Los Angeles herald., 1910-08-14

city politics." and yet more radical
forms of advanced sociology, munich
pal ownership seems in the minds OF
many worthy people to be necessary
feature. Innumerable people today feel
conscientiously called upon to proclaim
themselves above the old-fashtoned
ideas of city administration. To such
opposition to municipal ownership
would seem tantamount to approVal OF
graft, boss rule, saloon politics, and all
the other odoriferous details now so
thoroughly discredited by the muck
raker and the socialistic propaganda
ist. so in order to stand we'll with his
newly aroused civic conscience even q
sound and sane business man VIII
sometimes gulp down the municipal
ownership pill-however much his ord
mary business gumption may and
probably does revolt.
Nearby examples of this sort OF
thing are to be seen in Pasadena ana
San Diego Some two or three years
ago Pasadena voted city bonds for the
purpose of erecting a lighting plant
and entering into competition with tne
existing lighting company. The city
plant is too small to supply the wnole
area, within the city limits. but In the
territory covered it Is claimed by the
advocates of municipal ownership that
the experiment has been brilliant
success. To the calm, cold eye OF the
disinterested financial expert, how
ever, the figures adduced in support
of this boast fail to appear any more
convincing than such figures usually
are. Bookkeeping is an art capable OF
producing a great variety OF apparent
results. Pasadena's municipal DOCK
keeping would delight the stockholders
of a company of dreamers, by whom,
hut nj d.
ing, was what was wanted. How per-
fectly delightful were the task of sat
isfying the stockholders, if nothing
need be written off for depreciation, no
reference made to interest charges
nothing said about items charged to
other departments but really charge
able against this department no re-
port of the fact that consumers were
benefiting by ruinouS competition
sure to come to an end some day-and
no hint of secret negotiations already
being made to buy Juice" from the
competing company-or even to sell
out before the inevitable crash that
hugs close upon the heels of all Such
idealistic financing finally arrives
Still Pasadena is tickled to death with
her nice new toy. So was Boston, so
was Philadelphia, so have been scores
of cities-untii, at loss of millions
in Boston it was $1,000, ,000-the toy
is discovered to be filled with the saw
dust of and-two-make-five munic-
ipal bookkeeping, and the disillusioned
voters vote to sell the scrap iron of
their former joy and pride to any cor
poration that will sell them gas and
electricity, manufactured by experts
on a scientific business basis, and sold
at fair commercial price.
And now San Diego is asked to vote
on August 8, on the question of a
municipal gas plant A very small
and very insignificant coterie of Social
lists got up a petition to the city coun-
ell, and that body, against it's pub
lished judgment and against the ad-
vice of practically all substantial ele-
ments of the community has called an
election on the date named. This par
ticular case is even more than usually
interesting as an illustration of the
lengths to which the niicrobe of
moonshine finance will penetrate the
skulls of some people.
Even the Socialists themselves, to
the number of several hundreds have
repudiated the act of their i'll advised
Comrades" in this matter. The sum
to be voted on Is $1,500, 0,00O-just about
half of what the existing lighting plant
(excellently run, by the way, and
prompt to extend it's mains and lines
in every direction in advance of popu-
lation) would cost to replace. There
fore, If the present company with
draws from the field, more than hals
of the city will be plunged in total
darkness AS If this were not enough
to prove the Quixotic character of this
proposition, it remains to be said that
the city council laid the whole matter
before the city attorney, who DECLARED
that the proposed bonds will be illegM
if voted because the state statute pro-
hibits cities under a charter like that
of San Diego from entering the busi-
ness of furnishing light to private con-
sumers. An amendment to the charter
would first have to be passed by the
legislature of the state before San
Diego could legally sell these bonds
Did this deter the local municipal
ownership" enthusiasts? Not at all
Nothing would deter mind once thor
oughly inoculated with the germ OF
absent treatment bookkeeping. They
insisted upon having a chance to pro-
claim themselves hopeless imbeciles al
the polls. So they are to have. the
chance on August 9 next
A great modern city is to be asked to
vote for half enough illegal bonds,
| with which df by some miracle they
carried and by a still more wondrous
impossibility come banking house Of