The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-03-10
Death of Traveller.

municipalities. and in some instances
bonds have sold for a discount of as
much az S2.5000O0 from the face value.
/ MUCH POLITICS, LITTLE SENSE.
great deal OF politics and very little
sound business sense enter into the ope-
ration of most OF the public utilities. The
majority OF voters In the English manu-
featuring cities come from the mills.
| shops and factories. They vote for the
candidate who promises them the most.
! When the Socialists desire to capture {;
! street car line. their candidates promise
lower fares, more and better cars, extern
i sion OF lines shorter hohrs and higher
wages for all employed.
1 This once sounded good to the working
classes. and the Socialists generally won.
] Then came the rub OF carrying out the
4 promises. An economic administration
(, might have accomplished one, possibly
I two OF these things, but 1T was impos-
sible to do them all without loading the
I undertaking on the tax rates
! TO admit defeat meant political suicide,
SO a juggling of the accounts was COM
menced. Year after year this performance
has been going on. The administration
4 makes the undertakings appear to be pay.
ing profit, but the rates go higher. ana
4 every year the condition OF affairs grows
worse, The interest and sinking fund is
neglected, and the municipalities are
plunged into frenzied finance. "Rake's
progress" Is the term that a member
Of Parliament from Glasgow has applied
to the growth of these municipal trading
schemes,
MILLIONS SQUANDERED
In Great Britain municipal trading fall
ures outnumber greatly the SUCCESSES.
London squandered more than $1,000,00o
in two years in an attempt to operate a
line Of municipal steamers on the Thames.
and abandoned the project. Glasgow
buried 100000 In a municipal telephone
experiment and then "unloaded" on the
government. Manchester squandered
: / 100000 trying to establish freight
| carrying service in conjunction with 1T
|, municipal tram system. Huddersfleld has
gono to the tax rates annually for fifteen
t years to get the money to make up the
, deficit In It's tramway account Glasgow
, lost 100000 in 1905, according to Its owr
3 report on It's gas plant, Last year forty
0 cities reported losses In varying amounts
: on municipal trading enterprises.
o Municipal trading Is responsible for thu
r startling increase In the tax rates o
t English and Scotch cities, Low wages
and cheap material should enable thes
0 local governments to be sef-supportlni
: at tax rate OF at least one-third les
j than that of American cities. But 81
II come upon the tax rates, generally In
e directly, that the British municipal take
: are higher in the public trading cite
8 than in American municipalities. Busi
t ness property that paid city tax OF 81
IS in LOS Angeles last year must have pal
y $lGS In Glasgow. The tax scandal grey
v to such proportions that Parliament ap
y pointed commission to Investigate mum
+ cipal trading. This commission reporte
y that the auditors OF the municipal trad
20 ing cities have managed so to juggle Il.
~ accounts that 1t is impossible to ta
y whether the trading enterprises are sell
~ supporting.
=; AS municipal socialism has advanced
- the personnel OF tho British councils ha
y, detcrorated, Seats once occupied by ii
~ leading men of the empire are now file
~ by little traders, trcksters and walkill
80 delegates, Cities have embarked In or
terprises that would tax the intellects
w. the great captains of industry, and the
W have placed the management Of the pro
oo iects in the hands Of men who are W
Nv able, by reason of lack of education az
" business experience, to comprehend "
~ value of anything greater than a fiv'
~ Mound note; on some the Limitation VOL
!, be placed more properly at shilling,
We LABoRITE JOBBERY
es These labor councils VIII maggie y
nd hours over tho price paid for SHOVE
and pass without comment demah'
I'd for hundreds OF thousands OF poun
"a for wildcat" municipal trading ente
n. prises. Some of these schemes can
n- likened only to mining speculations
ed the West. There are instances where
. "a y 81 G. j .