Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 3.djvu/852

 838 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

had never fallen under private control, so that no private agencies were organized to bid for them until the people had become so accustomed to regard them wholly as a public property that no change could pos- sibly be brought about.

The case of the water-works is somewhat different ; yet it also dif- fers from the other public works. Although many of our municipal- ities have private water-works, the prevailing sentiment, especially in the larger cities, is in favor of public works. And where the water is sup- plied by a private corporation, there are more efficient control by the public authorities, fewer charges of corruption, and less complaint, except in times of drought, of inadequate supply, than is the case with other public or quasi-public works. The fact that public ownership of water-works is relatively so common, and that under private owner- ship relatively efficient public control is possible, is probably due to the fact that the supply of water has been regarded as analogous to the police and sanitary functions of the municipality. The courts have uniformly taken this view, though they construe the provisions of char- ters in all other respects with great strictness, regarding them as per- mitting the exercise of no powers which are not specifically granted. In proportion as the water supply has been a necessity, the municipal authorities have maintained a supervision which, though frequently inadequate, is superior to that which they exercise over any other public works. The relative freedom from corruption may, perhaps, be explained by the nature of the enterprise. Natural conditions usually limit the water supply ; and this fact not only causes a public demand that it shall be controlled by some agency that will not be interested in restricting it, but precludes the possibility of competing companies. Perhaps not ten cities in the United States have ever had duplicate water systems. The presence of rival companies is one of the most fruitful causes of legislative corruption, and leads, in most cases, to a consolidation, by which the public can be forced to pay profits on duplicate plants. In the management of public water systems there has been much corruption in the awarding of contracts, and many inef- ficient men have been employed ; but, on the whole, there have been no scandals to parallel those which so frequently arise in connection with other public works. Finally, the consequences of an insufficient or tainted supply of water are so patent, and the means of judging whether the required standard is being reached or not are so simple, that public opinion is easily and quickly brought to bear upon the