The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-06-22
RAPID TRANSIT(?)
Sixth Avenue Property Owners Dis
GUESSING the Question.
ANY OK BUT OURS.
AppIaudng Horse Railroad Men and
Car Conductors.


the un biased admn Of justice. and who arc
opposed Wholesale connscaon of the streets and
the benefit ola private corporation held
at Chckerng Hall last night Considering the weather,
the meeting we'll attended, and the enthusiasm Of
those present bespoke tho interest they felt In its obs
jects Tho body OF the hall mainly occupied by
car conductors. Tho meeting was organized BY the
election OF Henry NJ Taber chairman and over forty
gentlemen vice presidents.
Aftcr the announcement OF these names the secre-
tary read the following preamble and resolutions,
which announced the platform OF principles In
vndication OF which the meeting was called.
THE RESOLUTIONS
Whereas private SPECTATORS acting In the name Of
heavily eneun,bered corporation and claiming m nnre'
mdss the s- Of pase op Ss
OF an elevated railway Of best business
many miIiion.; without, proposing 70 make =, any n
on the route viii 10 damaged many times more the
and or this aamass ali be- ieasea And
whereas further these plans succeed part
rest, and It's business Interests mus, seriously suffer
and improved at the Of the adjacent property not
TO isfshs'sS
them and for the special use those interested In the
Resolves That We most earnestly protest against any
by parties enrich themselves by the
Resolved Th.. win rests. to the y all lssi.i
s;aa aid by ss .s s1s .s
ieyinx that a necessity exists for speedy, safe
s Ss %. Of Of Ss @
mat II, Ss Of n to s a' to
money in the pockets Of sno,her We believe hat the
s for the city and we believe that So
ss y % ar. .T os ss the
Resolved. That committee Of twenty be appointed ny
the chair with add to their NUMBER whose duty IL
shall be to take such steps to promote
wise and method Of rapid transit and oppose
der grctenes Of m:sting public need, will produce great
THE LETTERS.
Among tho letters read from the invited who were
unable to attend from Ex-Governor
John T. Hoffman, IN concluding which that
gentleman said, 81 am strongly opposed
to hinderng, by mere technical objections the
completion OF any work which promises fairly meet
the wants Of long wanting and ongsufcring people;
but majority, however large, necessity, how
great should be permitted to override the
ssitutional rights Of any citizen"
Colonel j. A. Conkling, in his letter. says:-"Let mo
say that in tho prosecution OF my business have
casion pass Amiy daily and South Fifth ave-
frequently, and that never do without having
my scnse OF justice outraged and my indignation
cited by the ghostly skeleton which, under the name
OF the Gilbert Elevated Railroad. encumbcrs both OF
these streets
In his letter OF regret Mr. Marshall o. Roberts says
81 favor OF raptd transit (propcrly constructed
but not such an abomnation as this one is, and
knowledged 10 be by every intelligent engineer
protest signed by the officers Of sixty-two in
surance companies, and which was sent TO the last
Legislature was also read.
GgsERAL AsPiNwALLs SPEECH
The first speaker introduced was General Lloyd Al.
pinwar, who said that he was present to protest,
In The name OF humasity and justice.
npnp HA IF lhn lat
that Of the franchises granted certain corporations
were Of sufficient importance TO occupy the time and
to be paid tor He did think that tho greatest good
TO the greatest number be attane ignoring the
rights Of saxpayIng citizens The day Of street rail
be superseded, oven they had supsrseded the old
omnibus but they should be succeeded by something
that did not present many objections than were
sought TO be rcmedicd
RESULT OF MUCH rHoUGHr
MI; Robert n. strahan: who was member Of
ibe last Assembly, said that, as he represented a
and through which the proposed elevated
OF rapid transit, and The means by which that de.
sired end was 10 be attained, much thought and was
quite prepared 10 speak on the subject When he
u be guided by The merits Of the case
and ,S moi y what hat, this n.
dash OF mental CONFUSION the subject Of rapid tran
sit, but reflection brought him light at last, and he
acted from honest convection all through his
ments TO the constitution OF the State, special
Legislation was prohibited. By an Ingenious BIT Of
OF 1875" made applicable to the whole STATE, the
two schemes OF elevated transit In New
n ,ha e,ovsS ss and Tor
for the appointment OF whom provision was made
should happen to lay out route coincident with thar
OF any existing or contemplated road which bad
already obtained a charter, the company owning such
charters should build such routes as the comms
sioners might Direct per plans
he
,aimed inserted to relieve the Gilbert Elevated
Railroad, which did not have money enough TO follow
Is charter, and also that the commission
lard route concdcnt with that already taken by
general law which empowered the building OF a road TO
connect with the steam ferries and steam railroad
depots IN New York. THIS he supposed was inserted
Tor the purpose Of protecting and fostering tho New
York Elevated Railroad which had proposed to mako
the circuit Of the Island OF Manhattan and connect
with tho Grand Central Depot Forty.second street
Tho result OF this law has been, according 10
Mr.. Strahan, TO centre in the hands OF these
two corporations the privilege o! providing rapid
transit, to the exclusion Of all other methods In
conclusion he said that II these privileges were 10
DC enjoyed by these companies they should be
should not be saddcd upon those who derive
beDo1t from tho projects Mr.. Strahan said he had
apology 10 offer for his conduct in the legislature and
was not present 10 mako any explanation Of IL further
than that gwen IN hrs remarks
TRANSIT.
Mr.. David NJ. stone. of the journal Of Commerce,
made n plea Tor slow transit In horse cars claim
Ing that It produced a oontemplatvc turn
Of mind which was nealthful and beneficial TO
4 OF business TOO much attention he
said, was being paid TO rapid transit, and II rapid
transit succeeded the business interests Of the
tropolis would suffer. After this plea tor Mr..
Stone called "sent mental culturc'' Mr.. Bergh
was introduced, and said he took mean-
choly interest in rapid transit proposed
OIL one leg He said the most eloquent thing he could
say was that he was not going TO say much. He
suspected that some OF bis auditors were
wondering what brought him 70 the meeting,
as none OF the inferior animals were concerned the
outrage OF rapid transit about TO be pcrpcrated the
city OF New York. There cruelty, he snd, cruelty
70 property. long and very sad calculation the
dtiens under which cruelty DO perpctrated prop
erty here followed. Mr. Bcrgh com planned that he had
been identified with The inferior animals long that
many Of his friends and fellow citizens Ind
regard HIM as one OF them; tolc several funny stories
about an old woman, about Fernando Woods
llbcrahty In dealing with the city. about
his doings abroad, and finally concluded by
ing that himself end the HERALD had shaken hands
across tho cEasm sent the bloody shirt to the washer
woman and firmly united on sw III milk
DR. Isaac l. Hayes followed Mr.. Bergh and explain ed