Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-12-26

The Mayor Asks the City Attorney for his
Opinion Upon the Trouble,-Whicht is
Given in Writing-The Street Railway
Company Must Accommodate the PeO-
pie.
The mayor, as reported in the GLOBE,
had ordered the arrest of any street car
driver who should stop his car in the
street for any length of time, because pas
sengers who had paid their fares should
refuse to jump off, and disobey the order
of any police officer to move on. Although
certain in his own mind that this was the
correct thing to do, he wished to satisfy
the public that it was the only and the legal
cours to pursue, and hence called for the
opinion of City Attorney c. H...Benton
upon the subject, propounding a number
of pertinent questions upon the subject.
The following is the reply:
THE CITY ATTORNEYS REPLY.
OFFICE OF CITY ATTORNEY, Minneapolis,
Dec. %. Hon. A. A. Ames, Mayor: Sir
In response to your inquiries of this date,
I have to say:
First-The Street Railway company, being
public carriers, are bound to provide suff-
cient conveyance and to carry as the needs
and convenience of the public demand.
Besides this their administration g.
provides for the forfeiture of their
privileges in case they neglect to properly
operate any one of their lines. OF course
there may be exceptional cases where from
an unexpected rush the company cannot
accommodate.
Second.-Overloading their cars is
CRUEL TO THE HORSES,
of course. This is a misdemeanor in the
nature of a crime.
Between their obligation to carry and
their liability for cruelty to animals; be-
tween two evils they must choose the least.
That is when a car has received all it
ought to carry they should decline to re-
ceive any more passengers;
NOT PUT ANY ONE OFF,
because when passenger gets aboard and
pays his fare he is entitled to his ride; not
stop the car on the streets, for whether
it obstructs the streets or not, the
thirty, more Or less, passengers who are
entitled to their ride should not be hind
cred.
HAVE NOT ENOUGH OARS;
tibet they are getting new ones con-
structed as fast ashley can so that when
they are completed the larger part of the
present complication will cease.
In the meantime the company must not
be cruel to their horses and must, as far as
they possibly can. serve the public by
f1r,, oh nd
portaticn. Very respectfully,
c. H. BENTON, City Attorn ey.
An ARREST MADE.
Yesterday the thing was put into
operation. One Of the
cars on the Fourth avenue
line having been crowded to OVERLOOKING
by passengers, the driver stopped stock
still in the street just after having made
the curve off from Washington avenue on
to Fourth avenue south. The passengers
had paid their fares and refused peremp-
torily to get off when SO ordered by the
cranky driver. Fully an hour was consumed
in this manner, and three other cars had
driven up in the rear in the meantime.
A large crowd of people had also gathered
upon the streets filling and obstructing
not only the sidewalks on either 81 de, but
the street proper as we'll.
Mayor Ames came down from
his hospital and requested
the driver of the advance car to
''Mov1 on"
but he absolutely refused, stating he had
been forbidden to do SO by the street rail-
way company. The mayor blew
his whistle and several patrou-
men responded. The driver was
given another opportunity to move,
but would not avail himself of it. The
mayor said "drive on, Or you will be taken
to the city lookup" ''Not very badly"
answered the driver. "No one will arrest
me-" ''Take him." said his honor, and the
order was instantly obeyed. The driver was
taken tothe calaboose, where he was retained
for time, but, upon the promise that he
would not stop the car in the public streets
to
QUARREL WITH PASSENGERS
again he was released, and later in the day
he was seen upon the platform
of his car, performing his Jshu work as
though nothing extraordinary had &C.
Cured.
PUBLIC OPINION.
The GLOBE reporter also interviewed a
number of the leading citizens upon the
subject. They mostly all endorsed the &C
ton of the mayor. Many stated that for
long time the street railway company
had laughed the people to scorn, fgura-
lively speaking. The city had given them
an exclusive franchise, and now the COM
pany in return said, ''we own these lines,
these cars, these horses and employ these
drivers, hence we propose to run the thing
as it best suits US. If you don't like it.,
what are you going to do about it. Every
body feels highly gratified with the legal
opinion of the city attorney as we'll. They
are pleased to know that this exclusive
franchise can be easily declared null and
void in the event of its having been estab-
lished that the company had failed to
properly operate any one Of the various
lines.
SALT ON THE TRACK.