Sec. 4. #Forms of municipal ownership#.  Local political units acquire ownership only in local industries and in wealth used locally by the citizens.  Nearly all parks and recreation grounds are owned by cities.  As population has become more dense, private yards of any extent have become impossible, in cities, for all but the wealthy.  Public ownership of parks insures a “breathing place” and recreation grounds to the common man in the most economical way.  Of late the movement for large and small public parks and playgrounds has gone on rapidly in American cities.  Related to parks are public baths, public libraries, art collections, museums, zoological gardens, etc.  Some have seen danger in this policy, but the public sees no such danger so long as the things supplied gratify the higher tastes—­as art, music, literature, and social recreation.  These give no encouragement to the increase of improvident families and to the breaking down of independent character.  The means of local communication—­streets, roads, bridges—­were once owned largely by private citizens.  Here and there still are found toll roads and toll bridges built under charters granted a century ago, but tolls on public thoroughfares are for the most part abolished.  A public market, where the producer from the farm and the city consumer can meet, is an old institution.  About two thirds of the cities of 30,000 population or more have public markets or scales, and fully one third have public markets of importance.  New York City has six large retail and wholesale markets, for selling meat and farm produce, in which rents or fees are charged, and several open markets.  There has recently been a large movement in this direction.

The providing of apparatus for extinguishing fires is always a public duty; the conveyance of waste water is increasingly a public function.  The supply of pure water for domestic and business uses, for fire protection and for street cleaning, while often a private enterprise in villages, and sometimes in large cities, is increasingly undertaken by public agencies.  Most of the largest cities now own their own water supply systems.  Public ownership of gas and electric lighting is less common, as the utility supplied is not so essential and the industry is somewhat less subject to monopoly; but the difference is one of degree only.  Street railroads are often under public ownership in Europe; but there have thus far been few cases of the kind in the United States and Canada.[4]

Sec. 5. #Localized production favoring monopoly#.  A number of these enterprises have characteristics in common which appear to make inevitable their drift into monopolistic control.  Waterworks, gas, electric lighting, street railways, telephone systems, are among these.  However fierce may be the competition for a time, sooner or later either one company drives out the other or buys it up, or both come to an agreement by which the public is made to pay higher prices.