him means a great deal.

Our municipal monopolies are now taxing us that they may pay swollen
dividends on millions of dollars of fictitious capital. It is quite time
that the public recovered possession of the valuable franchises which
are its rightful property, and managed them for its own benefit. The
legal difficulties in regaining the title to these franchises are
certainly not insuperable, and the readjustment of capitalization can be
made on the principle outlined in the case of steam railways. To
illustrate: The city of "Polis" purchases the works which supply it with
water from the private company owning them, paying the average market
value of the stock and bonds during five years past, which amounts,
perhaps, to one and one half times the cost of the works. The revenue
from the works has been sufficient, probably, to pay 8 per cent. on
these securities. The city issues 3 per cent. ten-year bonds to raise
funds for the purchase, and it then operates the works so as to gain a
yearly revenue of 6 per cent., or 2 per cent. less than that gained by
the private company. At the end of ten years the surplus income from the
works is enough to pay more than one third the bonded indebtedness; and,
if desired, the rest may be reissued as new bonds to run for a long
period.

The three classes of monopolies just discussed--railways, mineral
wealth, and municipal works--include practically all the monopolies
which are generally acknowledged to be subject to the public control by
virtue of their use of natural agents or the exercise of franchises
granted by the public.

We will next consider the monopolies in trade, in manufacturing, and
in the purchase and sale of labor, to see what steps should be taken
to protect them from encroaching on the rights of the people. In
exercising the right of the people at large to take control of these
purely private industries from the hands of their owners, we are
assuming a power which, like a strong medicine, may be as potent for
evil as for good. Only extreme necessity should sanction its use, and
its abuse must be carefully guarded against. It is not saying too much
to assert that the abuse of this power has already become an evil. We
have become so used to legislation for the benefit of special
industries, that legislation for their injury does not seem to be
regarded as the exercise of a dangerous prerogative. Thus we are
threatened with a flood of laws to fix the prices in vari