The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-08-24

day a second instalment OF the batch
of protests filed by citizens against
the enactment of the ordinance grant
ing the Consolidated Traction Com
pany a monopoly of the streets of
Jersey City SO far as passenger trans
p~ortation is concerned. In yester-
days issue of this paper, the protests
of the residents, freeholders and
householders of the Bergen section of
the city and the resolutions of the
Board Of Trade were embodied. To-
day, a memorial of property owners
IN Bergen avenue, of large property
owner on Belmont avenue and OF the
residents and freeholders on Pacific
avenue are presented.
In all of these documents, strong
subsidiary reasons are advanced for
the defeat of the ordinance. The
total failure to obtain consent of
property owners. the high-handed
disregard of local sentiment, the mis-
leading character of the preliminary
advertisements of the routes are
dwelt upon. These are all highly
important points. But the most i'm
portant feature of all these protests
is the cumulative proof which they
afford that the pending ordinance
establishes an absolute monopoly.
A reading OF these protests viii
show very clearly, to begin with, that
the company has laid out a number
of routes for which it can have no
present use, which are wholly I'M
feasible and impracticabie, at the
present time a routes of travel.
These routes are obviously laid out
and embodied in the company's ordi-
nance only for one purpose. that Of
pre-empting them as against any
rival or competing corporation. In
other words. they are secured merely
for the purpose of making the grip
of the monopoly upon the city abso-
lutte. Take, for instance. the case of
-
the Pacific avenue route, mentioned
by the property owners of that thor
oughfare. They say
Said route runs only from Communipaw ave-
nue. south TO the caven Point Road; it ends mo-
where.
There is no immediate use for said road, and
your petitioners heiieve that the same has oaiy
been flied in order to prevent another system
from reaching GreenyiIls.
The plain purpose of this route is to
secure line running into the Old
Bergen Point Road or Garfield ave-
nue. and thereby to Greenville. The
Jersey City and Bergen Company al
ready has tenure of Ocean avenue and
West Side avense. The pending or
dinance gives the Consolidated pos
session of Pacific and of Jackson ave-
nues- A glance at the map will show
that this practically delivers over to
the monopolists every feasible route
to Greenville. The company has, of
course, no present idea of opening up
any Of these routes. It simply secures
them to block all other companies.
II the company meant to construct
ali the lines of which it gains
control, and if the Street and
Water Board were an honest body,
paying some regard to the public
rights and the public welfare, a time
limitation would be embodied in the
ordinance. 1t would be stipulated,
for instance, that in case the company
should not begin the construction of
any given route within a year and
complete and operate it within two
years, the grant or franchise for such
route should become null and void.
This is the customary procedure id
every case where bribery and corrup-
ton is not an element in the grant
ing OF railway privileges. Other
wise it would be possible for any
gang of impecunious schemers to get
control of a valuable line of travel and
hold it for sale at their own price, as
long as they chose.
But not only do the purely OBJ
structive grants to the Consolidated
Company continue for all time,
whether they are eve pat to avail or
not, they are also beyond resembling or
recall by the Street and Water Com
m~issioners, once they are granted.
For the first time in the history Of
railway legislation, the infamous
of corYuptionists, who sat at Trenton
last winter, fastened this terrible grip