The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1906-07-19
STATE CONTROL OF
PUBLIC UTILITIES
Its Advantages Pointed Out by
New Zealand's Premier.
RAILWAYS ExoELLBNTLY WORKED

hAlLW AVS EADELLENTLY WORKED
The People Alone Profit by Owning
Them, Says Sir Joseph G. Ward-No
Rebates Misunderstanding by Big
Shippers MISUNDERSTANDING For
Small Wage Farmers From Income
Tnx-State Has Drastic Factory Law
and Regulates Hours of Labor,
Sir Joseph G. Ward, premier of New
Zealand, who was recently Interview
ed by the New York American, points
out as follows the advantages of gov
eminent ownership of all public utili-
ties in his country:
You ask me what the experience of
New Zealand has been relative to
state control of the public utility de-
partments in our country. My am
swer is that for upward of thirty
years the government las controlled
the railways, with q few exceptions at
one time-that is, four or five railway
companies We're run by public corpora
lions, but, with one exception, they
have all been purchased by the gov
eminent and have formed part of the
state railway system for number of
years.
There now is only one line of rail-
way, with mileage Of between seven
ty and eighty miles, that is owned by
a public corporation. 1t runs almost
~
of railways, some eighty miles apart
The colony has the right to purchase
this line by arbitration.
The right has not been awaited Of for
the good reason that a privately owned
railway Is bound by agreement with
the colony to reduce its rates to the
same as that of the government rail
ways whenever reductions take place.
In other words. they cannot charge
higher rate than that upon the govern
ment line, so that practically it is
equivalent to being Il state owned rail-
way. The railways have worked ex-
cellently under state control. There
are 1000 to 5000 miles in operation
employing between 5000 and 10000
men and boys, and no women except
ing those in charge of the rooms for
women.
The system has kept rates down to
the lowest point to insure the greatest
advantage and the all important one
of assisting in the development of the
country wherever railways traverse.
We have eighteen lines in course OF
construction. The people would not
give authority for the sale of the rail
ways even IL three times the value Of
construction or any sum We're offered.
The railways have stood the test OF
some thirty years and are kept in mag
niticent order. as is the rolling stock
NO private carriages are allowed upon
the state railways. On these assets
some t23,00O,OOO of money has been
expended The lines meet every condi-
ton. There is uniformity Of charge
for every section. There is no conces-
sions for the largest users as against
the smallest. We have publicly ga
Zetted tariff, and no rebates are nd
mitted
10 show what this means, suppos-
ing case of rebate being justifiable
one, it would require to be put upon
the public estimates of the eNpendi-
lures of the colony and voted upon by
parliament of the country. The adj
vantages give the small man an oppor-
tunity of improving his position, and
the large man knows that none of his
competitors can by any process OBJ
tain an advantage over him. Then,
again. we do not require to make eX-
cessive profits. We can take without
any difficulty or 10 per cent out Of
our railways, if we choose to keep up
our freight rates and our passenger
rates, but we believe that it Is In the
truest interests of our country to keep
the rates down. and we make conces-
sion to all classes Of users Of the rail-
ways from time to time of all revenue
over 31A per cent, and in many cases 8
per cent.
1t is sound policy to utilize our rail
ways to help every class to build up
industries. to assist agrculturists to
ship to and from the seaboard at low
rates and to insure travel at low fares.
Our revenue last year was between
f22.2OO.OOO and f2,3OO,OOO.
We have spread the functions of the
state materially In 1891 we changed
the fiscal system. We abolished tho
system of taxation that relieved those
who held considerable interest in the
colony from contributing their full
share of taxation and established
graduated land and income tax. But
man who had an income up to 1900
paid no income tax. A man who had
an income of f1OoO paid tax of six
pence on the pound and shilling per
pound on any excess Of f1.OOO. This
was intended to relieve the worker
from contributing taxation under this
head. 1t is in our country one of those
anomalies of the human system that
the larger families generally are to be
found among those receiving the SMALL
est income, and to meet this we put
1t into shape that relief should be CIV
en- to the smaller wage Garner.