The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1907-07-16
EXPERTS REPORT
ON MUNICIPAL
OWNERSHIP
REVIEW BY COMMITTEE OF
-FOUR ACTING FOR CIVIC FED.
ERATION COMMISSION.
"PROS" AND "ANTiS" DIVIDED
Give Exhaustive Reasons For and
Against Municipal Control of
Public Utilities.

NEW YORK, July 14.-The ex-
perts acting for the National Civic
Federation Municipal Ownership
commission have completed their re-
ports, and critical review of the re-
suits of their examinations in the
united States was made public today
| by the commission. This review is
| by a committee of four appointed by
the commission. Two of the writer's.
walton Clark, vice-president of the
united Gas Improvement company of
Philadelphia, and Charles l.. Edgar.
president of the Edison Electric and
Illuminating company of Boston,
crlt1c1se severely the municipal plants
examined, while two other writer's
Professor Frank Parsons of Boston,
president of the National Public
ownership League, and Edward W.
Bemis, superintendent of the Cleyc-
land, o., water works, find much to
favor in municipal plants which we"c
investigated Separate reviews of
British municipalization will be made
public later
MesSrs. Clark and Edgar concur in
the statement that the inquiry of the
committee, both from the standpoint
of British and American experience,
more especially the latter, has shown
that where municipal ownership has
been removed from the realm of phil
Osophic discussion and put to the
test of actual experience it has failed
inglOriOusly." The belief is expressed
by these gentlemen that the few en-
thusiastS" who still advocate munich
pal ownership will soon be CON
vinced by the logic of events, and
turning their energies to other things
Will through them realize their am
bitions of usefulness to their fell
lows. Professor Parsons and Mr.
BemiS, on the other hand, take
most hopeful view as to municipali-
Zation, declaring that the failures
OF municipal ownership are insigniii-
cant compared to the failures of pri-
vate ownership, either in number or
Importance. 1T is not public owner
ship, but private ownership" Profess
sor Parsons says, that is responsible
for our periodic crises and the ruin
of our industries" AS to the fitness
of American cities to manange bust
ness affairs, many of them he says.
have clearly proved their fitness, and
the rest can be made fit. 1t is not
impossible" he adds, that the elm
nation of the public service corpora
tions through public ownership is ono
of the things that would do more to
help along the process of making our
cities fit" Mr.. Bemis believes that
the greatest reason for the strength
of the municipal ownership move
ment lies in the relation of the pub
lie service corporations with the state
and local governments. which rela-
tiOnS he declares are destructive of
political purity, democracy and free
Institutions. In this same connection
Mr.. Edgar and Mr. Clark take the
view that the evil of building up po-
litical machines with city employees
as a basis exists now to degree i'm
American municipalities, and that
the disastrous effects would be much
greater if the many gas, electrical
and street railway employees were
added to the present number of city
Office holders. Professor Parsons eX-
presses the conviction that municipal
ownership would destroy individual
initiative, and says that "a Gladstone
or Roosevelt can find as much room
for individual initiative in the service
of the people as the president of Il
street railway or lighting system can
find in the service of his company"
Expert Investigation.
The reports reviewed by Messrs.
Clark and Edgar, on the one side.
and MeSsrs. Parsons and Bemis, on
the other, aggregate almost one mill
ion words and were made to the Pub
lie Ownership commission of the Ma
tional Civic Federation by technical
experts, engineers, accountants and
statisticians who visited and thor
oughly inquired into prevailing CON
ditions in large number of public
and private enterprises in the United
States and Great Britain. The scope
of the inquiry included the following
subjects:
Franchises of private corporations.
Public supervision OF municipali-
ties.
History of municipal ownership.
Effect of public and private man
ment upon:
Political conditions
Conditions of labor.
Character of service.
Price of service.
Cost of service.
Economy of management.
Improvement in service and meth
ods.
Financial results.
Impartiality.
In order that the inquiry might he
thoroughly impartial, it was the al
most invariable rule in the selection
of experts to allow, with regard to
each of the four public utilities with
in the scope of the investigation, each
of the two leading elements of the
committee, the pros and the
"antis," an expert of his own choice
and in the work of examining each
plant, a representative of the one
side worked with the expert of the
other.
Mr.. Edgar and Mr. Clark agree in
setting for tn numerous objections to
municipalization, a very important