Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1907-07-18
A FABLE FOR CRITICS
Particularly Those Who Oppose
Municipal Ownership.
THE WIZARD WAVES HIS WAND

PAY f.r shs Privilege of Walking or
Sitting Down.
y teu'( rvllc>c in municipal own
st.t.," stN the CArphg Critic.
"Srh,'ur> OF thut kind are always rank
faiturts You can't convince me that
public utilities may he managed bet
ter 10y municipalities than 10y private
ownership There is entirely too much
soclaistlc fouiShnrss in this country
nowadays. I'm opposed TO municipal
ownership in any form whatever"
The Carping Critic and the NJ. o.
Advocate were taking a stroll together.
TLry had arrived ut the entrance to
che city park. The NJ. .. Advocate
laughed softly as he drew from his
pocket a curious wand. He said:
I'm wizard. Maybe you didn't
know it, but am. rrcsto-change!'
He waved the wand in the air sud
park entrance. \ small ticket booth
doomed up at the side of the gate.
"Urrc, what's the reason they've got
thu park fenced iu?" cried the Critic.
ITS private enterprise, YOU know"
ccplicd the Wizard. This park be-
longs to the Park Syndicate, limited.
and, being private enterprise, Of
course charge Is made for admission.
But It costs only 10 cents apiece.
Here, two tickets please"
The ticket seller took the money, the
tickets were handed to the gatekceper,
and the gate swung open. The two
men entered the park and strOlled
along for half mile or so. when the
Critic remarked that he was a little
tred and would like to sit down.
But l don't see any seats alongside
ahe walk" he said in surprise.
"No," replied the Wizard, but yon-
der they are in that roped off place.
The charge for seats Is only a nickel,
however, SO We'll buy tickets"
After resting nickels worth each
.she men arose to go. They reached
the exit without incident, but the Crit
fc, who was slightly In advance Of his
companion, was halted by hand laid
upon his shoulder.
"Tcket"' sharply cried the uniformed
person to whom the hand belonged.
"What| demanded the Critic, open
moutlcd with amazement.
"1icket. please You've forgotten to
show your ticket
"a ticket for what, may askY
"Where are you from?" was the
counter query from the person in uni
form. you've got to show your tick
ct if you walk on this street. Other
wise YOU don't walk Sce?"
The Critic turned to his companion.
ITS all right" said the Wizard.
"This street belongs to Jones & John
Son. They own half a dozen streets in
the city. You buy your street ticket
here, for instance, and it Is punched
by the street man when you start to
walk on Third street and punched
again on Plum street, and so on. Quite
a handy arrangement, eh?" added the
Wizard, with CHASTITY smile.
"Who owns the rest of the streets ?"
the Critic inquired.
ooh, they're divided up among q
dozen firms or corporations. That
mae 1t a little awkward, you know,
because you've got to carry your peck
ct lull of street tickets If you want to
walk anywhere In the city without be-
ing held up by street man and order
ed to 20 and buy your ticket or permit
to pcrambulate on such and such
street. Then there's an extra charge
for teams, of course, and a different
set of tickets. Automobiles, for in
stance, are held up at each street cross
Ing 50 that the employees of the street
operators may see If the chauffeurs
hold the proper tickets. Sometimes the
auto folks do lot Of kicking, but pri-
vate interests must be protected, you
Know"
What brought about all this
shange" weakly asked the Critic.
Didn't the streets and the parks used
to be public property, kept up by the
city and free to all the citizens and
anybody else who wanted to use
them?'
ooh, yes" replied the Wizard, "but
that was before the days when munich
pal ownership went out of fashion. A
Lot of carping critics got together and
declared that any sort of municipal
ownership and management was So
eialistic and dangerous, so l, being a
wizard, just drew this little wand Of
mine and wiped municipal ownership
off the face Of the city map. How do
you Ike it?'
The Carping Critic grinncd feebly,
bit his lower lip and humbly requested
the Wizard to restore the municipal
ownership and management of streets
and parks.
"And If the city can operate these
public utilities successfully" he admit
ted, Il can't see why it can't operate
the street car lines, too, instead Of Civ.
ing up the right of way to private cor
porations which run the cars for profit.
And we might add the lighting system
and the waterworks and the sewers
and few other public utilities"
Whereupon the Municipal Ownership
Man gave the eX-Critic the right hand
Of fellowship.
Utilities Owned by English Cities.
A list Of the various public utilities
oil Nv