St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-04-13
THE TRANSIT QUESTION.

Editor Labor Departments: AS there
seems to be some misunderstanding in
regard to the fourth plank of the plat
form adopted by the Workingmen'
Municipal Reform association, reading
thus:
Fourth-We also declare that the present
means of street transit should not be left in
the hands OF single private corporation,
which, while gaining enormous profits from
the growth of population. Cypress their en-
ployes and provoke strikes that tend to inter-
rupt travel and peril public peace. but
should, by lawful process. be assumed by the
city and operated for public benefit. as orig
inally provided by section g. OF the charter
of the street railway company; we therefore
demand legislation TO submit this question
to vote of the people at the next municipal
election.
1t may be interesting in this connec-
ton to quote resolution passed by our
present city council April 16. 1899:
Resolved, That the common council of
the city Of st. Paul heartily recommends the
action Of the house of representatives of the
state in repeating the special act of the legis
lature of the year 1883, which raJitieS and
confirms the ordinance of Feb. z, 1882, in
relation to the ST. Paul City Railway com.
pany, and that this council urgently requests
our senators from this county to urge and Sc
cure the passage of said repeating act by the
This resolution was adopted by an al
most unanimous vote of the council. A
few days later Representative Gebhardt
Willrich introduced bill in the house
10 repeal chapter 297 Of special laws of
1888. The bill failed to pass, but during
the discussion the following arguments
were made:
John Day Smith--This bill may have
been railrOadGd through the legislature
of 1883, but that is not the question now.
III. f. Stevens do not charge that
the men who passed that original ordi-
nance were influenced by corrupt
means. do say that they were dere-
lict in their duty and posterity will visit
upon them the obloquy which | think
they deserve. Fortunately the ordi-
nance lacked legality. Therefore it
was sought to bolster it up with legis-
lative enactment, and the act now
sought to be repealed was passed with
out the knowledge or consent of the
people of st. Paul. With this act the
power of the council to revoke any Of
the rights granted in the ordinance
trust granted this company or to Mr..
Lowry by the citizens of st. Paul has
been betrayed.
f. G. StevenS-All the improvements
referred to have been made simply be-
cause the city has waived in each case
| some of its rights i'll some other particu-
| lar. The fact of the matter is, the road
| is capitalized at about Sl,250,000 and
| could no doubt be duplicated for less
| than S2.0OO,O00, while it is bonded for
| S5,000.00O, and yet they claim the road
don't pay BECAUSE they can only pay
| AZ per cent.
The above quotations come from peO-
| pie who cannot be accused of preju-
! dice in favor of the industrial classes,
| and show that the present status of the
street railway franchise is far from sat
isfactory to all classes of people.
and in view of such statements from
such people the plank in our platform
| is most conservative one. Those who
think it too radical should remember
that Duluth exacts Il fair percentage of
the gross earnings of the street railway
company, and. not content with that,
the city council seriously contemplateS
building and operating line of its own.
Again DR.. Albert Shaw, in the Century
for March, tells us that the city of Glas-
cow, Scotland. constructed and owns
the lines, then eXacts the following
sums from the corporation managing
such lines on lease, First, the annual
interest charge on the full amount of
the citys investment. Second, a yearly
sum for sinking fund large enough to
clear the entire cost of the lines at the
expiration of the lease. Third, re-
newal fund of per cent per annum on
| the cGSt Of the line, out of which they
| were to be kept in condition and restored
to the city in perfect order and entirely
| as good as new, and fourth, mileage
rental of $50 per mile. The charges
fare on morning and evening cars most
| likely to be used by laboring men. The
| company securing these terms sold the