St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-06-24
GOOD MOTOR SCHEME,
And an Equally Good Opportunity
to Secure the Benefits Of Com
natitiOn


AS outlined in the GLOBE on Sunday,
the 10th inst, scheme to put in an
electric motor line into the Midway
district has been developing for some
time. The scheme is a good one. and
will open up a section of country hith-
erto inaccessible. The plan is to build
an electric motor line from the corner
of Seventh and Wabasha, down the
former to Oakland avenue, up Oakland
to Grand avenue, and so on to Cretin
avenue; another from Wabasha and
Fifth, along the latter to, Seventh
Cretin avenue. This would. open
up Reserve township and greatly raise
the value of property in. the Midway
district. Mr.. Lowry has been investi-
eating different systems of electric mo-
tors, and thinks he has struck the right
one. Ii he has, he proposes to enter the
street car horses for the Twin City
Derby, or to some bootmaker for MAX
ing caifskin boots of. He will then har-
ness lightning to the cars, and wilisk
the nickeEpayers about Ramsey county
at the rate of twenty miles an hour:
The projectors are Archbishop Ireland
and Thomas Cochran Jr., and they
railway company whereby they are to
the line is in operation in six months.
As prominent real estate man ex-
pressed it yesterday. the scheme is all
right, but seems to have been projected
on an entirely wrong basis. WHAT"
asked he, lis the use of placing that
much valuable money into the already
bullying pockets of the railway COM
pany? If Archbishop Ireland and
Thomas Cochran, Jr., are willing to
make present OF a quarter OF million
dollars to Thomas Lowry, they are
welcome to do so. but the
citizens of st. Paul should have
enough backbone to cry. halt! when
they see him. monopolizing the rapid
transit. business in their CITY," Few
things would do more to benefit the city
than some competition in the way of
street car lines. If the monopoly was
broken, if a franehaiSe were given to
another company, the old one would he
put on its mettle and both would strive
to give the best possible service. "Mr.
Lowry" continued he, possesses no
freehold to the city of st. Paul. 1t is
true he got a grapevine hold on her
when she was yet in her teens, but now
that she has become of age can she not
release herself from the arms of the
octopus? Here is the very opportunity
she has been awaiting so long. While
Mr.. Lowry may not be willing to build
the proposed line without $250,000
bonus, there are other parties who
would be glad to do it for nothing.
Why do not the projectors of the new
line show their public spirit by helping
new company to get franchise? They
would be just a quarter of a million
dollars richer by so doing and would
benefit the city by bringing down red
hot competition ON the heads of those
who have checked the eity'S growth by
emitting to provide rapid communica-
ton between the city and her suburbs.
1t has been fully demonstrated that the
streets of this city belong to the tax
payers and not to Thomas Lowry.
Surely The council has sand enough to
grant a franchise to another COM
company which will build an
electric motor line along the proposed
routes, and will exact no blood money
for so doing. Let us have all the cleo
trio motor lines, cable car and horse ear
lines that can be put in, but for the
city's sake cease to aecede to the cries,
"Give, give, give"
These sentiments are Endorsed by a
large number of disintereSted citizens,
men who have the good of the city at
heart, and who want to see some cOmpe-
tition in the street railway business.
One of the leading lawyers in the city,
on being asked what he thought OF it,
said: The projected scheme is good
one, magnificent one, but why should
s25o,o0O bonus be necessary?
Thomas Lowry will not build the
line without it? Very we'll, let
somebody else build the line. 1t is not
as if Mr.. Lowry was the only man in
the world who can build an electric
motor line. Other parties can and are
anxious to do so. 1t would be only fair
to give them show. and lift the great
burden of monopoly from the should
ers of the city. Under this burden she
has groaned and struggled. and now,
when there is chance to drop it, why
go on tightening the straps that bind it
to her back? / say let some other COM
pany have the franchise. There is an
other willing to do it, and without any
milliOn-dollar bonus"
Another man standing by said:
Those are my sentiments exactly. 1t
is all right for MIR. Lowry to ask for
bonuses and to take all he can get, but.
think people are foolish to let him
keep up the bleeding process when
there is absolutely no necessity for it,"