The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1921-03-15
ATTEMPT TO EXPLOIT
/ TAX-PAY|NG PUBLIC
Facts of Vital Interest to
Everybody in Georgia
Trying to Repeat Seattle
FiaSco at the Expense
of Tax Payers

Just about one year ago the City OF
Seattle bought the Electric Street
Railway operating on it's streets, be.
cause the Street Railway Company
could not continue operating its cars
at cent fares, and were prevented
from increasing fares to meet in
creased expenses, and because the adj
Vocates of Municipal Ownership as
lsured the public that the Company
was making enormous profits and
were exaggerating the expense of
operation. The City chose the &C
countants that the advocates of NUM-
cipal Ownership selected to appralse
the value of the property.
$4,000, zee for Car Lines
Their accountants found that the
street car lines in the City of Seattle
had cost in money, actually cost
SIS, 1000, $4,000
The City paid for the Street Rail
way by an issue of bonds amounting
to $4,000, 100000, bearing Sc per an
mum interest.
The City commenced operating the
Street Railway without any taxes to
pay; with no legal expenses to pay,
because the City Attorneys Office
handled the legal business; with
practically no damage suits to pay,
as nobody could successfully collect
damages from the City.
Car Fares Advanced
After a short experience in operat-
ing the street cars at cents the
fare was advanced to 10c cash with
tickets at 6Hc, but still the deficit
continued to pile up, and the service
continued to become worse.
The Mayor and Council are nov
considering an advance in the street
car fare to 10 cents cash with
tickets at 1-3e. This increase IS
pending and probably will be adopted,
but even it will only postpone the
final complete breaking of the system,
because Of incompetent political man
agement. The Municipal Street Rail
ways are now $500,000.00 behind, and
after December 10th, 1920, their en-
ployees are to be paid by the issuance
of City warrants; there will be an
additional deficit January LIST, 19zZ'
of $1,610,452,00.
Sick of Their Bargain
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 to
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 is curtailed, and the public IS
Inconvenience.
The irresponsible agitators who adj,
yocated the purchase of the street
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 will continue to get worse.
Experiment 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 ac-
complish their design, which was and
always will be to- Exploit the Pub
lic". The ultimate and secret creed
of these people is to destroy the
American system of Government and
substitute socialism, and IN Seattle
they acre GINNING enough to induce
the people to furnish them the money
to work 1Oith.
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 call 1t State and Mani
cipqI Ownership. They tell you IF
the water power development they
would undertake with the States
money, but they don't tell you of any
aUater poaUer that they are going to
develop aOith their o1Vn money.
Their maps show many thousands
of horse power in Georgia yet unde-
veloped. Why do they come begging
the State to allow them to raid the
Treasury and use the money of the
tax payers for their experiment in
socialism?