Valdez daily prospector., 1917-03-14
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 1917
PUBLIC OWNERSHIP \ FAILURE.

NOW that the President and Cabi- net have again brought up the prob lem of seizing and operating the rail- roads of the United States, it might be we'll for sober, thoughtful people to ponder upon the perplexing question of public ownership. The government is notoriously incompetent as boss when it comes to the economical, eff cient management of public utilities. It has never demonstrated to the peo- pie that it could run it's own business in businesslike methods. It costs more to produce a battleship in the government navy yards; it costs more to produce armor in the government plants; and it costs more to produce munitions under governmental con- trol than it does under corporation control Why is this? Primarily hc- cause of political manipulation of the offices. A man is taken out of the ranks of politics and by political preferment is placed in charge of a business he has never familiariZed himself with. He remains in office a few years, and by the time he acquires the rudiments of the business. : change of administration occurs and the waste starts all over again. After looking at the inefficient manner in which the army and navy have hee: handled by politicians, can you imae- inc these politicians in charge of the railroad systems of the country? Can you see the dissension, the waste, the inefficiency which would ensue in all departments the moment the men who have built up these immense machines were replaced by politicians?
 Canada is the last victim of experi- mentation in public ownership. A few years ago the Province of Manitoba took over the telephone service tlat the Bell Company maintained there. The results are exposed in circular issued by James Mayor. professor of political economy at the University of Toronto, who has heretofore been an ardent exponent of government own ership. He states that when the Gov ernment took over the system the ser vice was adequate and the charges fair; there was no popular demand for the change, but politicians believ- ed that it would be to the advantage of their party to bring it about. What has been the result? The service IS less efficient and is so permeated with politics as to be practically useless. The government has manipulated it's bookkeeping to evade fixed charges and conceal deficits, and the tax bur- den has been increased by charging more for service. He condemns with out reserve the attempt of the town of Manitoba to run the telephone business of the people of the Province And Canadian political methods. be it we'll understood, are at least as clean as those of the United States, and probably cleaner.
 chorage is higher in it's rates than the Copper River road, and it serves ten yes fifty times the people. The gov ernment charges for electricity at An chorage are two to four times ss high as in other towns. The government charges for dockage at Seward are higher than many other towns cents higher than at Valdez. And the government officials in charge al Anchorage are head and shoulders above the average politician and busi' ness man in efficiency and intelli- gence There is no record of any