La Junta tribune., 1915-03-13
slzE OF MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP


You would naturally expect men In
charge OF q municipal plant TO call
attention to its good points--and not
10 slention other features OF not q
bit less interest to taxpayers.
When coldly analyzed by account
ants and engineers. most OF these al.
legged successes turn out to be some
thing far different Many muuici.
pal plants hsve proven money losers.
whose deficits are cleveriy made up
,sthrossh taxes.
A. No merchant who 10 seriously In
.s&eested in his business would think
Of qRending upon . system OF book
kseSiht go inoonpiete. misleading
and Inadequate as that employed by
the average Asnicipal plant.
TIE municipspesnershtp of elec-
tre plants in the tA9ed States is
very small thing compssed to the
whole industry. Nothing Aetter IL.
iusttatss it's doubtfsf .cAerActSs %
an economic factor. The facts w<re
shovA.Ay the mssa,ls. Pshik ~
vice - follows; ;.;s;-,...-s.a
''in,lsla aSou. ~ Der pent of .il
the honey taken s.lSSlectric light
and po~e! ceaes h the United
statss .sasA scted By municipslly
S6S1 - Operated plants.
In exchange for this proper
tion OF revenue, the municipal plants
produced less than 8 per cent OF all
the current sent out Of the power
houses.
THE figures upon which these
calculations are based are quite re-
liable. being those Of the Census
Bureau. They are not only the best.
but they are the only specific sources
OF Information In the electrical in
dustry.
THE comparisons cited reveal two
facts: First. that public ownership
OF the means OF electrical production
amounts to very little in this coun.
try. and. second that considering
grand totals. the municipal plants
charge more for their service per unit
than do tn. instrumentalities OF pri.
yately owned corporations.
Questions are frequently asked
as To the magnitude OF municipally
owned utilities In the United States.
and as To whether they perform ser.
vice cheaper than privately owned
establishments. The government
through the Census Bureau. has an
swercd these questions effectively.
when your attention Is drawn to
the fact that there are i.5S: mu-
nieipal electric stations In tn. coun-
iry-or 30 per cent OF the total sta
,ions. and that municipal plants
gained at the rate OF - per cent In
the last fiye-yoar period. reflect tina,
these latt.rly quoted statistics by no
means tell the whole story.
They come about as near being a
true indicator as the number OF a
mans children bears witness 10 his
relative prosperity.
Municipal ownership In the elce.
tricai Industry viii have TO do con.
siderabiy more than per cent OF
th. total electrical business of the
country before II can b. taken scri.
ousiy.
The great majority of munlcipri
plants In the United States are IN
small communities. where private
capital could not BE- interested and
the municipalities were forced to
build their plants or do without ser.
vice.
In the privately operated field the
tendency during the past few years
has been 10 serve more and more
sinsi. eommunities from . single
producing plant by means Of trans.
mission lines. because this enable.
better service aud lower rates. II is
for this reason that the municipal
plants In the village, show . greater
ratio Of increase during the last few
years thsa the eorporaisly owned
statioas.
There has been another tendency
10 he utility corporation field. which
10 stiiI growing rapidly: namely. the
6isessbutioa Of ownssship Of the
stocks and bonds Of the larger CON.
psssss among many thousand Of peo.
~ ef moderate means. Billions Of
ssvinss sse now iasesied 10 utility
cssDesssioes throushosi the rai,ed
oeaeeo.
q. W. Mli.i.iKEN. Msaassr,
Asbessas Valley Railway. Lisht aad
Power Company.