Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1908-01-25
MAYORS SAY FAILS"
Chief Executives Write OF Their
Experiences.

ship Successful In Their CVies-i"o
plants For Saloons Lasted Only
Six Months.
One would expect mayor to be the
last man in a city TO say that munic-
pal ownership could not succeed YET
two mayors In next to the most popu-
lous state and one In the largest state
In the Union have emphatically ex-
pressed their views IN letters.
Guy A. Bryant, mayor OF Princeton
Ill. tells about the experience OF his
city, as follows:
"Our city has advertised for bids for
its electric light plant Our plant was
an old one when It was taken over by
the city. and considerable money mad
to be spent to get 1t into fair running
shape. This was eight years ago.
Since then we have not been able TO
make 1t a paying investment, as we
found the cost of running the plant
has exceeded what the cost Of lighting
our city would be If the light was pur-
chased from a private plant, and 1t
has been deemed advisable to sell 1t II
a satisfactory bid can be had. This Is
our main reason for disposing Of It.
Municipal ownership Of a lighting
plant, in my opinion, cannot be made
n success in cities Of this size"
The mayor of Marengo, H., j. H.
Patterson. Is more brief In summing
ND the case Of that city, but nobody
Is left in doubt as TO where he stands
on the question Of public ownership.
When he wrote Marengo had not yet
succeeded in making suitable arrange
ments for lease. The tone OF the
MAYORS letter, however. does not indi-
cate that there is any reluctance on the
part of the city to get rid of It's expen-
sive luxury. The only question seems
TO be one of terms. Mayor Patterson
says:
eve are contemplating deal where
by the management Of said plant Will
20 out Of our city's control. Our rea-
son for doing this is that we consider
municipal management a complete fall
ure. and the less there is OF 1t the
better for all parties concerned
When @. @. Weaver was mayor OF
Itasca. Tex, he expressed his opinion
OF a city trying to work and gave the
brief but trying experience Of his own
city as an example. In a letter on the
subject he said.
"nur city bored an artesian well and
- - :" securing a flow OF
was fortunate 49, IA In 2
water of very fine quahV 49,
quantity about 200 gallons per minute.
In connection with this 1t was decided
to build an electric plant l investi-
gated the cost and probable income OF
an electric plant and found 1t doubt
full proposition and recommended that
we avoid It, but the aldermen believed
It would pay in connection with the
waterworks, and the work was begun.
1.-The pump was Installed first and
was operated about one month before
the electric plant was ready; hence we
know how much II cost to operate the
pump. When the electric machinery
was put I'm operation our losses began.
We operated 1t little more than four
months and found that 1t was taking
all our income from both the water
works and electric plant to pay run
ming expenses of the plant We did
not want to shut down, as we knew 1t
would be q dead loss, but we were
forced to do something; hence we hit
upon the idea OF selling the electric
part Of the plant. 1t was turned over
to me to sell without any reservations
as to what I should get. 1 sold the
electric part, but not any part Of the
waterworks. We lost money in trying
to operate the plant and did not get
all our money back In the sale. We
operated the plant three days less than
six months and lost about 500 per
month.
"If you stop to think about 1t, a city
cannot work, but must hire all her
help. The hired man does not have the
coal bill to pay, nor does he care
whether houses are wired or not. he
Is not much interested In the receipts
and does not hustle business; hence
the expenses run up while the receipts
are neglected. Public money does not
hold out like private money. 1 know
1t ought to, but l am now serving IN
my eleventh year as mayor, and !
know whereof i speak.
when we come TO figure these
things, It Is not safe to figure on what
ought to be done, but we should face
facts and recognize the facts as they
really are and not as they should be,
but are not.
"An electric plant has to have close
personal attention, and the man who
superintends 1t ought to have a very
serious interest In the expense account
and in the receipts, and this interest
should be such as would affect his own
pocket
you ask II | would advise middle
size cities to build electric plants.
Now, in answer TO this particular
question must say l would not"