PAGE 8
APRIL 27, 1905
&e Nebraska. Independent
THE PROGRESSIVE WORLD
GLASGOW'S ACTUAL EXPERIENCE the system was started, and in 1901 all the horse
Since the people of Chicago at the late elec- cars nad disaPPeared. ,
tion ordered city ownership of the street railways A "TheA majority of Glasgow's cars are of the
, . .. . ,,. double deck, single truck pattern, for fifty-five
forthwith the experience of other cities in public pasSengers.
ownership has been closely scrutinized, and the Most 'of the carg have been built at the com.
Tribune gives the following account for Glasgow: pany's own works. A large number of the old
"The fact that a man from Glasgow was horse cars were converted into electric vehicles.
called is taken as an indication that Chicago will The total length of line, measured as single
be guided largely by the experience of the Scot- on Dec' miliS mil6S' f wWch
' , 47 miles was outside of the city.
tish city
"In a letter to Judge Dunne, the general man-
"The tramways of Glasgow have been under ager of Glasgow tramways gave the following
municipal operation since 1894. There are 70.34 comparison of the fares under, the company and
miles of double track in a city a little more . under, municipal management:
than one-third the size of Chicago, and the service " , : Private. City.,
is Improved electric, the power being supplied by Fare. v - - Miles. Miles.
the. municipal works. 1 cent ..none .58
"The Glasgow tramways always have been 2 cents ,..1,12 : 2.40
the property of the municipality. Under the tram- 3 cents ....... .1.S0 3.48
ways act in 1870 the corporation borrowed the 4 cents 2.20 4.64
money for the 'common good' to construct the 5 cents ..... none : 5 . 80
lines. Originally they ran through several su- 6 cents ........3.23 6.80
burbs, but with the extension of the city in 1891 cents none 8.15
all the system was brought within the boundaries. 8 cents .none 9 . 09
The lines were leased in 1871 to the Glasgow y2 cents none. 10.15
Tramway and Omnibus company under the fol- The only letter received by Judge Dunne
l0wifeI?nJSJ , . . , from the traction expert, James Dalrymple, who
" 'That the company pay the recouping inter- ig comi to Chicag0. says in part:
est on money borrowed for making the lines, -,,, , , . , . r. j
including the parliament expense. T. ' e hours of la?or have befn uch; reduced'
" 'That 3 per cent on this total expenditure Lnder the company the men worked twelve hours
be paid to the municipality for the purpose of a day They nw work e hours a day and six
paying off the debt days a week' Every man Sets flve days' holiday
. "'That 4 per cent of the cost of constructing with Pay- 'Evfry man now has a complete sum-
the lines be lodged with the . municipality for mer and winter uniform provided free Every
meeting renewals to be executed by the com- - man is now on full pay whenever he enters the
pany under supervision of the corporation. service Formerly a man might not be in re-
"'That $750 per mile be paid for the use of ceipt f full pay for months. Motormen now re-
the streets ceive, a bonus for freedom from accidents.
"'That' all other expenses incurred by the. mv " he population of Glasgow is about 780,000.
corporation in connection with the tramways be The str,eet railway system extends beyond the
paid by the company.' Zd additl0nal J Pulatl0n f fJ3
"Under this agreement the corporation, after 220000- ' The Clty area extends to nearly 12'700
paying interest and sinking fund charges, re- acref, " , . ... ... ,,
ceived an average of $13,830 a year, which went ' The, ,only city in Scotland in which the
to the 'common good.' The total profit during street railways are in the hands of a private
the twenty-three years was $318,628, and the high- company is Edinburgh. The lines belong to the
est received in any one year was $28,300. municipality and are leased by a company They
"Five years before the expiration of the lease are operated on a cable system. The Glasgow
the company sought additional powers from par- syste,m s suPerior in every respect,
liament and entered into negotiation with the The citizens of GlasSow and the surround
corporation for a renewal of the lease. After. ing districts are perfectly satisfied with the ope
much discussion terms were submitted. The ne- ration of the street railway by the municipality,
gotiations. however, were broken off in April, Corruption in municipal affairs is unknown.' "
1892, and in the following year the corporation a-rAne tav du 1
decided to provide new premises,' plant and equip- THE NEW YORK MORTGAGE TAX bill
ment for the thirty-one miles of double track, and This is a very important measure, involving
have the undertaking complete for July 1, 1894. as it does a new departure in taxation in this
It was a big task. If the time spent in prelimi- country. It is virtually a single tax. The World
nary arrangements in acquiring sites, is deducted has made the following synopsis of the bill:
and also the-trial period before starting, it will "It begins by stating that it applies to real
be found the constructive work was carried out estate mortgages, and that the mortgage shall be
in around a year. The corporation chose as its regarded as located at thes ame place as the
general manager John Young, who for seven- property mortgaged. The mortgage tax is to be;
teen years had been connected with Its cleans- ia lieu of all taxation by counties, cities, towns,
ing department, and his seclection turned out to villages, school districts and other local subdi
be a fortunate one. Six months ago Charles T.v visions but not of the franchise tax, the inheri
Yerkes engaged Mr. Young to manage his Lon- tance tax nor the transfer tax. The exemption Is
don traction system. . from any other direct taxation than the five mills
"During the year nine buildings were erected ; per annum,
for stabling around 4,000 horses and housing ; "The exemptions from the mortgage tax are
cars. There was erected a large central work- state or United States loans, and state, city, coun
shop for the manufacture of vehicles, ' and 240 ty,. village, or town bonds. Where the mortgage
were constructed. The corporation insisted on'! covers both real and personal property it is
having one style of car with all the parts, inter-': exempt in proportion to the value) of the personal
changeable. . While - convinced that mechanical property. There are no other exemptions for non
haulage was the power of the future the corpo-' residence or any other cause. .
