Page:The World's Famous Orations Volume 10.djvu/247

 ALTGELD

the front and gave the city the benefit of their services free. In fact, none of the highest city- officials in Great Britain received any pay other than the well being of humanity and the good opinions of their country. The city rid itself of the private companies by buying them and then brought fresh water from the highlands, a distance of sixty miles. It doubled the quantity of water furnished the inhabitants, and reduced the cost to consumers by one-half. And yet the department now yields over $200,000 a year net income over all fixed charges.

The municipality, after much difficulty, bought the private gas plants and gradualy re- duced the price of gas from $1.14 to 58 cents, and it now illuminates not only the streets and public places, but all passageways and stairways in flat buildings, experience having shown that a good lamp is almost as useful as a policeman. The total debt of the city for plants, extensions, etc., to perfectly illumine all the city had reached nearly five and a half millions of dollars. Not- withstanding the low price at which gas is sold, this sum has gradually been reduced to less than two and a half millions of dollars out of the earnings of the system, and it will soon be wiped out and the entire revenue go into the city treas- ury.

The street railways were owned by the city,

but. until 1894, they were leased out under an

arrangement which paid the city full cost of

construction, with interest, besides a yearly in-

2in

�� �