Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/158

* MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP. 126 MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP. rived revt-mno iIiitlI'ioih. JJul llicni' seivkes were conluu'd to a relatively sniall number of important cities until the uiueteentli eentury, when water-works, gasworks, electric-liglit and power plants sprang up with increasing rapidity. At the opening of the twentieth cenlurv these ser- vices were to he fnuiid in practically all the larger and in the majority of the siiiallor munic- ipalities of the civilized world, particularly in the I'nited States. Great Britain, and tu a less extent on the Continent of Europe and in Aus- tralia. The proper scope of municipal ownership is still a suhject of debate. Perhaps the nearest approach to a general agreement is ( I ) that it may rightly embrace all those sen-ices which are primarily or largely of a sanitary character, like water supply and sewerage, and (2) that it should be restricted to (|uasi-pul)lic industries, in which private competition is impossible or at best uncertain. Under (2) some draw the line so as to include only imperative and universal needs, the suj)plying of which is at the same time a natural monopoly. The dilTiculty with such a limitation is that it varies with local conditions, time, and individual opinions. Thus the demand for public- liglitiiig in the larger cities of the present day is far more imperative than was that for a public water supply a luindred years ago. or in sonic localities to-day. There is a growing conviction that the relative cheapness and elU- ciency of service are the chief facts to be con- sidered in deciding between public and private ownership, and that local conditions determine whether public or private ownership is tlie better in these respects. A third point upon which there is more or less agreement is that municipal ownership should not be carried so far as to in- crease municipal debts beyond prudent limits. So far as revenue-producing nninlcipal works of a monopolistic character are concerned, it is generally possible so to adjust income and ex- pense that the revenue from such luidertakings will meet capital charges as well as other ex- penses. But there is also the possibility that the j)opular demand for low charges will result in a deficit that must be met from the general tax rate, and with a large number of municipal lui- dertakings to l>e proviiled for it is conceivable that this might prove financially embarrassing if not disastrous. Water-Works. With the exception of sewer- age systems, which rarely yield a revenue, water- works are the most common form of municipal enterprise. The relative decrease in piililic ownership from 1870 to 1890 was due to the remarkable activity of private water-company ])romnlers at a time when the municipalities were just awakening to the need for such iiii|iroV('mcnts, but lacked the fnnd> for piildic owniiship. or had not iM'come infused with its spirit. In the larger cities munic- ipal ownership is the rule, all but eight of the 38 cities of over 1^0,000 population (lensus of 1900) owning their own works at the beginning of 190.3. New York, which was first supplied by a private company in 1770. put municipal works in operation in 1^12. fhicago was supplied by a uompany in H40. and by its own works in 18.54. Philadelphia built its works in 1801. .Xt Boston a private comp;iny established water-works in lO.Vi — the first public water supply in the I'nited States. A second small company built works in 17;kj, and coiiliiiucd to operate on a small scale until 1893. when its pipes were bought by the city, which had built works in 1848. The Balti- more works were built by a company in 1807, and bought by the city in lSo4. Cleveland built itji works in 1854-50. At Buffalo a company established works in 1852 and was bought out by the city in 18(i8. In San Francisco the water- works are still under private ownership. At Cincinnati a company built works in 1820 and sold them to the city in 1839. Up to the close of lS9(i changes from private to public ownership had occurred in 205 cities and towns, against only 20 changes from puljlic to private owner- ship. There have been many changes to munic- ipal ownership since 189U. In the North Central and Xorthwestern States municipal ownership is decidedly in the majority, ami in the Pacific States the reverse is true. Xew England is about evenly divided, with Massachusetts strongly in favor of municipal ownership, and Maine even more strongly in favor of private. In the I'nited Stales in 1801 there were but sixteen works, of which only the plant at Win- chester, Va., was owned by the city it served. The development of municipal ownership during the century is shown by the accompanying table: NuMBEB OF Public and Private Workp i.n' the United States at the End of Each Decade, Begixxixo With 1800 " yeah Public Private Total Per ceut. of total, public ISOO 1 6 6 9 23 33 57 116 293 806 1,690 15 21 25 35 « 60 79 127 305 1,072 1.4S9 16 26 30 14 U 83 136 213 598 1,878 3.179 G.3 1810 19.2 1S20 16.8 IKtO 20.5 1840 35.9 1850 39.7 1860 1870 11.9 47.7 1880 49.0 1890 12.9 189« 63.2 • CompHeii trom the Manual of .American Water- Works for 1897. Figures tor 1898, but pxfluiliuK all places of less than 1000 "population by the Census o( 1890, published in the Report of the fnlted States Commission of Labor fnr 1899. show 1787 municipal (53.73 per cent.) to 1639 private works. In Canada, in 1896 municipal ownership pre- vailed in 75 per cent, of the municipalities hav- ing works, or 109 of 145 cities ami towns. At Montreal water-works were built by a company in 1801 and bought by the city in 1845. At Toronto private works were built in 1841 and bought by the city in 1873. In Great Britain and Ireland, in 1901, of fA county boroughs in England and Wales, includ- ing the great towns. 45 owned their water sup- plies, and of the 141 other boroughs 139 had municipal works. All the large town- of Scot- land o«-n their works. In Ireland. Dublin and Cork have municipal service. About half the so- called urban districts in England, other than boroughs, have municipal works. Water-works appear to have been introduced by the municipal- ity of London in 1283: by Plyiiiouth in 1585; and Oxford in IfilO. Manchester ;Mid Liverpool each bought out a private company in 1847, niasgow in 1855, Birminiihani in 187fi, and Shef- fii'ld in 1SS8. Edinburgh transferred municipal works to a company in 1819, but they were re- stored to municipal ownership in 1809. Oreater London has been served for years by eight com-