The Irish standard., 1892-12-03
TIE NEW TR ANsFrEER SCHEME.

THE NEW TRANSFER scIIEndH
The citizens Of Minneapolis On reading
the morning papers last Saturday re-
ceived almost as great asnrpr1se Is il Bic
las comet had struck the electric. light
mast on Bridge Square during Friday,
night and shattered it to smlthereens.
They read with amazement that at the
council meeting on Friday night 9 new
ransferordinance was railroaded through
with lightning rapidity by acting Mayor
Potter and the republican and democratic
aldermen whose official services come to
an end with the present year. Aid. Kiich-,
lis transfer ordinance was 80 amended
that it's Trainer could scarce'y recognize
it in it's new form, and the street car
company had got the best Of thecity as
usual. The council COMMITTEES to which
Kichi's ordinance was referred, CONSIST
ing of Bradlsh, Barrows and Lackey, met
on Friday afternoon and without any
discussion or consideration recommended
the passage of the ordinance as intro
duced for it's first reading at the regular
meeting of the council held on Oct. %,
and which was relative to new transfer
stations at Washington and Twentieth
avenues north, at Central and Second
street northeast, and at Washington ave-
nue. south and Cedar avenue. The report
of the committee recommending the pas
sageof this ordinance was accepted by the
''city fathers on Friday night without
objection, when the measure came up
for second reading. Then came a
surprise to a few Democratic members of
the council. Aldermen Lowell and Dur
nam moved to amend the sixth section OF
the ordinance by striking out certain
portions of it and inserting, in recogni-
ton of the concessions granted by the
street car company, that it shall establish
and maintain a transfer depot on Henne-
pin avenue between the Union depot and
Washington avenue for the accommoda-
datlon of passengers, and that the city
shall provide q tract for said transfer
depot to be erected by the company at
an expense of not less than $4,000, and
pay the city therefor rental OF 81 900
year, payable ssmi annually. The amen :
ments also exempted the company from
issuing transfers to or from any interur-
ban lines now operated or that may be
operated hereafter between St. Paul and
Minneapolis, and from requiring it to con-
struct any lines on all streets until sewers
shall be built thereon. The Democratic
Rand and Rollins, objected to
giving land for the use Of the depot, but
they were completely ignored by Mr..
Potter who acted like czar during the
The roll call was dispensed with by the
presiding officer, and when Mr.. Rand
stood up to move reconsideration at the
next meeting he was snubbed by the
chair The amended ordinance was
passed by vote OF 20 to 4, those in the
being Aldermen Haynes, Hun
ter, Rollins and Lackey, Mr.. Rand hav
ing voted in the affirmative with the in
tention of demanding a reconsideration.
Rand and Rollins vigorously opposed
the granting of the site for the erection
Of the depot on Bridge Square, but with
out avail. The company pays only $1,000
3 year for it, the same amount paid by a
for license to sell liquor,
but unlike the company he must pay
down his money in advance instead of
paying it in two installments, seminar
nually. Mr.. Goodrich of the street car
company has the efrontery of saying
that the city should have made present
Of the property to his corporation, and it
is q wonder that the Republican and
Democratic aldermen who engineered the
measure did not do so. Before the pub
lie knew what was done Mr.. Potter had
signed the obnoxious ordinance in the
absence of Mayor Winston, and it will go
into effect on the first day ofaext Febru-
ary. We hardly know what to say of the
aldermen of Minneapolis. We are in
clined to believe that some of them voted
thinking the ordinance was for the bone
fit of the public, while the greater num-
Der of them voted in the interest of Tom
Lowry.
The property on Bridge Square should
be reserved for other purposes and not be
given for song to a grasp1ng corpora
lion like the street car company. It
would be grand site for monuments to
our early settlers and distinguished citi-
gems. Minneapolis is no longer a frontier
town but noble city of metropolitan
and the time will ooue when
it's streets should be adorned with statues
Of eminent men, in the same way that
the streets of other American and
European cities are now beautiied. No
better site for this purpose could be Sc
lected than the spot which the city council