THE BONDAGE OF CITIES - The Community Environmental Legal ...

458 THE CITY FOR THE PEOPLE.selectmen respecting telegraph and telephone privileges. InMaine, the local consent to street railways provided for by theLaws of 1895, p. 81, is subject to appeal from the municipalofficers to the supreme court. The state lets the municipality.go out of doors and walk around a bit, but keeps a pretty bigstring tied to it;except the right to build or buy light works,it has really nothing but rights of consultation, designationand regulationno power of veto, little power of construction,very little real sovereignty.Several of the sweeping provisionsabove mentioned havealready been noted while speaking of municipal ownership(see paragraphs about Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri,California, South Carolina and Kentucky a few pages back).The Minnesota Statutes (1894) 2592, provide that no corporationshall establish gas, electric light, heat, transportation,or other improvement except on obtaining a franchise fromthe city or village council, and making just compensation, andat the end of each and every franchise period of five years thecouncil may, on a two-thirds vote of the electors of the city uirvillage, buy at eminent domain value and own and operatethe gas, electric light, street railway, water, telephone, heat orpower works. That is something worth having in the way oflocal self government. Take out the five year limitation, extendthe referendum to the granting of franchises, add theinitiative on a 5 per cent, petition,authorize cities to build atthe start, and put the whole thing in the constitution, beyondthe reach of legislative interference, and municipal freedomand sovereignty would be established in respect to the mostimportant local services of a monopolistic character.In Kansas, by the laws of '97, any municipality may grantgas, electric light, water, heat or power privileges for a termnot exceeding 20 years, and it may be terminated in 10 years.Forty days notice of application for a franchise or renewalmust be published, and the municipality must reserve rentsfor the use of streets. Provision is made for filing items ofconstruction cost, income and outgo by the companies, theitems to be open to public inspection. In 1st class cities (thoseof more than 15,000 inhabitants) the mayor and council may