Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-07
NEBRASKANS ARE
GROWING WARY
Legislature Fights Shy of Freak Meas
ure Looking Toward Municipal
Ownership of Various Pub
lie Utilities
Special to The Herald.

Special to The Herald.
LINCOLN, Neb., March 6.-Advo-
Gates of the municipal ownership of
public utilities are so hopelessly in the
minority in the Nebraska legislature
| that the time for the introduction OF
bills is over and not a single bill look
ing toward municipal ownership has
even been introduced into the legisla-
ture, although when that body first
convened there was strong talk from
dozen members of the Legislature
along those lines. But the sentiment
has changed and no bills have been in
troduced; the assembly is practically
unit against permitting any increase
in the number of Nebraska municipali-
ties which have tried municipal own
ership and have, in most cases, seen a
fiat failure of the idea.
The early supporters of the municipal
ownership plan were mostly from those
sections of the country where there
had been no practical experience nor
trial of public ownership, and they
talked long and loud of the beauties
of municipal ownership of everything"
They advocated municipal ownership
of all public utilities and began the
preparation of number of bills favor
ing city, county and state ownership
of most things of a semi-public nature.
But that has all passed and now moth
luB is HedTQ Ol IHuulclpdl OWIeTSnlp,
nor have any of the bills been intro
duced into the legislature.
Experience Brings Knowledge
The change in sentiment among the
representatives is due to the knowledge
they have gained from those represen-
tatives who live in cities where the
municipal ownership fad has been on
trial. For instance members of the
legislature We're asked to pass some
kind of law to force the city of
Lincoln which owns it's own water
works, to give better service than it
has been giving in the past. The poor
service and the immense cost of the
Lincoln plant is proVerbial, and the
citizens are seeking relief. 1t has been
necessary to bond the city three times
in twenty years in order to build three
separate water plants for Lincoln. Two
of the plants were complete failures;
the other gives the poorest service
imaginable. The city lighting plant,
too, is in bad shape. And after the
municipal advocates had seen the
struggle which Lincoln was having
with its two plants they began looking
around them.
Plants Prove Failure
From the representatives from
Omaha they learned of the fall down
| anu ldlluFS Oh the lldTheL mousse anO
| asphalt paving plants in that city and
of the terrible muddle which has beer
made of the water works situation
there, which has cost the citizens al
I ready $4,000 without a single thing tC
show for the money expended While
that city's asphalt plant is not large
! it was used only one month during 1906
! and the watchman's salary since the
plant closed in 1906 has more thar
! equaled the cost of the plant, yet II
is kept on hand for political purposes
! over at Tecumseh. Neb., the mum.
cipal lighting plant has proven a fail
ure and there is to be another bond is-
/ sue to take care of rebuilding the
antlquated machinery which Is on the
| verge OF a collapse At Fremont the
water works situation is in confusion
! And the representatives of various
other Nebraska cities have been tell
ing the municipal ownership advocate.
about the sad experiences OF thei
home towns along those lines and thu
advocates" have changed. faces an(
are now numbered among thu
| "antis"