The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1907-01-05

| nicipal street railway and one operat-
ed by a private company. In Glasgow
the profits Of operation are set aside
to pay off the cost of constructing the
tramway. The increase in the pros
perity of the people Of that city, the
greater patronage they give to their
tramWay, causes their debt to become
less. AS a consequence, the fares are
reduced, the lines are extended, the
hours Of labor of the employees are
reduced, their wages increased, or
some other advantage given for the
betterment of the service. How diff
ferent is the case in San Francisco.
Here, as our prosperity increases, as
our need for transportation grows, we
pay greater sums into the treasury
! of the street railway company, great
er and greater becomes the burden
of debt that company puts upon us
and more stringent becomes it's rules.
Fewer cars are operated, those that
do run are made to go faster, and the
overcrowding becomes worse and
| worse. The necessity of paying divi-
dends on watered stock causes econ
omies to be practiced in the mainten-
| ance of the equipment and track. AS
a result Of this method of operation,
| more persons are killed and injured by
our street railways than by almost any
street railway in the world in proper
tion to population. The overworking
of the men causes almost annual
threats of strikes. Every concession
INV
either by strike or the threat of or1e..
In Glasgow disturbances of this kind
are unheard of. The increase in wages
the furnishing of uniforms, caps and
| mackintoshes, the six days of labor
and one of rest, the annual vacation
on full pay, and the reduction in work.
ing hours, were voluntary acts upon
the part Of the tramway authorities.
There is perfect harmony between
| them and the employees. In fact, ev-
cry writer who has visited Glasgow
tells of the pride the operators Of the
| tramway take in it's success. Profess
sor Frederic c. Howe, in recent issue
Of Scribners Magazine, tells of the
pride of the people of Glasgow in their
city, its trans, and all of its public
among al classes, from the banker to
the man operating the tram.
The fact most frequently mentioned
by the United Railroads is that it pays
about 100000 for taxes. It always
forgets to mention that it pays but
about $4,000 as percentages of re-
ceipts, or that its gross recep&,s are
| more than the entire cost of our city
government for al purposes; that is,
the people of San Francisco pay more
! to the street railway for fare than they
do for the maintenance of the city fire.
| school, police, and other departments,
repairs on streets, sewers, public build
| ings, administration Of the courts and
all the otherexpenses of our local gov
ernment. The taxes paid. by this COM
pany equal about per cent OF its#an-s
nl,al lazreceip en- lso bout ono half
d
fereds ital
F. Glasgow's; tramway, although owned.
by the municipality: also pays taxes
the same as though it were under pri-
| vate management. The annual state
ment for the past year shows the total
| of the payments of this nature to be
$448,943, somewhat in excess Of the
amount paid by the company in this
! city. This tax payment is more than
| II per cent Of the gross receipts Of the
Glasgow tramWay, and 5.3 per cent of
| the present capital charge. Thus it
| will be seen that the municipal tram
way in Glasgow pays % times as much
! taxes in proportion to capital charge
t11r
railway in San Francisco, and more
, than twice as much in proportion to re-
ceipts.
Glasgow has accumulated a fund for
depreciation and permanent way re-
neWals, the balance Of which at June
30th last stood at $4,390,479. The bal
ance shown in the statement of the
United Railroads for 1903, gives the
| total that it had in those two funds
at $152,362.
The United Railroads makes no
statement Of it's gross receipts to the
city, and endeavors to conceal its
affairs as much as possible from the
public gaze, even furnishing its stock
holders with as little informations as
possible. Glasgow, on the other hand,
operating a municipal street railway,
gives its citizens full and complete de-
tail Of the tramway workings. Nothing
is concealed. Even the most bitter
enemies of municipal ownership can
find no fault with the management or
financing of the city's road. Mr.Ar-
thur Kay, Of Glasgow, who was en-
deavoring to give testimony against
municipal ownership before commit
tee of the House of Lords and Com
mons, in June, 1908, said: I'm Glas-'
gov our undertakings, particularly the
tramways, gas and water are kept up
to date, the amounts written off for
depreciation are ample. The city ac-
olo rl1 lxox, &boA