REMEDIAL THEORIES AND EXPERIMENTS 175 



effective supervision of the quality of the water 

 supply has had much to do with the change to mu- 

 nicipal ownership and control.* Whatever may be 

 said of the prevailing demand for the municipalization 

 of certain public monopolies, and whatever charges 

 may be brought against municipal ownership by its 

 opponents, retainers of vested interests and others, 

 it is incontestable that the change to municipal 

 ownership in the case of the water supply has had 

 the beneficent result of reducing the dangers of 

 epidemics from polluted water. 



Nor can it be denied that, in this country at least, • 

 private ownership of the water supply is frequently 

 attended with serious dangers that menace the health 

 of the communities in which such private ownership 

 prevails. Outbreaks of typhoid are much less com- 

 mon where the water supply has been for some time 

 in the hands of the municipalities than where it is 

 privately owned and controlled. And it is noticeable 

 that where, under municipal ownership, the death- 

 rate from typhoid is high, it is much easier to get 

 effective steps taken toward remedying the condition 

 than in the case of similar conditions existing under 

 private ownership. The case of Ithaca occurs to 

 mind as showing the fact that when the water supply 

 of a city is in private hands and managed for private 

 profit, many of the most influential citizens, who 

 would otherwise be found fighting for betterment, 



