The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1907-09-27


mittee Brings Forth Report Which
Proves Little-Investigators Allow
Their Pgejudiees TO Blind Them to
the Facts--Lsbor Unions Are Warmed
Of Danger.
For two years a committee Of the
National Civic federation has been
making a study Of municipal owner
ship In the United States and Eng
land. the investigators having been
selected impartially from the advo
Gates and opponents Of municipal own
ership. The report embOdying the
findings of this committee Will DE pub
lished this month i'm two parts, one
Of which will he devoted TO the Opin-
ions of the investigators, the other 10
the statistical information upon which
those opinions are supposed 10 be based.
Half Truths.
We use the word supposed" ad-
yisedly. for from the advance sections
that have been given 10 the papers 1t
appears that some at least Of the inu-
niclpal ownership members Of the com
mlttee have not considered It neces-
sary TO make their opinions square
with the facts. For instance, Mr..
Bemis holds mp the Wheeling (W. Va
gas plant as an example Of successful
municipal ownership because It's net
rate Is ~ cents, while 81 Is charged
by the companies In Norfolk, Va ana
Atlanta, Ga. According 10 the news
paper reports. Mr.. Bemls does not In
form the public that the average price
Of coal in Norfolk and Atlanta Is at
least 60 per cent higher than In Wheel
ing and that the latter city uses nhtu-
raj gas as fuel I'm its retortS, nor does
he call attention to the important fact
that the average candlepower I'm the
two cities named Is - per cent higher
than IN Wheeling.
Charity Begins at Home.
Where Mr. Bemis does use figures
he uses them shrcwdly AS superin-
tcndcnt of the Cleveland waterwOrks
he of course knows that in that city
the average death rate from typhoid
I'm the thirty-twO years preceding 1909
was - per 100000 SO he uses
for comparison with cities that have
private watcrworks only the years
1005-OG, when the typhoid death rate
In Cleveland averaged only l76 per
100000. Two years Is of course far
too short period upon which to base
such n comparison, since the rates
vary widely in different years the rate
In Syracuse I'm 1906, for example, be
ing only about half what 1t was In
1909. while cleveland dropped from
III in 1903 to II in 1908.
Hope Versus Experience.
Professor Parsons, another of the VI.
O. members of the committee, seems
10 prefer the future to the past rs n
basis for determining results, He eX.
presses his conviction that municipal
ownership would develop n higher
class of municipal administrators, but
when he Is faced with such conditions
as existed i'm Philadelphia under the
notorious gas ring he promptly side
steps the issue !. declaring that Phila-
delphla did not have public owner.
ship, but onlyt ownership 10y political
grafters The humor of this Is ap-
parent when one considers that one of
the principal objections to municipal
ownership is that 1t tends to result in
Ownership 10y political grafters."
Politics Versus Efficiency.
on this point the opinions of Pro-
fcssor Commons are worth quoting.
Although ne also has prediction
for municipal ownership, he evidently
assumed that II was his duty to give
verdict i'm accordance with the facts.
His sincerity must bc recognized even
10y those who do not accept all Of his
conclusions. He and Mr.. sullivan, cdi-
tor of the Clothing Trades Bulletin,
consider the labor aspects Of the sub
jeCt. Professor Commons admits that
some municipal plants are politically
honcScombcd' and adds:
"The appointment, promotion and dis
missal of employees and the wages TO
be paid offer peculiar opportunities for
political and personal influence incon-
sistent with efficiency"
Professor Commons finds that II Is
not unusual FOR public service com
panlcs TO appoint employees at the
behest Of political bosses, but he notes
that In such cases the employee has
TO make good In order To hold his po-
slton. while I'm the case of city plants
the politicians influence is expected TO
keep the man I'm the position even II
be Is incompetent or negligent,
Municipal Employees Pull Together.
In Great Britain Professor Commons
finds that municipalization has pro
duccd "a spurious form of trades union
ism." which was rcpudlated 10y a prac-
tlcally unanimous vote of the trades
union congress in 1906 on the ground
that the Municipal Employees assocla-
tion is class rather than n trade or
ganlzation. Speaking OF the advocacy
by some councillors of the dsfran-
chlsement Of municipal employees be
pnuse of thpir tendency to Supnort Can-