Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/410

LEFT MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP 348 MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP times these are merely owned by the municipality and leased out for operation to private corporations. Municipal entei'- prises may generally be classified under these heads: those which constitute natu- ral monopolies, such as the supply of water; those which involve the granting of special privileges, such as the use of the main streets for street railway trans- portation; and those which are insepar- able from the maintenance of the public health, as is the case with the cleaning of the streets and the disposal of refuse and sewage. But even within these narrow limita- tions American cities have not taken up municipal ownership on a very wide scale. The development of this movement in the United States may be judged from the following figures : Out of 204 American cities, having a population of over 30,000, there are 156 which own and operate their own water-supply systems. No city with a population over 300,000 is supplied with water by private corpora- tions. Here we have the widest develop- ment of municipal ownership in the United States. Obviously, the supply of water closely involves the health of the citizens of a community. In the matter of municipal lighting the field is much less extended. Of the 204 cities with populations over 30,000, only 21 own and operate their own light- ing plants, of which Detroit and Chicago are the most notable examples. Through- out the country 1,500 municipalities sup- ply their own lighting. Almost entirely this is where electric lighting is em- ployed. For of the 204 cities considered, only five operate gas lighting plants, the largest of which is Richmond, Va. Municipal ownership and operation of street railways, in which considerable progress has been made in European cities, has few examples in this country. Boston and NewYork City have both built and now own extensive railway systems, but both these cities have leased their systems to private corporations for op- eration. In 1913 San Francisco took over a large part of its street railways. Dur- ing the first year of operation by the city, the municipal street railways netted the city a surplus of $45,000. Contrasted to this apparent success, is the experi- ence of Philadelphia, which, many years ago, took over the operation of a munici- pal gas lighting plant. In 1897 the enterprise was pronounced a failure, largely on account of the political cor- ruption which it involved, and the light- ing system of the city was leased to a private corporation. Glasgow, Scotland, is usually pointed out as an example of successful munici- pal ownership. In 1894 Glasgow took over what were then its horse-car lines, 64 miles in length. The city has since installed modern electric transportation and lengthened the municipally operated lines 200 miles. Fares have been reduced, and the cost of operation has been re- duced from $1.80 per mile to 88 cents per mile. This enterprise has now created a balance in the city treasury in its favor amounting to $150,000. In more recent years Glasgow has taken over the prob- lem of municipal housing, with the re- sult that many of the old obnoxious slum districts have been wiped out and re- placed by well-kept rows of working-class houses, rented out to their tenants at very near cost price. As already stated, numbers of German communities have carried the practice of municipal ownership into the supply of foodstuffs. In the United States, where municipal freedom is much more limited by the State constitutions, specific laws on the statute books forbid local communities competing with private enterprises. Such proved to be the case when the Socialist party, electing the mayor atid city coun- cil of Schenectady, N. Y., in 1911, at- tempted to establish a central depot for the supply of ice and groceries to the citizens. A decision of the courts com- pelled the abandonment of the enterprise, which was turned over to a co-operative society. With the rapid rise in the prices of foodstuffs during and after the war, a decided movement has been initiated for the municipal supply of foodstuffs in American cities. This was strongly stim- ulated when the War Department, in Washington, placed its surplus food sup- plies on the market for distribution in the fall of 1919, to be distributed among the people on a limited, or non-profit basis. Under the supervision of the city authorities, the city of New York dis- tributed large quantities of these sup- plies, utilizing the public schools as cen- ters of distribution. Following this ex- ample, thousands of smaller communities throughout the country undertook to re- ceive assig-nments of foodstuffs from the War Department and distribute them among their citizens at nearly cost price, the stipulation being that no profit should be made. Municipal milk supply is a special phase of this class of municipal owner- ship which has received much considera- tion in recent years. In Great Britain this idea has been put into limited prac- tice and is being advocated by many popular organizations, especially of women. Here, however, the question of public health is closely involved, so that