St. Paul daily globe., 1892-01-12
united. No large city outside of our own two
has as yet been able to discard
Ii. Horse Cars.

united No large city outside Of our own two
has as yet been able to discard
Its Horse Cars.
We have the best system of electric roads
In the whole country. No city approaches
US in excellence Of equipment, in the appli-
cation Of the latest developments OF science
In the perfection of all details. We lead
America; we lead the world. Strong words,
but absolutely true. Neither is there another
citv IN which so much travel is allowed at so
small cost-so many miles traverse ed for one
olme In other places street car company
transfers, as ours does. its passengers from
oneSof its lines to another. But in other
places there are two or more separate COM
panles. and there is no transfer from the ter
rltory OF one to that of the other. Here one
company reigns, and its travellers, one fare
paid, are lords and masters of all they sur
Yey- The announcement of the sum of
money spent by you in your operations stu
e. am told, on most reliable authority,
mat the total amount of capital which you
nave invested in the two cities is Sl5.574, $50.
of which no less than 000 has been
absorbed i'll the construction and equipment
of cable and electric lines
What boundless confidence you must have
had in the future of the two cities when max
| ing this large investment! How great your
| personal power to have been able 10 gather
under your control so much capital
Talk Is Easy.
We remember that two years ago COM
| made promises to bull d roads in competition
with or in exclusion of yours. No company
would have called for franchise If the Con-
ditiou had been the spending of fifteen mill
ions, and no company, the condition accept
| ed, could have fulfilled it. No man, no COM
| pany but Thomas Lowry could or would have
| given us the city railroads which are today
our boast. The money was secured during d
| period Of exceptional financial depression.
The roads were built in the earliest expert
mental stages of the use of electricity as
motive power. They were built in the short
est space OF time the impatience of citizens
! and official unfriendiness could dare have
| marked out They were built when the eX-
| isung status of the cities did not warrant
anything like this enormous outlay. As we
| look back TO the operations of the past two
| years, while we admire your courage, we are
| surprised at your daring hopefulness, and
| we are ashamed that we permitted SO many
| obstacles TO be thrown in your way and so
! much distrust 10 be expressed toward you
! Under severe threats of canceling the fran
| chlse, SO far as we imagined IL could be can
| eeled, we limited your time, made you prose-
! cute your work during coldest winter days,
compelled you 10 purchase your equipment
| on most disadvantage terms, and ordered
| you to bring hithet the needed capital with
| The hurry that capital lily brooks. 1t is safe
| TO say that forcing you as we did. to build SO
many lines so quickly, and i'll the very in
| fancy of electric road systems, we imposed
| upon you the waste of a full million. Yet,
| you did all that had been demanded; you
| did more than had been demanded, and the
manner in which all things have been done
| puts them
| Above Criticism.
No one would have ventured so much; no
| one would have accom- plished so much. We
! are well aware that while the complete and
| peaceful fruitIon OF the results Of your gigan
| tic labors are ours. for our profit and pleas
! ure, you have yet for your part to bear dis
| tressing burthen- We are not SO ignorant of
| the laws of the business world as to be sur
| prised when told that the permanent control
of Si2,0G0 600 for the building Of city railroads
! in Minneapolis and st. Paul has not as vet,
| been fully secured and that the revenues
| from your lines, many of which extend
through sparseiy settled districts, are far
from being as large as to leave an annual
Surplus i'll your office tills. 1t does sometimes
look as if we believed that the end Of your
financial struggles had come, when we pro-
pose 10 you new schemes and grumble If our
wishes have not In all details ple-
think seriouSlv and are able TO
reach down 10 facts. The facts make our
gratitude TO you the warmer, and our appre
citation of our jndennitable energy the more
vivid The suggestion has been heard, il |
am not mistaken, that the municipalities
should ownfthe franchise and operate the
lines. | will not enter into the perilous dis
cussiou of the questions which suggestion
of this kind brings to- the surface. This
much / will say. lhatif the cities had heen
paving the monthly bills and interest coil
pops of your efices, tie taxpasers in my
opinion, would without much helay have
ciamored long ago for
A Thomas Lowry,
or benefactor of some other name, upon
whose shoulders they could have thrown the
whole lead. assigning it without recourse.
The building of your roads in The years lS9J
and 1881 was q providencial occurrence for
the Two cities. The general closeness OF the
money market in the United States and the
failure of crops ir the Dakotas and parts of
Minneso suddenly slackened the ou-
ward march of urban improvements We
were confronted with the problem swhat
to do TO give employment to our labcring
population. What 20 do we had to ask, 10
hold up the spirits of the people during the
temporary crisis, and TO guard ourselves from
discouragement au evil usually as much to
be dreaded as actual Impeachment
Without you the situation should have been
most serious. 1t was fortunate for the cities
that we had been wicked enough 10 compel
you To do your titant;c work, on the run, right
i'll the midst of our duliest times. You saved
u.s. You paid out for construction expenses
in the two cities, on all average Sly3.0G1 per
month. The throngs OF workmen Fastening
to and fro, tearing up streets laying track
atbreakneck speed. as if for life or death.
the planting OF poles and strlnging OF wires
night and day. the racing Of cars from Lake
Harrietto Daytons bluff, from South 81.
Paul 10 North Minneapolis, the constant cry
for more cars going out from newspaper
men, city fathers, real estate brokers and
your OWN representatives. LutS6 lQlISS
qnickened the very air, made our eyes 10
glisten. and our steps TO be buoyant- The
voice OF the pessimisuc
Croaker Was Utilf zed
Wetake, at the opening of The year 1892. an
inventory OF stock 10 notice The grounds of
the hopes of the future. The task is most
pleasant. The future il is plain 10 see. gives
surest promise of prosperity. The full dawn
is already pom us. and the ascending light
shall soon have Frightened the entire sky.
Your work meets at once our gaze. It is no
small matter for Minneapolis and st. Paul 10
be able TO say today in pride and truthfulness
| that they own the best electric road system
| in America; that they lead the country in
| this most important factor in building of
| Giles. II is no small matter to have this sys-
lem at the earliest possible period OF Tine. i'll
| advance of all other places. yet afraid 10
make into the uucertainiies and SHIFT
ing emotions of the mysei ious electric
fluid the full leap, before which
| our enterprising and fsr-seeing fellow citi-
zen had no recoil- To the residents Of or
cities. 10 the strangers whom we invite 10
cast their lot win u, we bold out the pledge
OF perfect rapid transit. They may choose
for their place OF labor the commercial CEN
fers of the cities and seek for their homes
the purer air and freer landscape OF the
suburbs; thirty or forty minutes at most
bring them from shop to family shrine.
Rapid transit in cities Is of the utmost con-
sequence. II is needed for material develop
ment; it is Vital for health and cheerfulness:
itdemaDdS the attention Of The moraist and
the statesman. chief source of evil in
large cities is The concentration of popula-
ton within limited areas. Diseases. physi
cIal. moral aud political. become virulent
amid seIried masses. A score of PAGES be-
tween houses wide streets, a sun-lit SKY. an
atmosphere stirred by natures purifying
ZephyTs, make men healthy, wealthy ana
wise. Cheap suburban property, accessible
TO laborer and mechanic, so that they be
tempted 10 leave the tenement house, and
find home ON their own lot. from which
they may i'll the name of sacred ownership
ward off all corners. reveiing in The JOY of
manly independence. does more than words
can tell 10.
Build Up Social Peace.
The moral result Of rapid transit is to me