St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-05-04
A CONDUIT PROBLEM.
The Council Wrestles With It
Briefly, But There Is
No Fall.
A Special Meeting This Morn
ing to Settle the
Question
Special Police Bills for the
Strike Amount to
400.
!.
The City Printing and
Other Minor Mat
tiers.

evening took up the Edison and Thomp-
son Houston under ground conduit Or
dinances for second reading and
final passage, but had hardly gotten
started on the discussion when
some of the aldermen who
live on farms wanted to 60 home and
adjourned until o'clock this morning.
The Dorsett people who begun to get
scared early in the meeting sent in
communication Offering to. accept an
amendment to their franchise ordinance
providing that the city shall have the
right at any time to purchase
the National subway plant at terms
mutually agreed upon or agreed upon
nothing in the ordinance should be con-
strued to prohibit any other company
from putting in general and cOmpre-
hensive system for conducting wires
underground. When the other ordin--
ances came up, Aid. Woodward moved
that they be laid over week until the
council should have time to consider
these amendments.
Aid. Downs hoped, for the good name
of the city, that the motion would be
voted down. He said the Dorsett people
had been moving heaven and earth to
obtain delay. They had had all the
newspapers digging away at it, "all for
the good of the city, OF course;" every
alderman had been importuned, and ne
believed if the matter was laid over the
next Sabbath all the ministers in all the
pulpits would be asked to preach on the
crime of tearing up the stree is OF the
city.
Aid. MCGOWAN said he felt that it was
a delicate matter giving vested rights
in the streets, and he believed it would
be bad policy to give any more fran
see lust what could be done toward
amending the Dorset ordinance.
President johnson called Aid. Loye
to the chair, and said he saw no rea-
son why the council should not grant
the Edison franchise. 1t was mistake,
he said, to suppose that the Dor
sett company had any exclusive
rights in the streets. The other COM
pauies, the Brush Electric, Telephone
and two other companies, had the right
to go into the space set aside by the
city council without further action.
The fact that the Dorsett system had
taken more space than the council al
lowed them gave them no exclusive
rights. The council had gotten its
foot in it when it gave the
Dorsett company its franchise. He
thought it would have been
better to leave the wires overhead until
the city found system that would give
satisfaction. AS to the question OF CIV
ing ane exclusive franchise that was the
very thing the old council guarded
against, because the people were opposed
to exclusive franchises. He favored
bringing up the ordinances for reading
an amendment.
Aid. Potter-The alderman from the
First ward says he is opposed to eXclu-
sive franchises. That's just what the
defeat of these ordinances means. This
thing has been discussed in the news
papers at from fifty cents to dollar
and a quarter a line, and think we
should vote on it now.
Aid. MCGOWAN criticised Aid. john
sons statements, and the president
sought to correct him. replying: u did
not say that these companies edison
and pson-Houston) had the same
rights as the Dorsett company, bnt that
there were four companies already
doing business in the city that had the
same rights.''
Aid. McGowan-Four, and if we grant
these two franchises, with the one
already granted, we shall have seven,
with the chance of eight or ten more.
Aid. Gray moved the previous ques-
ton. which was lost. Then he moved
that the council adjourn until O'Clock
this morning with the conduit ordi-
nances as special order. This motion
was so warmly supported by Aid. John.
son that the ordinance people all took it
for vital question and it prevailed.
The two ordinances are pretty sure to
pass now, since nearly all the men who
have any information OH the subject
favor them.