10. The Plumb plan. Public Ownership League, Bulletin, No. 12, pp. 86-100; Ibid., Bulletin, No. 14, pp. 59-74; 127-130.
Questions
1. Name all the principal public service industries of the present day. Would you say that the following are public utilities: abattoirs; grain elevators; coal mines; pipe lines for conveying oil from city to city; wireless telegraph establishments; airships carrying passengers; automobiles; taxicabs; jitney busses; hotels; steamships; docks; banks; hospitals? Why or why not in each case?
2. Make a definition of public utilities which will square with your answer to the previous question.
3. If a merchant should install an electric generator to provide light for his own store, would he be then engaged in a public service and would he require a franchise? If he desired to sell current to his neighbors (without crossing a street) would he then require a franchise? Give your reasons.
4. Certain industries are particularly suited to public management (for example, the postal service and water supply). Name some others. Why are they suited?
5. What provisions should be made in a street railway franchise as regards term, fares, service, contributions by the company to the public treasury, disposal of the plant when the franchise expires, and regulation during the franchise term?
6. Can you give any reasons why the government should carry mail but not telegrams? Parcels by post but not by express?
7. Name some reasons why the effective regulation of public utilities is difficult.
8. What public utilities are operated in your city? By what companies? When do their franchises expire? Who regulates them? Would any of them be better managed under public ownership?