Arizona republican., 1907-07-22

New York, July 21.-1'he operation of British street railways by munich palities and privately owned corpora tions respectively, is considered in great detail in two reviews of expert reports on the subject made to the National Civic Federation commission on public ownership. The reviews were prepared by members of the commission after an exhaustive inves- tigation of the systems treated and were made public today. They are based upon technical reports compiled by expert engineers who, with the re- viewers, spent several months in the British cities where the several lines are operated. The reviews are by William J. Clark of New York, as an opponent of municipalization, and Prof. Frank Parsons of Boston. as an advocate of public ownership and op- eration. MT. Clark is general manager of the foreign department of the Gen eral Electric company. Professor Parsons has been student of muni- cipal ownership for years and is the author of several works on that sub ject. among them "The Railways, the Trusts and the\People."
 In his review MT. Clark compares the tramways of Great Britain with the private enterprises of the United States. much to the advantage of the latter. He declares that tfs American traction systems under private own ership are far more progressive than those of England. Scotland and Ire land: that they give far better subur- ban service. that cars are less crowd ed and that lines are being extended with greater rapidity. This he attri- butes to the absence of restrictions in the United States as compared with Great Britain. where. he says. private traction enterprises are given fran chises only on almost prohibitive terms. The difference of rate of fare in the two countries Mir. Clark says. is more than offset by the great num- Der of free transfers given by the American systems. Pe says that while on the face of reports it would ap- pear that municipal operation of lines in some of the citie ., of Great Britain had been a success hat as a matter of fact just the op. site is true. He says the private c: panies in the Onlted hlnguom BssA superior ser vice as compared wi the municipally operated lines.
 Professor Parson on the other hand. expresses tho opinion that mu- nicipal ownership O British tramway systems has been successful from ev- cry point of view. He sets forth that the municipalities were the first tc show a progressive spirit in changing from horse cars to electric systems: that their lines have been well man. aged and the service improved, and that fares had been lowered in spite of the fact that the hours of employes were shortened, while in many in- stances wages were increased. The comparisons he makes are between British publicly-owned and privately owned companies. and in this connec- ton he declares that the British plants must be measured by British and not by American standards. The condi- tions and habits of the people are diff ferent, he says, and these differeHces must be taken into account in the judgment of the management of tram ways. Professor Parsons also notes that in England the payment of g fare means that the passenger has g seat and not merely the right to transit.