Thus, in 1890 North Dakota limits the debt of cities to five per cent.; but permits county loans to raise seed grain for needy farmers; other States extend the principle of socialism to electric lighting, gas, natural gas, water, sewers, agricultural drainage, irrigation, turnpikes, and cemeteries.  That is to say, all may be built, maintained, or run at the municipal expense, or under municipal control.  In 1895 Wisconsin, North Carolina, Texas, and other States carefully limit State, county, town, or city taxes to prescribed rates.  Texas requires a two-thirds vote on the issue of municipal bonds, and fixes 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 permissive way; that is to say, upon majority vote, and this seems to be the present tendency.  The most striking present experiment is in Milwaukee; both Haverhill and Brockton tried socialistic city government in Massachusetts, but abandoned it.