The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-08-05
TeWNsTHAT NEEDS NO TAXES,
AvD=ITS MAYOR HOPES YET TO
SHOW A PROFIT.
Port Arthur, Canada. strong for 3NIunici'
I pai O~nershIp n HaS FIthres 10
support Its Argument water Ppwer
Owned by the Town spurcb Of wealth.

guuport,I ITS Argument Water Ppwer
owned by the Town soureb pfr"ealth.
With what emotions you'd a property
holder receive an official statement from
the assessors Office that he would not %
required to pay taxes thereafter asks q
correspondent Of the Washington Stdr writ
ing from Port Arthur. Canada. n the
came citizen would probably not survive the
shook, OF later being requested TO call AZ
the district building TO receive q check as
his share Of the profits OF tho munieipai
government. This state Of affairs ts about
70 be,realized In Port Arthur. q
Every stranger who drope into his hos
pitable little city at tbs head OF Lake Sup
-rior, on the Canadian side, Ii forced o
become familiar with the towns method
and manner OF doing business before he
can make any sort Of Roadway at all In any
other direction. He may not be interested,
but that matters not a whit. He must
listenl. Every citizen Of h town Is Loaded
TO the guards with information about mu-
.nicipaI ownership and carries around with
him the last quarterly statement OF tne
railway and light commission. He knows
to q cent Just how much profit there was
In the operation Of the water works and
can tell you to a mill the profits OF the last
quarter from the telephone system Incl
dentally, he wtll explain between grins
chortles that the rival town OF Fort Will
lam, six miles away, is helping to pay the
taxes due on Port Arthur's real estate,
b~ecause-the street railroad which connects
tho two towns Of approximately the same
population is owned by the municipality
Of Port Arthur. Therefore, when a Fort
William resident pays five cents to the
street car conductor he contributes a mite
to every individual taxpayer in the rival
town. That fact seems TO tickle the Port
,Arthurians to death. II you are with a
Port Arthur resident for half an hour and
he doesn't mention the above conditions
thirteen times It is considered remarkable
by the natives.
Although the street railroad doesn't give
the citizens any reduction in car tickets
which other cities do not enjoy. b tele-
phone eeryice Is much cheaper. The enthu-
elastic advocate of municipal ownership in
this town-and every citizen is In this class
will not forget TO explain hat the Bell
company used to charge $50 a year for a
business telephone which ia now supplied
for s24, and that a residence telephone now
costs only $12 a year. He knows, too, that
Port Arthur is the only tow on the Amer
lean continent which WI and operates all
Of it's utilities, and is very fond OF EXPLAIN
ing how all this came about.
The most conspicuous citzen-of this town
e a member of the railway and light COM
mission. The membership Of the commits
sion Ia restricted TO three, and n member
Is elected each year. 1t Is by far a greater
honor to be a member Of the commission
than It Is to be a Mayor or Alderman. As
member Of the board the citizen who has
been 20 honored by the municipality must
serve without pay. -..,
Nobody rides on passesin this town and
perhaps that Is one of the reasons why
municipal ownership fs possible; but there
are even better reasons than that, for the
falls of the Current River are almost in the
CITY itself, and all the power necessary for
electrical operation Of any kind, including
manufacturing, Is supptied by rhts Kindly
and convenient stream. The city has APP
propriated everything and the manufao-
turer must do business with ity but the
terms are easy and no n seems to have
o dok. ... Dr. ..
The controlling officials serving without
pay saves all Of the salaries which go to
eat up the profits OF public utilities else
where, and because OF these and other rea-
sons one would hardly be justified in point
positive that municipal ownership is ,justi-
fable in all American cities.
One-half Of the taxes OF Port Arthur are
paid from the revenues derived from It's
water works, lighting plant, street railway
and telephone. The total investment by t
municipality was $3.50 200 and last year the
net income was $4,000. OF course 1t would
be impossible to continue these proportional
figures II the city should grow to a larger
population, and it would be likewise i'm
possible IN a city where millions were in
voIved TO have the officials devote their
entire time to enterprises without compen-
sation. just now the members OF the rail-
way and light commission meet only after
business hours and perhaps not oftener
thar twice a week: w
Port Arthur and Fort William are the
lake shipping points for the western Canada
wheat belt. Each has q magnificent har-
Dor and gigantic elevators. Port Arthur
and the Canadian Pacific Railway have been
for years n are now at war with each
other, II there had never been @ quarrel
, between the two there would never have
been q story to tell about municipal owner
ship under a Port Arthur date line.
Dtdnterested persons say that both the
town and the road were at fault and that
q hot headed and chesty person Of i'm
portance to each made their differences
QTOW anQ Elally p6COIu6 lTEcCOuClIaDie.
Port Arthur concluded that the railroad was
trying to dodge the payment Of taxes on
property the title to which was under dis
pute, and a very self-assertive Mayor
caused a passenger train to be attached
and held-like the elephant Of the bankrupt
circus-until payment was enforced. This
little courtesy naturally made the Canadian
Pacific Railroad officials feel kindly toward
Port Arthur.
Sir William Van Horn; president Of the
Canadian Pacific. Ia, pretty quick on the
trigger anyhow, and his wrath on this par
ticular occasion was something wonderful
70 see. After the power Of speech had re-
turned Sir William is reported to have
waved his carefully manicured Smithfleld
over his head and declared that he would
snake the grass grow IN the streets OF Port
Arthur The development Of the rival
town Of Fort William began with a rush,
and for a while 1t looked very much az IL
Sir William would make hisfthrsati good.
hut tho good folks Of Port Arthur are not
Of the Micawber family. They began,to cit
up and take notice. They had.a ;harbor, an
ideal location for a city and q splendid
waterfall just outside the city limits. II
the railroad would not bring It's tfacks TO
Port Arthur they were determined 10 make
their town getatable by means Of an cleo
trio railway, and 30 the municipal owner
ship proposition had its inception. From
the very beginning the system was enough
OF a success to demonstrate that ultimately