The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1907-03-04
N. D. IN LONDON
GETSDEATH BLOW
VOTERS OVERTURN PROGRESS
siVE MAJORITY IN COUNCIL
BY ONE TO TWO VOTE.
SOCIALIST ERA ENDED
BY Victory of Reformers, Who Win
on Claims That Municipal Own
ership Nearly Bankrupted
the METROPOLIS.

London March Municipal owner
ship Of ramways electro lights, ana
other public utili les suffered de
cisiyc and overwhelming defeat today
I in the el ction of a now county un-
tci
There arc It's members Of the Lon
don county council The eeformers to-
day elected ~, the progressives or Sc
ciaists 3G, and the laborites 8.
In tn old council there were 81
progres. ives, "a moderates (now call
ed ref rmers) and independent
Crushing Blow to NJ. o.
Never in London has there been
such an extreme yersal Of the popu-
lar viii with regard to party or policy.
The progressiyes have controlled Lon
don for eighteen years, or since the
creation Of the county council. From
the ou set they have engaged in a
constantly broadening policy of muui-
cipal ownership, and it is this policy
that formed the sole issue in the
pre- ent campaign. London has now
condemned and repudiated municipal
ownership in decision SO emphatic
that its revival is deemed impossible.
The councils record for extiava
gance. waste, mismanagemeut decep-
ton by false accounts, and general IN
competency Is perhaps the worst cysr
made by public body whose mem
bers were not accused of personal di
honesty and corruption Englishmen,
however, are tn most patient peop,c
II earth in their treatment of pub
lie officials and th ir willingness TO
give any policy entered upon a full
and fair tfial
Fails After Fair Trial.
Mrn cipal ownreship, or In other
words socialism, has had such trial
in London and / has ut rly failed.
That and nothing else was the meau-
ing of London's verdict TO-DAY
The figures on the popular vote
make The decision even m re em-
phatic. They ar not quite complete
ani so the exact totals cannot yet BE-
given, but the general proportion is
more than two 10 one against municip-
al ownership. There was an enog-
nous vote cast but despite this the
total progressive vote shows a sub
stantial reduction from three years
ago, when only IS per cent of the en-
rolled voters went to The pollr.
Reversal at Woolwich.
The progressive defeat extended
even to the labor constituencies In
Woolwich fer instance, where there is
a large majority of the working class.
they TUNED ont the progressive repre-.
sentatiyes and elected formers.
1t is the Wooiwich district where
the taxpayers have been outrageously
mulcted by the electric and other nlu-
nicipal enterprises.
Less than a month ago the Wool
wich local council was obliged a. SET
tie an overdraft at the bank amornt-
ing 20 s275O1O Owing 10 the losses
on the municipal el ctric lighting
plant the rate OF Taxation must b.
raised TO IL per cent In order 10 meet
the deficiency.
Big increase in Debt.
DrinE N bitter campaign OF th"
last six weeks the reformcrs claimed
that as q result Of the municipal own
crship experiments the London debt
had increased fr.m s35 per capiId.
when th .ocialists went into power
lo $50 per capita at the present tme.
They pointed to the fact that the
London and County bans. the Nation
al aud Provincial bank were each OH
ligcd TO write of a quarter million dol
lars from to- years profits owing to
The decline i'm The value of London
bonds ou account of damage 10 ths
ciy's credit hy the council cStr1y1-
rancc
Tho rofnrmvrs also used thc m1a-
eipa' rrickmahFv plant rs an rN-
ample The council decided 4p-uc tive
ago when bricks cost g. tbrGs1ni
io make it~ own aud id -o Tho N
% bricks cost So a tb0u anI anil t
turns 0at that My IG uor cent of fbo
hrics- wee any & od. Tho no. lrss t1
london raynayers hy -his experiment
was s127."n0 One o0ho defenders nf
.hc council made bricks va- r7,Ha-
.assed Iv the SD ciucu rrcIEf~- i1
bis hands while De aas defending r-
rualiiy