The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1905-09-08

DO not believe that any general taking owe of tho street
railways Of New York by the city to operate them under the
municipal government at the present time would result in
~ advantage to the public. If any change is to be made to-
ward the manipulation of our street railways it should be
made, 1 think, BY CAUTIOUS STEPS. The superiority of mu-
nicipal over private operation Of these utilities is not yet an established
axiom. Even if the municipaization of the entire system be the even
tual wish of the people, it should be arrived at by stages. We have
had no education in the municipal operation Of street railways, and
we must learn our lesson little by litte-by taking over the lines one
by one AND STUDYING THE RESULTS OF EACH STEP.
The management Of a great street railway system is a complex
affair. 1t cannot in any way be compared to the conduct of a city's
water supply. There technical ability is at a minimum The chief
thing in the management of the water service is to find where the
water is to be drawn from and then to conduct it through a system
of pipes and mains to those who use it. On the other hand, the opera.
ton of great system of modern street railways, especially those run
by the latest and most developed processes Of electrical locomotion,
involves a vast amount of technical knowledge, which l am not at all
sure municipal government can command Or WILL EVEN TAKE
TIE TROUBLE TO EMPLOY.
Moreover, the operation Of our elevated, subway and surface lines
requires the services of q vast army Of men. The number of men
employed in the conduct Of any Of the other facilities which can be
brought under municipal operation cannot compare with the mum
Der needed here. This adds a further element to the doubt Of the
efficiency with which the street railways can be run by the city. In
the water department a comparatively small number Of men are en-
ployed, and In the operation of gas and electric lighting companies the
number is scarcely greater.
The greatest difficulty, however, to be encountered in the opera
ton of public utilities by q municipality lies, I believe, in their
FINANCIAL management. There is always a tendency under
municipal operation where tho influence of the ballot can be felt
to increase the wages of subordinates to a figure entirely out Of pro-
portion to that reached BY SMALLER LABOR IN PRIVATE
EMPLOYMENT and q corresponding tendency to lower the salaries
of the men at the top to a point inconrnensurate with that which they
can command FROM PRIVATE CONCERNS.
The result Of the first Of these tendencies is to make it impossible
for a city to run its car lines as cheapy as they can be run under
private operation and a possible danger of arriving at a deficit at the
end of the year, and the very general consequence Of the second tend
ency is to place beyond the command Of the municipal government
the services Of the BEST men for tho higher positions in the service
and to render the management as a result less efficient.
90 NOT THINK THAT CIVIC VIRTUE HAS REACHED THAT
POINT AMONG ~ At WHICH THE rAiI "
MAN IS WILLING TO SERVE THE CITY At A SMALLER SALARY
THAN HE CAN OBTAIN EwHERE