The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1908-11-06

] FUNCTIONS Or MUNICIPAL GoyEgN,
MENT.-fhc bfoadcniu. 81 our municipal
government 90 the acquiring and ol'cfat'
| ing oi commercial undertakings has IT,
Gently received considerable public atten'
I ton IN Brattlcboto. This was hrrt aga
! tatcd years ago and reached a climax in
I the so,called water fight IN Bmttleboru
during the fall Of 1919, al which time
l hundreds OF dollars were spent on law
ycrs' fees and Investigations which
! brought no practical results or any bene'
I ht to the taxpayers IN general. This
same means Of agtatins the public has
been used by various ones m the past
! throughout different parts of the coun.
| Try. Ii became a habit trst in England
aud foreign countries and later was M
hcritcd by American cities -omc eight or
ten year ago,
The form 81 expansion Of the functions
Of our municipal governments may act
ually be termed exotic in that 1t has not
proper relationship to the duties, for the
performance OF which, city governing
bodies were expressly created, on the
plea that certain business enterprises are
public utilities and as such should be
publicly owned aud managed. Municipal
"ciques' have inaugurated a policy, the
tendency OF which is leading toward what
appears on the face TO be an uprising OF
the inhabitants OF certain towns IN order
TO bring about a cheaper selling price OF
certain commodities.
This tendency has led those, 10 whom
il has appealed most strongly, in the di.
rection OF such quasi" public service
corporations as, for example, street rail
ways. water works, electric light plants,
Gas plants. ice plants, etc.
HIsIORY.-We need not spend time
considering the results attained in such
foreign cities as Liverpool, Manchester,
Glasgow, etc, which came TO the public
attention some years ago when their rep
resentatiye men, being the active heads
OF these municipalities, were called 10 in
yestigate conditions IN Chicago as regards
the adyisabilty OF municipal ownership,
nor need we enumerate the many reasons
why they stated that municipal operation
in the United States was not comparable
in any respect with what Is experienced
in the old country. Nor need we enum-
crate the numerous failures which are
leading these various foreign cities back
toward the advantages to be gained from
private ownership, nor enumerate the in.
ducements they are now offering private
capital to enter their districts.
We need but refer to the annals of |
ownership in the United |
States even during the few years il has |
been in existence to become sensible OF |
its impractical and uneconomical as |
poets, the increase Of indebtedness il in |
wolves, the extension OF the tax levy
and assessment values of adjoining prop
critics. the bureaucratic power of official.
ISM IL creates and the temptation II of
iers to the many corrupting influences of
work in addition to those
which unhappily exist already.
HISTORICAL LUSI0NS.-lndustria
md commercial speculation with money
'aised by taxation, viewed from whatever
standpoint, and called by whatever name
S inconsistent with the sound and just
of government. Such trading
With the public credit, whether state or
must of necessity lead to
tupendous financial liabilities, must add
o the burden of the rates, weaken mu-
licipal credit, bring about inequality of
axation. interfere with the natural laws
# trade, check industrial and scientific
'rogress, stop invention, discourage indi.
idual effort, destroy foreign trade, es-
ablish an army of officials, breed cor.
upton and demoralize the voter and ul-
imatey create socialstic communities ;
bout us. !
SocIALIsM.-Many believe in socialism |
o limited extent. Socialism is free t
ON which is the basis of our great !
Declaration" when it is limited by q
ane, unbiased minds, not that which $
oes toward building up and creating a
olitical aristocracy, which augments and t