Connecticut western news., 1906-12-13
\ MENACE ID CITIES
Professor FeSsenden Sounds a
 Note of Warning.

Cities Not Adapted to Operate Busi-
 ness EnterpriseS-loss of Capital
 Through New Developments - The
 Danger a koal One.
 1t Is becoming more and more gen erally recognized that undertakings founded on the great ptblic needs of the highly organized society of modern times should be controlled by society. Whether, having the power, it Is ad- visable that municipalities should ac- tually engage in such undertakings or whether they should merely maintain their control, as 1t has been aptly put, through their powers as landlord, is a matter which will be determined by the municipalities from political, social and economic as well as engineering considerations.
 Considering the question from its en- gineering side alone, it is found that from the very essential nature of the matter only certain class of engineer ing undertakings can be efficiently and properly operated by states or munich palitieS. It is very important that this limitation should be recognized, as where the limitation has been over stepped 1t has resulted in heavy finan- cial losses to the governing bodies i'm mediately concerned, it has seriously checked development in engineering lines, and these results have in conse- quence afforded a strong argument to those opposed to municipal operation of public utilities.
 It is true that under state or munich pal operation some minor and sporadic developments may be expected, but nothing of general or important char acter. Important developments gen erally come only from the hands of in dividuals or bodies responsible only to themselves and provided with the in centive of large profit. The elimina- ton of self responsibility and incentive would inevitably produce condition in industrial and scientific develop ment analogous to the dark ages.
 It is to be noted that this conclusion is derived from engineering considera- tions alone and does not include any consideration from the political, social or economic side There may, it is conceivable, be political, social and economic considerations which tend to affect this limitation. Considered, how ever, from the engineering standpoint alone there can be no question but that the field of state and municipal operation should be limited to under takings in which there is no immediate prospect of or need for improved method.
 \ danger which is always asSociat- ed with the ownership of industrial undertakings is that the capital invest ed may be lost through the develop ment of new and cheaper methods and processes. The extent to which indus trial machinery of certain types is ren- dered obsolete by new improvements is not always realized. The writer is personally acquainted with one street car railroad plant in which the entire electrical equipment of the power house was thrown out and replaced with improved machinery four times within a period of ten years. The Car
  is believed, to have scrapped on one occasion more than S1.OC0,OO0 worth of new machinery which had never been used.
 This has already become a serious matter for many municipalities which have engaged in undertakings lying outside of the engineering limits de- fined above. Many of these municipal ities installed plants for the produc- ton of electric light at a time prior to the advent of important Improvements in generating and distributing electric ity, and as these municipalities in con- mon with most municipalities made no proper allowance for depreciation the capital invested has been practically lost, and in addition the cost of cleo tric light to the consumer is much higher than it is ill other places equip ped with later and more economical types of machinery. In addition, heavy and expensive repairs have been neces- sary and the taxes correspondingly in creased. This has reacted upon the municipalities, since the heavy rates have caused manufacturers to move away to other towns, and this again has still further increased the burden upon those remaining. There are al- ready indications that a considerable number of these municipalities which have engaged in improper undertakings are entering upon period of financial difficulty.-R. A. Fessenden.
 As a Socialist Sees 1t.
 Every recognized authority on So