury that we don't know what to
do with. Ten years ago we began to
operate a,municipal electric light plant
to supply the city. At that time we
paid SIPS a year for arc lights. Now
we supply them for $54, and if we
could sell our power, which we have no
right to do, we could supply them for
much less. In Chicago under private