the debt limit at five per cent. In 1896 Missouri
rejects a constitutional amendment permitting municipal gas and water
socialism on majority vote of the voters. The same year the failure
of such enterprises begins to show itself in a statute of Iowa
authorizing municipal plants to be sold upon a popular vote. The
socialist town of Hamilton, Ohio, actually went into the hands of a
receiver; a similar result followed the English experiments in the
towns of Poplar and West Ham.

In 1897 many other States adopted a limit for State, city, county, or
town taxes. Indeed, it may be stated generally, without going into
further details, that such laws are practically universal throughout
the South and West, and prevail to some extent as to cities only in
New England, and the same may be said of laws fixing a debt limit
which States, counties, cities, or towns may not exceed. Such laws are
very generally evaded, as by leasing desired improvements of a private
company, or (in Indiana at least) the overlapping of municipal
districts; thus there may be (as formerly in England) city, town,
school district or poor district, each separate and not conterminous.

While it is obvious that municipal socialism has rather decreased in
the last ten years, laws restricting the granting of franchises have
become far more intelligent and are being generally adopted. The best
example of such legislation is probably to be found in Kansas. The
general principles are that no franchise can be given but for a
limited time, that it must be bought at public auction, that the
earnings beyond a certain percentage on investment must revert to
the city, and that there must be a referendum to popular vote in the
locality interested. In 1899 Michigan declares the municipal ownership
of street railways unconstitutional, but Nevada passes a statute
for municipal ownership of telephone lines. In 1903 the municipal
ownership of gas and oil wells is permitted in Kansas, and of coal
or fuel yards in Maine. A law similar to the latter was declared
unconstitutional by the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Missouri adopts a
sweeping statute for the municipal ownership of "any public utilities"
in cities of less than thirty thousand population. In 1904 Louisiana
permits small towns to own and operate street railways. Other States
copy the Missouri statute as to municipal ownership of all or any
public utilities, and generally the principle is extended, but only in
a perm