Arizona republican., 1907-07-22

facilities, whereas in | the United States private enterprise | has constructed lines which afford | public facilities but which in many l instances do not bring an adequate re- | turn. |
 "It is we'll to note in this connection | that the policy pursued in the United | Kingdom must necessarily result in | low rates of fares. If. in such cieies | as New York, Philadelphia. Chicago and St Louis We were to cut down tho miles of track to correspond to the conditions prevailing in such cities as London. Glasgow Manchester and Liv- erpool we would find that there would be only about 21 per cent of the pres- ent track, and furthermore that this comparatively small and inadequate trackage would be, for the most part, confined to densely populated districts If American street railway systems were cut down as indicated, the fares could be very materially reduced. The permissible length of ride would be materially reduced and the company would be operating the most profita
 ble lines only, while those which are at present run with little profit and in some cases even at a loss. would not be embarrassing and handicapping the company as they are today"
 A point of great advantage in Amer ican street railways, according to Mfr. Clark, is that they are operated on the average IS hours per day. with all night service in tiie larger cities. while in Great Britain the average is 15 hours and there is no all night service.
 Mir Clark estimates that the Brit ish municipalities and local govern ments enjoy a total of possible finan- cial benefits from tramway operations of about sS.679176 but that American traction enterprises and their stock holders pay a total of s43.054,433. constituting a government revenue more than s34.000.0c0 per year greater than the return to the state from similar traction systems in Great Britain. The writer here takes up what he terms the inaccuracies of British municipal accounting. Accord-
 ing to the parliamentary report on tramways for 1906 the allowance for depreciation on the municipally own
 ed tramways of the United Kingdom was 1.S3 per cent It is Mir. Clark's contention that every practical man realizes that at least per cent should
 be allowed for depreciation and if this
 had been done 1t would have meant a
 reduction of s5.5e5.9 .96S in the sS,679.116 shown as the returns to the local and municipal governments of the United
 Kingdom from tramways. leaving net only s3.113.2I3. Evidence that serious
 risks exist from municipal enterprises is found in the fact that 40 British cities. according to the parliamentary return for 1906 show direct loss from operation of tramways. or an actual
 deficit when sinking fund paymenth and reserves for depreciation are con- sidered.
 The British municipalities omit from the capital account of their tramways large sums which should be charged thereto and cause these expenditures to be "unjustly carried into the gen eral accounts of the cities" At a meeting of the London county coun- | cil held October 16. 1906. it was as- certained that s5.200.0O0 had been ex- ! pended by common council on account of tramways but that only S1.S50,0OO
 had been charged to the tramway
 capital account. At the discussion following this expose" says MT. Clark,
 "Captain Swinton. a prominent mem Der. brought out the fact that since the council had entered the tramway field.
 the expenses of the general office had amounted to about s6 100000. of which only s4O.OOO had been charged to the | tramway accounts. and stated that, m | his opinion. on this feature alone. the councils tramway undertaking owed i the people of London at least s2.sO0.-
 900. This is a larger sum than has
 been shown as the neat eaInin-s or
 the properties even by the juggled ac- count of the London county council.
 It is almost needless to remark that ! if in all of the accounts of the muni- cipal tramways of the Kingdom. their | operating expenses have been favored as greatly as the expense of general funds as has been shown to be the
 practice of the London common coun-
 cil then all their boasts of economi- cal operation must disappear and de-
 ficits appear in place of apparent profits from operation"
 A better service is given by 'he
 British private companies than by the municipalities. according to NIT. Clark
 The average headway between cars on the municipal lines, on 24 hour ba- sis. was s.1 minutes, while on the company lines it was but 6.3 minutes A comparison of rates of wages per hour paid by British municipal trac- ton systems and by certain companies in New York state is made by MT Clark showing range of from 12 to i15 cents per hour for conductors and
 from si to Is cents per hour for mo tormen in Great Britain against 2o tc
 25 cehts per hour for conductors and Il motormen in the state of New York
 "So 1t is seen." declares MT. Clark
 "that American street / railways pay practically double the rate for saia-
 ries and wages that are paid in th' | United Kingdom. In the state of New York a decrease of wages to Britisf standard would reduce the operatint expenses of local transportation line' about s14,000,0Q0 per annurn. ar
 amount equivalent to about 3s pei