Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-01-03

LONDON AND NEW YORK.
Worlds Two Greatest Cities in Strlk-
Jag Contrast,

The bulky volume OF statistics and
lrrlorts of cities in the United STATE
having population of OYER 5e."e9 III
1907, recently issued by the depart
mcnt of commerce and labor. bureau
LOT the census. Washington. affords
bases for some striking comparison
between London and New York. Com
paratiy"ly few people in the mctrope-
lis can have AN approximate idea Of
the size of the premier city of thu
New World, and it will no doubt cam"
as a surprise to hear that while tn,
area of land and inland water III Lon
don is 1i,SI6 acres, the area of land
,only within the limits of the city Of
| New York Is 2o92lS acres As re-
! cards population. London still leads.
though it is impossible t. say how far
| We are ahead. The estimated popu-
lation Of New York On jun /, 1909,
! based on the federal census al 1909
! and the state census OF l9o5, was
i.ija.26i. ana the number ii iuhabt-
tuntS in thu metropolis en the SANE
| date was estimated on the increase
between 1891 and 1901, at i.15H,-lI.
\ comparison between tia forthcuu-
ing census figures for tho tFu cities
| will be full of interest With its
Huge area. one would expect tn rarf-
mereial capital OF the Stutvs t. creep
ahead during the next few Years, uu-
less the boundaries Of tho Htctroiulis
are eXtepGcd.
| Turning to- IL" realms oe finance.
thes information to be cleaned from
| the reports is Very extensive. and
comparisons liz various directions ar,
extremely Interesting. With regard
tc the revenues u the city corpora
| tion4in New York, the space At our
| disposal docs not permit OF anything
Ike detailed notice, but the source
[ from which by farSthe greater part OF
! the revenues is derived may b. ~
amined. This source is the munich
lai taxes, which may be compared
with the local rates in London. While
| throughout the United Kingdom the
annual value OF real property only is
the basis on which al municipal rates
are charged, in New York, as in other
cities in the states these rates are
levied on the capital value of both
real and personal property. They
piay be shortly described as general
property taxes and special property
/ ''4ENN7s liz lpi tilt GSSt'SSt'b ana
collected by methods practically
identical for all kinds of property,
while the latter are levied on bank
| stocks, the premium receipts Of for
eign assurance companies and mort
cages. The total value OF property
subject to general property taxes in
lsV' WaS-real property over El.2Si-
oo0.oo0, and personal property over
c10i,oOo,00o. The total value ON
which special property taxes were
levied was nearly c20G ,0oo,U00
In connection with the cutlery
against the heavy burden of rates in
the metropolis it may be mentioned
that the total amount of rates re-
iccivcd by local government authori-
ties III London during the year ended
March 81, 19o7, WAS about c15,Sa4, 800.
while in New York the total receipts
of the city corporation III respect of
| municipal taxes" for the year ended
Dec. 81, 1897, were no less than Gl9,-
S3s 300
| The statistics dealing With the in
ld,btcdness of the worlds two great
est cities are worth special attention.
On March 81, 1908, the total net debt
of the metropolis amounted to G25 Is
per head of population. The net debt
of New York is far in excess of these
figures. and amounts to more than
1.-THE aggregate Indebtedness Of the %
next most populous cities in the
states vt the end of 1907 it reached
tho enormous total of over c123, 1000,
600 or c 30 per capita.
| With regard to the services carried
| nv fhp Innt1nn
land the New York city corporation,
lone in connection with which few
useful comparisons may be instituted
is the fire brigade. With Il much
lmorc extensive area to protect it
might be expected that the New York
brigade is a larger organization than
that in the metropolis. Exclusive OF
the members Of voluntary fire assoc
citations. the total number Of fremen
IN the New York brigade is over 1000.
which is equivalent t. 81 per 10000
Inhabitants The authorized strength
lof the London fire brigade is slightly
lover 1900. or 81 per 10000 population.
y few other interesting statistics are
given in the following table, which re-
late to the year 1907:
| Lon y.
| don York
| Number of fire engines ....... 36 221
Number of horses .............. 81 i4Si
| Miles of hose NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. az a'
| Total number of fires .....,,... 500 122Ji1
Cost of maintenance per
head of population Under is About SIS
In connection with the cost of main
tenance the inference should, not be
drawn that the fire department in New
York is not economically admins
tered. The comparatively low cost of
the London brigade is due largely to
Istricter building regulations in the
metropolis, more nearly fireproof
buildings and greater preeaution to
prevent the occurrence Of fires.
| With reference to the police forces
OF the two cities, comparison cannot
be made so readily, owing to the Diff
ferences in the controlling bodies
While the city corporation and the
metropolitan police receiver supervise
the forces in London, in New York Il