The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-04-11
STREET RAILROAD FRANCHISES.

- u VI thO
~dianapolis and of the Citizens Street.
railroad Company are identical
in some respects and opposed in
others. Both are interested in the
growth and prosperity of the city
and in all that contributes to that end.
AS the city grows, its residents will all
be benefited and the str~eet-railrOad
company will enjoy increased traffic.
Both are interested in extending and
improving the system and the means OF
transit, for that means better facilities
of lOcOmOtiOn, increased public con-
venience and increased travel. On
these lines the puSlic interest and the
company's interest Ill parallel. But
when it comes to the question OF fran
chise they diverge. The use of the
streets which belong to the cityis neces-
sary to the existence of the company
not merely to its profitable manage
ment, but to its existence. The right
to use them can only be acquired from
the city. This valuable franchise,
owned by the people and indispensable
to the company, is something which
the city has to sell and which the COM
pany can afford to pay for. 1t is the
interest of the city to get all it is worth,
and the interest of the company to get
it for as little as possible. This opposi-
ton Ofinterests callsfOr negotiation and
adjustment, but not necessarily for hos
tility. The company have made a large
investment here and made very marked
improvements in the service. They are
entitled to fair, and even liberal, treat
ment as an encouragement to further ex-
| tension and improvements of the service,
but they are not entitled to valuable
| franchises for nothing. We do not sup
| pose they expect that, and we are not
aware that anybody has proposed it.
Certainly the idea is not to be enter
| tanned for a moment. The day of Civ
ing awaymunicipalf franchises is passed.
Their value is too we'll I'm derstood. The
existing franchise of the company,
| granted originally for nothing, has be-
come enormously valuable. The city
will never do so foolish a thing again as
to give away, out of hand, a franchise
| worth a large sum annually. This mean
| that it will neither extend the cOmpany's
present franchise nor grant a new one
to this company or any other without
a fair equivalent. just what it should
| be, or how it should be determined, are
| questions for negotiation. Different
| cities have adopted different methods
of a per cent. on gross receipts, a fixed
| sum payable yearly, or an anntal tax ON
| each car run. Either the first or the Sec
| Ond method is decidedly preferable to
| the last, and either would furnish a
basis for negotiation and agreement.
The cOmpany's present franchise has
twelve years to u n The proposition to
extend it so long before its expiration is
quite out of the ordinary course
of business, and ought not to
be entertained without conclusive
reasons. If entertained at all, it should
only be on the basis of present
as well as prospective advantage to the
city. The point to be carefully guarded
in any negotiation is that the valuable
franchise of the present company must
not be enlarged or extended, either in
its present form or any other, without a
full equivalent. With this point fully
and carefully covered the company
should be treated as literally as fair
minded business men are in the habit of
treating one another. The fact that
they paid for the present franchise all it
is worth goes for nothing so far as the
city is concerned, since the big purchase
money for the franchise went into other
pockets. Hereafter the city must not
grant any franchise or any part of n
without a fair equivalent.