Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 10.djvu/817

 PUBLIC OWNERSHIP VERSUS PUBLIC CONTROL 801

less favorable, some of them markedly so; but in few of them have the facts ever been presented with sufficient clearness and fairness to warrant any very precise comparisons. The experi- ment of the London County Council in constructing electric lines in the south of London is a case in point. It appears that in 1899 the council's experts estimated the expense oi this undertaking at about $1,242,000. It has only recently been completed, and proves to have cost some $4,800,000. In consequence of this excessive expenditure, there seems to be a fair prospect, according to the chairman of the Finance Committee of the County Council, that the expenses, and charges against these lines, will exceed the income, and the deficit will have to be added to the tax budget. Thus far, the net returns to the council from the south London system have not been anywhere near so great as those from the leased lines on the north side; but, on the other hand, the fares are somewhat higher on the private lines, and the service in some respects not so good.

The same uncertainty exists in regard to municipalization of electric lights. The London Times presents statistics showing that during 1901 the city of Salford lost $36,441 on the operating account alone of its electric-light plant, to say nothing of the charges on the $908,803 invested. Bath lost $6,024 in the same year, on a plant which was purchased for $119,217, and upon which $379,548 had been spent. Even after this expenditure, the works broke down, and the city tried in vain to sell the outfit to a private corporation. Bedford lost $14,598 on operating account; Bristol, $12,165; Morley, $9,732; Glasgow, $21,980; Edin- burgh, $13,089. These facts certainly are striking. Granting that the Times was conducting a campaign against municipal ownership, and hence did not give the statistics for cities which may have had more favorable experience, the specific cases here cited are of such importance as to destroy any warrant for assert- ing in general terms that " municipal electric lighting is a success in Great Britain." It would be impossible to make such a claim, even if all the other experiments were financially satisfactory.

Coming to the United States, the briefest statement of the situation shows how slight a hold the public-ownership idea has