The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1883-12-15

is less active than 1t has been at any time
for years. Clothing men are especially
down-hear,ed and suffering much because
of the mild winter weather. Business firms
generally are reducing the salaries of their
employees IN order, in measure, to make
up for the loss of trade. Reports from st.
Louis are of the same nature. Business
men elsewhere who find less activity in
trade than they have been accustomed to,
may derive some consolation from the
knowledge that in their uusought ease they
have some ilustrious companions.
The council joint committee, composed
of the ordinance and finance committees
which in turn are composed Of Aldermen
Hughes, McHale, Lancaster and Blake and
the mayor as ex ,officio member, met at the
council chamber last night for the purpose
Of considering the petition Of the St, Louis
aad Cairo railroad company to the city
council of Cairo, referred to the joint COM
mittee at the last meeting of the city coun-
| Gil. The committee had notified Captain
Williams, of the railroad company, of its
intention to meet, in order that any repre-
sentatlves of the company, desiring to be
present at the meeting. might come; and IS
a result, Col. Hamilton superintendent, and
Captain Williams agent were both
IN attendance as was also Judge F. Bross.
The meeting was called to order by Alder
man Blake, and was organized by the cleo
ton of Alderman Hughes to the chair and
Alderman Blake as secretary. The secre-
tary then read the petition of the company,
which was published in these columns
at the time it was received by the council,
and then the committee relspsed into sort
of mum socisble" without the humorous
features usual to such an occasion, however.
Mayor Halliday finally broke the silence by
q concise statement of the case now from
the city's standpoint, the strong points of
which statement were, in substance, that
since the city and Col, Taylor together
had expended much money in repairing and
strengthening the levees and banks on the
Mississippi side of the city 80 that there
was now no longer any reason to apprehend
danger from the Mississippi river, TIE rail
road company could not offer the city any
iniucement to gran, it the important privi-
lege asked for. When the city really need
ed aid to protect herself and asked this aid
as consideration for the important valua-
Bile privilege asked for by the company,
then the company refused to render the aid.
Now the city had helped herself and others
had also done large share, so that the
only inducement the railroad company
could have offered the city was now no lon
ger available. Furthermore, there was now
no longer any good reason why the railroad
company should not remain where it now
is. The banks were safe from abrasion by
the river, and il only required the expendi-
ture of few thousand dollars by the com
psny to raise its track above overflow so as
not to be interrupted each year by high
water. The company would not have to
expend a cent to obtain right Of way
where it now ran, for it could exchange the
right OF way that it has for the one it now
occupies. The only object the company
could now have in coming inside the citys
levee was to avoid the necessity of e1pend-
ing few thousand dollars TO raise Its
track above high water for short distance.
The whole question had now resolved it.
self into one of a few dollars and cents for
the railroad company and nothing
for the city, and he did not
think that the council, as represen.
tatives of the peoples interests, should
vote away valuable franchise for no other
reason at all than to enable railroad com
pany to save few thousand dollars.
Another strong point, made by Alderman
Blake, was that the city council had no
power to grant right-of.way over any
street to any railroad company except upon
petition Of the owners of more than half
the property abutting the street or portion
of street sought to be used, and that in this
case such petition was not before the coun :
Gil; that on the contrary, the owners of
more than half the property abutting on
the portion Of street over which right-of-
way was asked for in the petition before
the committee, had themselves enjoined the
city council from granting d
right-of.way and that said in
junction still remained in force.
Alderman McHale created merry ripple
all around by saying that 1t looked very
small for a great, big, wealthy railroad cor
poration to seek to crawl IN behind our
levees after letting US bear all the dangers
and heavy expenses incident to their erec-
ton: and with a twinkle in his off eve he