The Washington herald., 1907-03-03

London. March socialism suffered a
decisive and overwhelming defeat to-day
at the hands of the London electors. The
result OF the. county council election is
the choice Of seventy-nine Reformers,
thirty-six ProgressiYes. and three Labor
ties. The last council consisted Of eighty
three Progressives, thirty-four Moderates
nov called Reformers), and one indie
pendent.
/ Never in a great community in this
country has there been such an extreme
reversal Of the popular will with regard
/ to party or policy. The Progressives
/ have controlled London since the creation
/ Of the county council. eighteen years ago.
From the outset they have engaged in a.
constantly broadening policy Of municipal
ownership. and il was this policy that
/ formed the sole issue OF the present cam
paign- London has now condemned and
repudiated II in a decision so emphatic
that its revival is impossible.
Policy Given Patient Trial.
The old councils record Of extrava-
gance, waste. Encouragement. deception
/ by false accounts, and general incompc-
tence was perhaps the worst ever made
/ by d public body whose members were
not accused of personal dishonesty ana
corruption, EngIishmen, however. are th.
/ most patient people on earth IN their
treatment OF public officials and their
willingness 10 give any policy entered
upon full and fair trial. Municipal OWL
ership. or. in other words. socialism. has
had such d trial in London. and il has
utterly failed That and nothing else is
the meaning Of London's verdict to-day.
/ The figures Of the popular vote make
the decision even more emphatic They
are not quite complete, 50 the exact totals
cannot yet be given, but the general
proportion IS more than two 10 one
against municipal ownership. There Wis
an enormous vote cast. but despite this
the total Progressive vote shows a sub
stan,ial reduction from three years ago,
when only S per cent Of the enrolled
voters went 10 the polls
For SOciaIistfc sunday schools.
The Progressive defeat extended even 10
labor constituencies. Woolwich, for in
stance. where there is a large majority
Of the working class. turned out the Pro-
grezsive representatives and elected Re
formers. Woolwich is district whers
the taxpayers have been outrageousiy
mulcted by electric and other municipal
/ enterprises.
The last week Of the great campaign
against municipal socialism was the keen
/ est political struggle in the modern his
| tory OF the metropolis
Some developments OF the week have
been important as indicating the extent
to which socialism pure and simple domi-
mates the present OffiCialdOm Of the city.
II has been shown for instance. that
many public schools have been used on
/ Sundays for so-called Socialist Sunday
/ schools. The discrimination by the au-
/ thOrities IS illustrated by the fact that
/ when the vicar of a parish applied for
the use Of a SchoolrOom for a church
/ Sunday school he was told. first. that the
/ caretaker must have a day Of rest He
/ applied again and was referred to the
district managers. who took no action III
the time. week later the room was in
/ use by a Socialist Sunday school
/ An interesting by-pTcduct Of the pro-
/ greSSive Socialist policy has been the in
I PRODUCTION of municipal billiards at the
| taxpayers expense. The public reading
room and baths at Battersea have been
filled with young men playing billiards.
bagatelle. dOmnOes. shove half-penny,
&C. all the material being supplied at
public expense.
II has been explained that the reason
/ so long held a maioTity Of two 10 one IN
the county council IS that the average
LOndoner does not vote on the local alec-
tons. At the last election i'm 1904 only
about - per cent of the electorate went
/ to the polls. Then. toe. the large eXteu-
sion of municipal Industrial enterprises
has created an army of public employees.
who. OF course voted eu masse for their
official employers This IS one Of the
most serious features of the situation. Tor
if the present control continues and car
ries out its extensive programme of elec-
trical transportation aud other schemes,
it would not be long before the public
employees would be sufficiently numerous
to hold the complete balance Of power ia
| London and the city would be at the
mercy of the Socialist element
/ 1t would naturally be supposed that the
bright spring weather which prevailed
/ to-day would condUce to an enormous
vote which would mean a decisive VIC
/ tory for the Reformers. but the exact
contrary was the fact 1t Is the habit Of
well-to-dO fondOneTs TO fee 10 the coun-
try and seaside for the weekend when
the weather IS favorable and hence the
selection of Saturday as the polling day
was a great advantage to the Socialists.
Bath UnIOads Light Plant
This weeks record Of failures in munich
pal ownership include an important case
in Bath The city authorities there voted.
q 10 ?. TO sell the municipal electric plant.
which has been failure, to a private
syndicate. The transaction means the
immediate reduction OF the local rate OF
taxation. The auditor of the local gov
eminent board, after an examination Of
the Woolwich accounts, reports an even
worse state Of affairs an was previously
reported in these dispatches. The cost Of
street lighting has been more than twice
what 1t should have been, and the losses
on the electrical enterprise much heavier
than was acknowledged.
! Lord Avebury issued another brochure
on municipal ownership this week In
which he again condemns the whole prin-
ciple as false democracy and bad policy.
His conclusions are; "MOnop0lies are
bad but especially municipal monopoiies,
because tnev are the most difficult -
regulate. contrib. ar abolish 4 doubt
whether the paper profit which munich
Palities claim 10 have made has any real
existence. Municipal trading must in
crease our rates more and more. while at
the same time it raises the price OF neces-
saries, so that il cuts down incomes with
one hand and with the other makes life
more expensive
Ia Carte Lunch Served Daily