ration had no : other, choice .than beginning with" "The tax is to be levied only on mortgages
horse power. ' : recorded on and after June 1, 1905. Its amount
"The success of the new service was assured is one-half of one per cent annually. The tax be-
from the first. As compared with 4,428,518 pas-' comes due on the 1st day of July, and after that
sengers carried by the tramways during the four is a lien upon the mortgage,
weeks ending May 31, 1894, the" lines handled 6,- "Every new mortgage must contain a state-
114,789 passengers the two corresponding weeks ment of the amount advanced on the mortgage
in 1895, an increase of 38 per cent. The fares and of the maximum amount of the obligation,
had been reduced 33 per cent, but the tramway If this statement is not made the tax-rate will
company had started a cheap omnibus line in be six mills per annum instead of five. No mort-
opposition to the corporation line. gage shall be accepted for record without the pay-'
. "In October, 1898, the overhead system of ment of the first year's tax.
electric traction was started on an isolated line "The tax is payable on October 1. If not
of 2 1-2 miles of double track, and its success soon paid by October 1 there is an interest penalty of
was demonstrated. In Jauary of the following 1 per cent per month. The payment is to made to
year the work of installing trolleys throughout the officer where the mortgage is recorded, who
shall Indorse the payment thereon and upon his
record.
"Lists shall be made by the recording officers
of all taxable mortgages; one copy shall be filed
with the state tax commissioners, one with the
state comptroller and one copy in the recording
office. These lists are public records, open to in
spection, and notice
"Trust mortgages shall be taxable as other
mortgages, and the trustee is responsible for the
payment of the tax, the amount of which he can
deduct from his payments to the beneficiaries to
the trust. Claims to exemption for. personalty
must be filed or the tax paid on thew hole amount
of the mortgage.
"An appeal may be taken to the board of
state tax commissioners, who shall hear such
an appeal in October, sitting in the various cities
of the state for the purpose.
"Where a mortgage covers property in more
than one county, the state board of tax commis
sioners shall apportion the tax between the differ
ent counties. It hall also determine the exemp
tion! .
"Taxes take precedence as a lien over the
mortgagee's liability. If the tax remains unpaid
the mortgage is to be sold at public auction to
the highest bidder and the tax paid out of the
proceeds. Within six months from the date of the
sale an interested party may redeem the mort
gage. - ' .": -
"Half the net proceeds of the mortgage tax
are to be paid to the state treasurer and the re
maining half to the county, town and village
where the mortgaged property is located.
"No mortgage may be foreclosed Or assigned
or recorded or marked satisfied until the tax is
paid. Taxes may be paid n advance and a dis
count at the rate of five per cent per annum will
be allowed.
"The holder of any mortgage already recorded
may secure exemption from all other taxation on
it by paying the half-cent tax.
"Railroad bonds issued before June 1 are not
subject to the provisions of the act, unless indi
vidual owners wish to take advantage of the
clause last quoted. And if future railroad bonds
fir A m ft Hp tn rnvpr In nart norannfil ninnoitw
thev will to that, fwtent he. MPmnt."- :
THE PACE THAT KILLS
Physicians are frequently asserting that the
fast life of American cities is producing increas
ingly fatal results. In the last three months the
number of sudden deaths in the borough of Man
hattan have been much larger than in any sim
ilar period in the history of the city and in the
last eighteen months a corresponding increase
has" been noted. A large proportion of this in
crease may be traced directly to heart affections
and other diseases growing out of the tense life
the victims are leading.
Says Dr. Henry P. Loomis: '.'Increase, in
crease, nothing but increase in the percentage of
mortality year by year. In 1860 the death rate
was only 13 per cent, and in 1904 27 per cent.
I believe the figures this year maintain this ratio
of increase. There can be no question that the
hurry-skurry of modern life in this city is re
sponsible for this unfortunate state of affairs.
Life is lived too fast. Men eat too fast, work too
hard, play too hard. . All this involves strain.
Nervous strain in time involves heart , or other
organic trouble. Then the victim falls dead."
Said another physician; "It is not necessary
for scientists to point out, the fact that the pres
ent day life in this city is a killing one. The facts
are. perfectly patent to the. veriest layman. Men
drop dead nowadays whose hearts, under, ordinary
conditions, were good enough to last. 100 years.
Mind you, I do not say they are perfect, but they
are good enough for all practical purposes. Hurry
home, eat their meals so swiftly that the food is
but half masticated, washed down by a glass or
several glasses of water, then go out. Something
happens to excite them or arouse other deep emo
tions and then crack goes the heart. They fall
dead. Men die that way, men with nothing radi
cally wrong with their hearts that we can dis
cover, victims of hurry, indigestion, nervous ex
citement and shock. The heart is prone to shocks
and the times certainly supply them."
The coroner's physician testifies that "Acci
dent, suicide, even murder results from the pre
ent tenseness of life." .
