Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1915-12-23
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1915.
Municipal Ownership.

From time to time we read consider
able concerning Municipal Ownership OF
public utilities, and even extending SO
far as to have the Government assume
control and operate all telephone and
telegraph lines, as well as all the rail-
ways.
If it were possible to eliminate one
thing, namely, Politics, from these pro-
positions we would be inclined to the be-
lief that such ownership of operation by
the Government or the municipalities
would be successful, but so long as we
hive politics and politicians one can rest
assured that efficiency would have to
give away to political expediency.
Frederick does not seem to be exempt
from this condition. Mr.. Joseph d.
Baker, one of its prominent citizens has
gotten behind and espoused the cause OF
municipal ownership of an electric light
plant large enough to go irto the light
and power business in Frederick, for the
ostensible purpose of making money for
the taxpayers. Frederick has owned
municipal street lighting plant for many
years, which plant now belongs to the
obsolete type, and Frederick has grown
so much in size since this plant was first
installed that the present plant will
either have to be rebuilt or enlarged to
take care of the street lighting in the
town.
In the discussions that are being in
dulged in we are not surprised to see the
statement made by the City Fathers in
Frederick, where charge and counter
charges are being INDUCED in relative to
the operation of the present city plant,
politics being charged as being the bot
tom of it all, causing the present in
efficiency of the plant.
Jacksonville, Fla, has a very large
municipal plant, and we note that sensa-
tional charges are being made that prom
ises made to the people of that city by
men in public office at the time of the
establishment of the plant have not been
kept, and that the people have been hum
bugged in the system of opera ton, and
that charges made for current were more
or less discriminating according to the
political standing of the user. Further
that with a supposed yearly profit of
something less than $600,0 accruing
through this municipal electric light
plant it was declared that the money had
been consumed in unnecessary expensive
operation by the various civic depart
ments, and deplored the fact that the
citizens were gaining nothing by the so
called profit, and that their taxes were
were higher than they have ever been
before.
The town of Lorain rejected the NUM-
cipal ownership of an electric light plant
when the voters downed proposition to
issue bonds for the sum of $780, 900 on
the ground that the voters did not APP
prove of an additional burden of taxation
on venture involving the issuance of
bonds for the purpose of building such
plant.
There is about only one thing that any
municipality has any business to own and
operate for the benefit of its community,
and that is the waterworks. These have
been fairly successfully operated because
everyone uses water which is not the
case with either electricity or gas or any
other public utility.
We await with much interest the out
come of the proposal to enlarge Freder
lexis municipal plant, inasmuch as it is
admitted that politics is controlling
factor in the management of its present
small plant that they now operate.