The middle class and debt financing of municipal trading: A case study in 19th century Glasgow and Birmingham.
Item
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Title
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The middle class and debt financing of municipal trading: A case study in 19th century Glasgow and Birmingham.
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Identifier
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AAI3169977
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identifier
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3169977
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Creator
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Saltzman, Steven H.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Timothy Alborn
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Date
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2005
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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History, European
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Abstract
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Municipal sanitary improvement in nineteenth century Britain was largely the result of the urban middle class political elite who used local government to implement needed reforms. It has been generally recognized that the middle class became politically dominant in British cities; however the role of debt financing as a factor in that process has been neglected. Further, more attention has been given to conditions in England versus Scotland, yet Glasgow was the second most populous city in Britain from 1860 to 1890. The role of central government boards and agencies have been emphasized, yet much initiative remained with local governments for most of the century. Although it has been argued that it was the middle class which paid for the urban improvements in sanitation that became increasingly accepted as necessary after the 1840's, almost no evidence has been provided to show where the money actually came from. This dissertation offers that evidence by focusing on the financing of municipal trading in water and gas primarily in Glasgow between 1855 and 1869, and then turns to Birmingham in the mid-1870's to examine how the process evolved.;This work offers explanations regarding the growth of civic consciousness and the increasing willingness of the middle class political elite to move beyond laissez-faire policies and to begin the process of urban reform. It examines why debt funding became central to municipal improvement projects, and how the middle class often split over competing visions concerning the proper role of local government. It also explains how Parliamentary ambivalence increased the cost of financing, especially in Scotland, and how a variety of Parliamentary obstacles were overcome. A study of Glasgow's municipal records provides a statistical account of water and gas financing over a twenty-year period. This work explains the general financial conditions in mid-century that affected investment decisions of both institutions and individuals and how municipal investments fit into the portfolios of a number of local investors. Finally, Birmingham's financial turn to London in the mid 1870's is explored.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
