Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1921-03-11
ATTEMPT TO EXPLOIT
TAX-PAYING PUBLIC
Facts of Vital Interest to
Everybody i'll Georgia
Trying to Repeat Seattle
FiascO at the Expense
of Tax Payers


Seattle bought the Electric Street
Railway operating on its streets, be
cause the Street Railway Company
could not continue operating IFS cars
at 5 cent fares, and were prevented
from increasing fares to meet in
creased expenses, and because the al
yoeates of Municipal Ownership a.
surcd the public that the Compan
was making enormous profits an
we've cxaggcratinG tho expense c
operation. Tho City chose the 1t
countants that the advocates Of Mum
cipal Ownership selected to apprals'
the value of the property.
$4,000, 0e0 for Car Lines
Their accountants found that tn,
street car lines in the City of Seattl
had cost in money, actually cost
SIS, 600, 10000
The City paid for the Stree. Rail
way by an issue Of bonds emountin,
to $4,000, 100000, bearing $50 per an
mum interest.
The City commenced operating tn,
Street Railway without any taxes t.
pay: with no legal expenses to pay
because the City Attorneys Office
handled the legal business; a witt
practically no damage suits t@pa%
as nobody could successfully cole
damages from the CITY.
Car Fares Advanced
After a short experience in opera,
ing the street cars at 5 cents t.
fare was advanced to l0c cash vi
| tickets at Gt4c, but still the defCi
continued to pile up, and the service
| continued to become worse.
The Mayor and Council are nov
considering an advance in the stree
car fare to 10 cents cash Will
tickets at l-3c. This increase l.
pending and probably will be adop ell
j but even it viii only postpone In
final complete breaking of the system
because Of incompetent political man
agement. The Municipal Street Rail
| WAYS are now $500, 10000 behind, ant
after December 10th, 1920, their EN-
ployees are to he paid by the issuanc
Of City warrants; there will be a
additional deficit January list, 1922
Of $161O,452.00.
Sick of Their Bargain
The City Of Seattle, represented by
been irving to get the original owner:
to take bacl, the street railway sys,
TEN and return the bonds which the
City paid them. Suggestions that
legal proceedings be instituted tr
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
inconvenienced
The irresponsible agitators who ad
vocated the purchase Of the street
railway by the City Of Seattle havf
lost nothing, and they cannot be
prosecuted or punished, or sued fo'
damages, for misleading the pablj'
BY their false statements as to TIN
results Of Municipal operation, b1t
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 anc
each year, continue to cost more ant
the service will continue to get worse
Experiment F3iiure
Seattle's experiment in Municipal
Ownership is a miserable failure
The people were first embittereC
against the Street Car Company by
falsehoods and then the advocates Of
Municipal Ownership were ah'e to &C
complish their design, which was anC
always will be to, Exploit the Pub
Iic". The ultimate and secret crcec
of these people is to destroy tn
American system of Government anC
substitute socialism,, and IN Seqttl,
fhey acre cunning enough to Undue,
the people 10 furnish them the nIonel
TO 3Vork lC5th. :.
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 til,
public money as their brethren got il
Seattle They call 1t State and Num-
cipal Ownership. they tell you o.
the water power development the!
would undertake with the State'
money, bit they don't tell yo1t Of an
mater poicer that they are going t,
deUelop lcjth their ot0n money.
Their maps show many thousand
Of horse power in Georgia yet unds
veloped Why's do they come. begging
the State to allow them to raid tn
Treasury and use the money of til
tax payers for their experiment il