Wichita eagle., 1889-09-08
THE STREET RAILWAY.
The Eagles Position Touching the Questions OF
Paving. Polling, Etc.

a second consideration, and wherever or
whenever the enunciation Of a conviction
or Of a policy seemed proper, this paper
has never failed to promptly and tearlessly
make il. That it may have made mistakes
in judgment is probable, but that it was
ever wrong at heart very few of its readers
even could be persuaded to believe. For
the past seven weeks, and up to within
three days, the editor OF the EAGLE has
been away from home, during which time
several questions of material i'm
portance have arisen. touching which,
and owing to such absence, the EAGLE
could not take the stand. Among these
questions was that Of a new ordinance
permitting the use Of electricity by the
Wichita Street Railway company, which
proposition seems TO have involved the
problem OF poles, paving, etc, and OF
which we now desire to speak:
The EAGLE is not opposed to the propo-
sition Of substituting electricity for horse
cars on the railway lines along the prlncl-
pal business streets. While it is a fact
that the principal thoroughfare of the
principal city of this country is served by
horse cars, and while horse cars are much
less dangerous than either electricity or
cable and while we do not believe that the
substitution of electricity would add val
ne to the aggregated property or personal
holdings of the city to any appreclable eX-
tent, we are convinced that it would rem
der the operation Of the lines less
expensive and give the people a
somewhat more rapid transit, etc. AS for
the proposition to erect poles along the
center of our principal business streets,
either of wood, iron, brass or what not,
we are utterly opposed TO it. We care not
what other cities may have permitted or
not permitted, such poles would forever
prove an unsightly source of danger and
annoyance. 1t would be better to place
the supporting standards along the outer
edge of the sidewalks even though they
were but twenty-five feet apart, or for that
matter as numerous as awning posts
! They need be no more numerous than
! lamp posts nor heavier than the ordinary
sign posts which line the cutters without
protest. AS for the question of paving,
any proposition which fails to give the
city solid and substantially paved street
from gutter to gutter would not only be
against public policy but an outrage to
submit. Whether valuable or worthless
a street railway franchise is an absolute
monopoly III its particular way Of trans
portation, before whose vehicles that of
the biggest taxpayer and the heaviest
traffic firms must clear the track and give
the right of way. That in addition to
these exclusive privileges such monopoly
should be permitted to practically OBJ
struct the street or be allowed amenities
not granted the abutting property owners,
we say would be against public
/ policy and would be so held by the courts,
we doubt not. The street car tracks must
| be as substantially paved as any other
! portion of the street, or otherwise fenced
up. IL the property owners fronting such
line cannot be compelled to pave it, nor
the general public, forced to do so, then
those who own the privilege must do so,
or give up to those who will. Not only
public policy but the law of every country
compells the owner of private prop
erty to pay for certain named public
improvements or give up his property to
those who will. Private corporations are
not only thus compelled but there are
penalties and special burthens in the way
of bonuses generally exacted.
1t is said that the street car company
would not accept the franchise as provided
for in the ordinance passed last Mon
day, while upon the other hand it
| is as emphatically declared that the
mayor will veto it, OF these rumors and
declarations we positively know nothing,
our desire now only being to put the
EAGLE on record in matter of so great
importance. And all this is entirely dis
passionate and free from personal or other
bias or prejudice, and wholly In the in
terest of the Taxpayer, Of the people now
here and to come.
There are no set of men in our city whose
liberality, whose enterprise, and whose
magnanimous and self sacrificing spirit
we would more greatly commend and adj
mire, than the go-ahead gentlemen who
own the above franchise and property.
/ They are not only our personal friends,
and friends of the EAGLE, and have been
for years, not only always found among
the most ready TO make great sacrifices
for the Peerless Princes, but their
property interests and homes are here, and
here they must suffer or prosper, as Wich-
tia suffers or prospers; yet, their corpora
ton with its FRANCHISE is just like all cold
blooded monopolies, and may change
hands one day aud grind THE peo-
pie to death the next and therefore, is en-
titled TO nothing but exact justice, which
in all cases should be III turn eXacted from
it, eXacted as creature without reference
TO its ownership, for it is a creature of the
peoples creation. just as Is that city coun-
Gil and creatures, either singly or by COM
bining. should never be permitted TO get
the upper hand or into any position where
| it would be possible for them TO despoil
their creator, the people.