| Transcript |
Germany
132 cities own and operate street car lines:
1,333 cities own and operate water systems;
758 cities ovn and operate gas plants;
434 cities own and operate electric light and power plants:
783 cities own and operate slaughter houses.
United States
3,045 cities own and operate water systems;
1,562 cities own and operate light and power plants;
30 cities own and operate gas plants;
3 cities ora and operate street railways.
In Addition to the above there are many other forms of municipal
ownership, of course. Many of the modern cities own and control large
tracts of land. Berlin owns 39,000 acres which is about 9 per cent of the
total area of the city; Munich owns 13,000 acres which is 23 per cent of
the total area of the city. Many other cities are large owners of land.
Zurich, Switzerland, owns and rents dwelling houses. So also do such
cities as Paris, Buenos Ayres, and Sydney. A great many cities o.vn
bakeries; many own restaurants, hotels, drug stores, boarding houses,
theaters, libraries, picture galleries. In fact, there is scarcely a public
utility of any kind that has not in some city or other been taken over and
owned and operated publicly.
We have not included in the above any reference to the less common
forms of municipal ownership of which there are many cases. Boston
owns and operates successfully a printing plant. Brookings, S. Dak.,
owns a telephone system. Cincinnati owns a steam railway over 300 miles
in length. Many cities o.vn public baths, docks, piers, ferries, sub-ways;
nearly all cities own parks, schools and libraries. A few own ice plants.
PUBLIC OWNERSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES
The following is duly a partial list of the various forms of public ownership in the United States.
Public Schools. The public school system of the United States
employs 590,000 people, involves an annual expenditure of $550,000,000
and a capital investment of $1,500,000,000.
Postal Department including the postal savings banks and the
parcel post employs 241,820 people.
Forests. There are 162 forest tracts owned by the government witli
a total of 184,611,000 acres.
Land. The government still owns 657,000,000 acres of land.
Panama (.anal. The canal involves a capital investment of
$400,000,000 and employed 24,424 people during 1915. The construction
of this immense project involved the public ownership and operation of
railways, ships, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, cement plants and numerous
other utilities.
Reclamation. There are 29 reclamation projects carried on by the
government involving a capital investment of $129,951,907.
61
|
