The Marietta journal. (Marietta, Ga.) 1918-1944, 1921-03-11
ATTEMPT TO EXPLOIT
TMPAY|AG PUBLIC.
Facts OF Vital Interest to
Everybody i'm Georgia
Trying to Repeat Seattle
Fiasco ct the Expense
of Tax Payers

Just sbout one year ago the City Of
Seattle Bought ths Electric Street
Railway operating on its streets, be-
cause The Street Railway Company
could not eontinue operating its cars
at cent fares, and were prevented
lrom increasing fares 10 meet in
creased expenses, and because the sd-
vocates Of Municipal Ownership as
sured the public that the Company
was making enormous profits and
were exaggerating the expense OF
operation. The City chose the as
countants that the advocates Of NUM-
cipal Ownership selected TO sppraiss
the value Of the property.
81, eoe, eco for Car Lines
Their accountants found that the
street car lines in the City Of Seattle
had cost in money, actually cost
SIS ,000, 10000
TIE City paid for tina Street Rail-
b SIS, 000, 100000, bearing SO per an
mum interest.
The City commenced operating the
Street Railway without any taxes "a
pay; with No legal expenses te pay,
because the City Attorneys Office
handled the legal business; with
practically no damage suits to pay,
- nobody could successfully collect
damages from the City.
Car Fares Advanced
After short experience IN operat-
mag tAs street cars at 5 cents the
fare was advanced 10 Toe cash With
tickets at 6Hc. b0t stin the dsAeit
continued 70 pile up, and the services
continued 70 become worse.
The Mayor and Council ape noN
considering an advance in the street
car fare to 10 cents cash with
tickets at 8 1-Se. This Increase d
pending and probsAay will be adopted,
but even il win only postpone the
6nal complete breaking Of the system,
agement. The Municipal Street Rail
ways ara now $500, 0o0.eo behind, and
after December 10th. 1925, tAeiT en-
ployees are 10 BE- paid by tbs issnanee
Of City warrants; there vail be an
additional deficit Jaauary LIST, f982,
Of 81 SIC, $500.
| Sick Of Their Baseaaa
The City Of Seattle, represented By
its Mayor and Council, have recently
been trying to get the original owners
to take back the street railway sys-
tenn and return the bonds which the
City paid them. Suggestions that
legal proceedings be instituted tC
force the original owners to do so are
discouraged by the City Attorney
only because such an effort is in his
opinion illegal.
In the meantime the street car ser
vice in curtailed, and the public ID
Inconvenience.
The irresponsible agitators who ad-
vocated the purchase Of the Streea
railway By the City Of Seattle have
lost nothing, and they cannot be
prosecuted or punished, or sued for
damages, for misleading the public
by their false statements as to the
results Of Municipal operation, but
the citizens Of Seattle have before
them years Of heavy taxation to take
care Of interest and the constantly
increasing deficit caused by giving
street car service at less than cost,
and it will each day, each month and
each year, continue to cost more and
the service viii continue to get worse.
Experiment q Failure
Seattle's experiment in Municipal
Ownership is a miserable failure.
The people were first embittered
against the Street Car Company by
falsehoods and then the advocates Of
Municipal Ownership were able to &C
complish their design, which was and
always will be to, Exploit the Pub
,ic". The ultimate and secret creed
of these people is to destroy the
American system of Government and
substitute socialism, and IN Seattle
they t0ere cunning enough to induce
the people to furnish them the money
to aoork toith.
Spend States Money Instead
of Their Own
The same brand of cunning So
cialists are preaching the same doc
trine in Georgia, and they are plan
ming TO get ten times as much of the
public money as their brethren got in
Seattle. They cell it State and Mani-
cspdt Ownership. They tell you of
the water power development they
would undertake with the States
money, bat they dent tell you Of ann
soGter pcscer that then are eoing 20
develop with their oscn nsosssr,
Their maps shew many thousands
Of horse power in Georgia yet unds.
vetoped. Why do they cens begins
the State TO allow them TO raid ths
Treasury and use the money az The
AK payers for their experiment II
~e~i~fissn?