Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1908-02-25
FAILURE M boston,
Municipal Ownership Tried by the
Hub, but Found Wanting.

Light Works Because the City Had
Already Shown It's Inability to Garry
on Public Utilities-History Of sthe
Unsuccessful Attempts.
In 1896 the city council Of Boston
voted against attempting municipal gas
and electric lighting ON the ground that
the city had already proved its inabil-
ity in such matters by succession OF
failures in various trading enterprises.
In 1897. for instance. Boston estab-
lished municipal printing plant. Five
years later in 1902. Harvey Chase. an
expert accountant. who was examln'
ing all the city departments for Mayor
Collins. and Thomas r. Nichols, IN ex'
pert printer. reported that the plant
had already lost over $4,000 and that
A greater loss was avoided only by
charging other departments more than
they would have had to pay outside
printers
They also reported that AT the time
of the investigation the stock room was
crowded with unnecessary paper. Inks
etc. bought at great expense and Ia
BILE TO depreciation by handling or dam
age by fire; that some valuable stock
then very recently bought. could not he
found. nor could there he found any
record OF its use; that excessive rates
were paid for ruling and binding done
outside; that there was an entirely I'M
necessary uumber of employees in All
divisions Of the department. who add'
cd 70 the expense and subtractel from
the efficiency; That disposition 10 XIII
fine was manifest. aud that In spite OF
fine fact that The hours % employees
were shorter than in private plants
less WAS accomplished per man per
hour worked.
The operation Of two ferry lines
from Boston TO East Boston. which
we're bought 10y the city In 1859. loom
cd ND as another object lesson Unttl
1870 the ferries were leased at loss
and since then have been operated by
fine city AT an even greater loss. In
1877. 10 be sure. the city made the mag
nificent profit Of s93Ss. but In each OF
the other forty-seven years up 10 FEB
ruary. 1906. there was deficit vary
ing from $3.50 to 500. 600 and amount
Ing in all TO S3,743.54S or an average
Of almost $4,000 year
Rostons water supply, though far
famed for quantity and quality FUR
nished but another proof that the city
cannot do business as we'll az prh
vate corporation. Boston receives pure
water from the metropolitan water
board. distributes It through the city
collects the charges and each year pays
its assessed share OF the total expense.
This would seem simple proposition
but Harvey Chase il 1902 IN his report
on the water department said. "rhe
lack of proper methods for handling
transactions Of such magnitude and
indeed. the general crudeness and
looseness Of the capital accounts In the
waterworks' bookkeeping ever since
the foundation Of the plant are aston
fishing. There has been excess
I've expenditure for work done through
the employment OF unnecessary men,
by the employment OF aged and inhrm
men and by other means whereby the
costs OF work have been heavily In
creased"
Four years have now gone by since
the evils In these three departments
were made public In free city doeu-
ment. but nothing has been done to
remedy them. even in those depart
ments especially investigated and re.
ported upon IN considerable detail"
said Harvey Chase in 1905, "the an
nual expense today Il as large az be-
fore and In some cases even relatively
larger" What surer proof OF inefft-
cheney could be given?
But even had there been no printing,
no ferry. no water fiascos, the amounts
paid recently for services OF veteriua-
rians to care for the horses In the
street and police departments OF Bos;
ton would alone have been sufficient 90
indicate that II would be well to limit
rather than extend Boston's municipal
activities.
The police department In 1904 paid
1894 for veterinary services and med
lcine for each OF Its sixty or more
horses, an outrageous price. and the
next year paid nearly s25. The street
depar tment. where wasting the tar.
payers money in excessive veterinary
payments had come to be a habit, easily
topped Its own high figures in 1900 by
paying S24.20 for each Of $50 horses.
These. figures were so obviously ex-
cesslve that some change had to be
made. Accordingly the police denart-
ment under new single headed COM
mission reduced its veterinary ex-
penses in 1906 TO about S13 per horse,
and the mayor instituted a plan by
which the cost per horse In the street
department came down 70 Slf.
That these reductions were possible
Is itself sure proof that Boston Is
anything but efficient In business, and
further proof, II any is needed can be
found by comparing even those re-
duced figures with say, the average Of
so per horse paid under able manage
ment In the fire department. with the
1894 paid by the police department In
1902. with the bona fide offer OF one
Of the best veterinarians in the city to
do the street departments work for
SO per horse and finally with the 81 per
year for each of It's 200 horses paid by
a great private grocery and supply firm
in Boston. Hf
Compared with some cities, hostoa
is we'll governed, but these and a sue
eession of similar illustrations Of waste
fulness, failure and executive ability
prove that It cannot do business In a
way to give its citizens full value for
the money they pay In taxes.-Court-