The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1906-10-19
CITY OWNERSHIP
REPUDIATED
REPEATED FAILURES PROVE
THEORY NOT PRACTICAL.
Investigations Show Results Different
from Those Painted by Social
istie Speakers.

Dcs Moincs. Iowa.--Thc disclosures
which have been made IN Omnhn con-
corning the failure of municipal owner
ship In that city have attracted wide
spread attention over the entire country,
ana especially have the people Of iowa
and adjoining states watched the hoN'l-
opments with great Interest, both be,
cause Of the proximity Of Omaha us Wen
as because OF the general principle IN
Volvcd In the Omaha troubles.
Some time ago the entire middle west
scethcd with municipal ownership IDEAS
and fads. but the showing made IN bnla-
In has set UP n train OF Investigations
by those who really wanted to Know the
effects of the public ownership OF runhC
utilities, and the result has been thdt
thousands who formerly were advocates
of THIS idea have now changed lhclr
minds and are az much opposed to thtir
cities owning the street cars electric
lights. gas systems. telephones, etc as
they formerly were In favor Of .such
ownership.
When the Iowans began looking
around and investigating municipal own
crship, they found that not alone was
that system n failure In Omaha, nut thal
In various other parts OF the country
similar reports were being madc. tor
instance, MunCic, Ind, which has Tor
years owned It's electric light plant has
Just abandoned the city-owned plant ana
has gone back to privately owned
electric light company. In klcnm"hu'
Ind, the mayor, who was elected three
times on a municipal ownership ticket,
has recommended that tho city sell its
electric light plant and go back to
private corporation. Logansport, Marion
and several other Indiana cities ar" adj
vocating the same thing, and there al
ways remains the city of Hamilton, ONO,
whose waterw0rks claimed at on" tine
to be a model Of municipal ownership
results, under official investigation
showed itself to be rocking with graft
and a source Of constantly Increasing
burden FOR the tax payers.
n
was q complete failure and total loss
and to-day stands without tenant
This, together with the asphalt plant
and the watcrworks muddlc. has stirred
Omaha taxpayers to "A point where they
are declaring that Omaha has had
enough Of municipal ownership, must get
rid Of what It now has on hand, ana
must then give the fad n wide berth for
all time to come,
Because OF the political unrest Of Iowa.
Wisconsin and other middle west states,
the agitatorR who are preaching munich
pal ownership socialism and other the
cries Of this kind, gained ready near
ing ana for q time seemed To be making
Roadway and gaining ndherents IN every
direction. But the Fundamental hard
common sense Of the westcrUcrs would
not permit them to accept the mere word
Of the sorialstiC siren, however hWrrllN
sung They begun investigating Tor
themselves They wanted TO know how
far the municipal ownership theory J4bcd
with N" results
ono uf the very first results ~ these
Investigations was III" discovery that the
greatest talk for municipal Ownership
nmtuHtui from eurilliStiu headquarters
IN Milwaukee. Paterson. y. j. and chi
ragO. The socialists openly budsted that
they had inaugurated the campaign as
an entering wedge for their beliefs with
the expectation that their cause would
benefit thereby
Then. again. II was found that wher-
ever municipal ownership was In opera
ton, taxes had been increased, the scrv-
ices rendered were tnndcquat" aud that
horde OF political hoelcrs were kept TN
sInccurcs at the public expense The
work nowhere was conducted ns eco
nomiCally as where private enterprises
had developed the business; waste was
nj It's height. Political rings were
strcngthCuod on every side and the party
which CHANGED TO be In power when the
s, stem was inauGurntcd continued IN
power right along. The public officials
were not mon with the proper training
To handle business OF that kind, usually
having no technical knowledge Of the
business. and therefore the city's bust
ness suffered, Individual EFFORT was dis
c0uragcd and young men filled with en-
thusiasm to make something OF them
selves found that their services We're
really not wanted by the political bosses
who usually ruled the municipality owned
corporations II was not Intelligence
not skill in the work III question that
was wanted or that was employed.
| what was wanted. the sole qualification
demanded was political pull the rec
concentration Of come peanut political
, boss, who in the majority OF cases was
a saloon keeper
The non-propertv owners who were In
| vestigatlng the subject suddenly disCov-
! cred that whereas they had been taught
| to believe that nil the increased taxes
| paid by the rich and by the owners OF
| real estate. that eventually the Increased
| taxation was shifted TO the shoulders Of
| tho moor man himself In the way Of in
| lngTpH
| plies and raw materiula. This point was
| one OF the clinchcrs which caused many
! a western man TO change his mind con-
| corning the beauties OF municipal own
| ership.
According to reports, the citizens Of
| Omaha are Congratulatlng themselves
| that they discovered early IN the game
| that the municipal ownership road was
| not altogether rosy, ana that they did
not rush pellmcl to acquire tho public
| service corporations OF their city az
| eventually have to be paid In the shape
OF high taxes and higher rents. on the
other hand, the average Omaha citizen
| seems to have decided that he wants no
| more municipal ownership, hut would
| rather get RID of even that little bit OF
the system which the city already has
| taken on.
This sentiment is gaining ground rap
| idly all over the middle west The solid
| people have made up their minds that
| they will think good many times be-
| fore they make themselves the Cats-p1w
| for n lot of long-haired soCialistlc cranks
| They have seen through the socialistiC
| game They are getting tired Of being
used as entering wedges for rank social
| ism by voting for the gradual extension
| OF its un-Amcrican doctrines through the
| preliminary process OF extending munic'
| ipal operations and ownership Of enter.
| prises which experience on every hand
In the middle west and everywhere else
Including Europe. as the former mu'
nicipai ownership advocate, Mayor Nc
l ~ a. l,1g
Gently testined-has shown are better ad.
| mnistered under the good old American
system OF private control and individual
initiation.