Miscellaneous Papers. 171 



Now let us consider in detail the arguments for municipal 

 ownership. The first two reasons are not distinctive arguments 

 for municipal ownership, because privately owned companies may, 

 and generally do, give as good service and at as reasonable rates as 

 could be secured through municipal ownership. But in many 

 cities it has been found Impossible to secure the desired service or 

 reasonable rates as long as the plants were privately owned, and 

 consequently the municipalities have been forced to take charge 

 of these utilities. In a few towns which derive their supply of 

 water from small rivers, which are at times quite muddy, the men 

 who owned the water plants were petitioned to substitute 'filtered 

 or treated water for the regular river water, and they could not be 

 induced to do so, even when a fair rate was offered for the service. 

 Again, in other places there has been difficulty in securing the 

 necessary water pressure to maintain satisfactory domestic service 

 in the suburbs of the town. Also the paeseure was quite often in- 

 adequate in time of fires. Such things as these have driven many 

 towns to municipal ownership, although the desired service could 

 have been just as well rendered by the men who owned the plants 

 had they been disposed to render the community good service at a 

 reasonable rate. 



There are, however, a few good reasons for municipal' ownership 

 in any locality. The two most prominent are: the ease of extend- 

 ing the service, and the ease of changing the character of the 

 service. In many cities the business management of privately 

 owned plants is not progressive, and often many citizens are forced 

 to wait a long time before water or electric service is extended to 

 their section of the town. Private corporations do not care to ex- 

 tend the service until there is plenty of business in sight to pay 

 dividends on the investment. A municipality may, on the other 

 hand, look farther into the future and extend service to a certain 

 part of the town because they believe it will develop in the future. 

 This matter, however, would depend on the character of the men 

 operating the plant, whether the plant be privately or municipally 

 owned. In general, however, there seems to be a great desire on 

 the part of the municipal plants to supply all the people who wish 

 the service. 



In many cities the privately owned plants fully meet the needs 

 of the people in this respect, and consequently there would need 

 be no change as far as the character of the service is concerned. 



There is one strong reason for municipal ownership, however, 

 which holds in almost every community, and that is the ease of 



