Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-09-04
THE ELECTRIC RAILWAY.
A LAWYERS DEFENSE OF A sENsELEss
PROPOSITION.
Where His +" Motives of Personal Gain -
Came In-Meeting of Citizens
Called for Tonight.

Attorney George A. Blanchard rushed
into print last evening in defense of the
senseless amendment proposed by Trustee
Mclaughlin on Monday to the franchise OF
the Central Street Railway Company. He
starts out upon his lengthy defense OF this
ridiculous amendment by admitting that
-''the ordinance granting permission to the
Central Street Railway corporation to put
up poles and wires in the streets for the
overhead system is reasonable and
proper one, and then goes on to defend
Trustee Mclaughlin and incidentally him
self. for introducing an amendment which
they must have known would defeat the
granting of this reasonable and proper
franchise. Mr.. Blanchard then says:
The ordinance, which was prepared at the
request of the Mayor and Second Trustee, has
not been published. nor have the one or two
newspaper gentlemen, who have SO freely de-
nounced the socalled Objectionable portion,
taken the pains to tell the people what il is or
why the reservation of the right to order the
wires and poles taken down-if they should
hereafter be found to be unsafe or dangerous to
life or street iravel-is unreasonable or unfair.
Every reader of either one of the daily
papers knows this statement to be false,
for while neither of them cared to waste
valuable space in printing lot of sense
less rubbish, both papers have taken the
pains to tell the people what it is and why
it was unreasonable and unfair" But,
since Mr. Blanchard would like the people
to know Just the language used in his won
derful production, we will print so much
of it as was Objectionable to Mr.. Henry,
and ask any man with an ounce of brains
if be would not have refused to agree to it
as promptly as that gentleman did. Here
is the little Joker under which the Central
Street Railway Company might be deprived
of its property at the within of two Trus-
tees, whose late actions have not been such
as to warrant any discreet man in placing
himself and his property entirely in their
power:
The Board of Trustees of the city of
Sacramento shall have the right to annul,
amend or alter, either in whole or in part,
this ordinance, and the terms and con-
ditions upon which permission is hereby
granted to said railroad company to put up
said poles and wires; and also the right to
order the same or any part OF the same to
be taken down and removed from the
street or streets in which they may be placed.
and the street or streets through which
they were placed to be put in the same
condition in which they now are; the same
to be done at the expense of said company,
under the superintendent of the Street
Commissioner; and in case the same is rot
done by the company within the time
limited therefor, then the Board of Trustees
of said city may cause the same to be done,
and the expense thereof shall be paid by
said company, and the city shall have
lien upon said street railroad within its
limits for such payment.
i'Said Board of Trustees shall give at
least ninety days notice to said company
of any intention to alter, annual or amend
the terms and conditions of the permission
hereby granted, or of their intention to re-
quire the said poles and wires to be taken
down and removed from the streets, and
whenever said terms and conditions shall
be altered, amended or annulled or said
company shall be required to remove its
poles and wires it shall have at least the
period of ninety days from the passage of
the order making such alterations or re-
quirements TO comply with the same"
Now let the reader refer to the above
quotation from Mr.. Blanchards card and
see the unfairness, not TO say dishonesty,
displayed, when he leads the reader TO be-
lieve that the proposed amendment pro-
videts- that the wires and poles could be
ordered taken down only IF they
should hereafter be found to be I'M
safe or dangerous to life or street
travel" The amendment contains
no such provision. 1t gives the majority
of the Board of Trustees, without any
cause whatever and at their own sweet
pleasure, power to arbitrarily take away the
franchise and compel the company to take
down its poles and wires at its own ex-
hoforo
proposition proposed 10 a body of men
supposed to have ordinary, common sense?
1t is entirely logical and reasonable to con-
clude that when Mr.. Blanchard stated in
his card that the poles should be removed
for certain causes he intended, and so i'm
pressed his readers, to have them under
stand that such proviso was IN the ordi-
nance, which we have shown TO be untrue.
Up to this time the press has been disin-
clined to reveal the authorship of this re-
markable amendment, out of regard for
the honorable profession to which its au-
thor belongs and the high judicial position
he once held, but since Mr. Blanchard has
himself made the humiliating confession
of its authorship the public will excuse the
press for the charity 1t has exerc sed here.
tofore towards him.
But Mr.. Blanchard is not satisfied with
defending Trustees Mclaughlin and Wolf
and his ridiculous amendment, but must
needs throw mud at those who have hon.
estlv and fairly criticised it. He says that
there is more reaaon to believe that those
who have raised such a hue and cry about
nothing do so from motives of personal
GAIN Now let Us see if there is not at
least one person who may have been actu-
ated in this matter by motives of personal
gain and who that person Is. One week
ago last Monday, when the original amend
ment was before the Board, Dir. Blanchard
appeared, presumably at the request OF
some member of the Boaro, and was asked
what he thought of the amendment as II
stood. He found various objections to it,
and said that while he was not seeking the
lob, yet he believed he could draw an or
dinance that would be good, if he had time
TO study the question, but frankly admitted
that he knew nothing about electric rail-
way franchises Just before the matter
was taken up by the Board on Monday
last Mr. Blanchard appeared before the
Board and presented bill for S25 for draw
ing up this wonderful amendment now
under discussion, and which at that time
had not vet been drawn from Mr.. Nc
Laughlin's pocket and presented to The
Board. The item of SIS for this amend
ment was included in a bill for $50 for
other legal services. auu WDeu tue May Ut,
in glancinc over the bill, came to that item
he said he thought it ought to lay over for
further consideration, as no such amend
ment had yet been presented. So it ap'
pears that Mr.. Blanchard was not SLOWING
any grass to grow under mis- feet in getting
his personal gain out of the transaction
Yesterday afternoon President P. E
Plat c. a. Hubbard. T. Enwright and ID
A. Lindley, members of committee APP
pointed BY the Board of Trade to wait upon
the Trustees and urge them to grant tht
privilege of erecting poles ss required by
the Central Street Railway Company
waited upon Trustee Mclaughlin and in
courteous manner asked him what he in
tended to do in the matter. He replied
you'll know what am going to do when
the matter comes up before the Board mex
Monday" When asked if that was all the
satisfaction he would give the committee
he replied, "That's all /"
The committee then waited on Trustees
Wolf and although that gentleman stated
that he considered the amendment offered
nv Trustee Mclaughlin to be foolish, y ht
would not give the committee any informa
tion whatever as to the course he intended
to pursue OF course the committee
representing as il did the entire CONNER
cial interests of the city retired in disgust
The Board of Trade has called meet
inc for tonight at which citizens general,
- \ b.afl