Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-11
How Toronto Solved Street Railway
and Telephone Problems.
LOWER RATES AND BETTER SERVICE
The Profits Go to the City Instead
of the Corporations.
S II / n II G EX MPLE

| been reconstructed and transformed, cleo
tricity having superseded the horse. Salts
| factory as Is the service rendered by the
| street railway company, the terms upon
| which 1t holds Its franchises are still more
satisfactory from the public point Of view.
| The original charter of the Toronto street
| railways was granted in 1861. The thirty
year period terminated in 1891, and the
| municipality instead OF renewing the fran
| chise exercised its alternative right to pur-
| chase the property of the retiring company.
The purchase price was determined by ar
bitra ton, the sum falling little short of
| 81 100000 The city thus became possessor
Of tracks, cars, horses, stables and every
| thing which had been used by the street
railway company in the carrying on Of its
business. The municipality, however, had
| no intention to operate the local transit
| system on its own account 1t merely wished
| to be in the best possible position to grant
a new franchise upon terms that would Sc
| cure the largest benefits to the municipal
| corporation itself and to the citizens of
| Toronto
| Accordingly, the council, before attempt
| ing to dispose of its investment carefully
| determined the conditions of sale. Thus it
was decided that The purchaser of the new
franchise should first, pay the amount
!
company. The pun chaser would be expected
70 replace horses with electric power and to
lay additional lines wherever and whenever
the council might direct under the super
vision of the city's engineer. The purchaser
would be required to pay INTO the city
| treasury $500 a year for every mile of single
track Isl 900 per mile for double track, be-
sides a percentage upon gross receipts. The
| ehtire supervision of the system from every
]
| engineer acting under direction of the
| council. Thus the city authorities expressly
reserved the right to determine the speed
and service necessary on each line or part
, of the system, besides, as already said, as
! Sorting the full right to order the extern
/ sion of the system in any direction. II was
! determined that while single cash fares
should be five cents each. tickets should be
sold at twen ty-fve for a dollar, or six for
! twenty-five cents, and that tickets for use
| on morning and evening cars. intended es-
pecially for people going to and from work
! should be sold at the rate OF eight for
| twenty-five cents and should be valid for
use between $50 and o'clock In the morn
/ ing, and beiw een and $50 o'clock pm.
/ Furthermore, il was stipulated that school
children's tickets. good for use between s
o'clock in the morning and in the evening,
should be sold at the low price Of ten for
twenty-five cents. All fares We're TO be good
| for a ride from any point on the street rail-
way system to any other point, thus reluir-
! Ing comprehensive system Of transfers.
! Further specifications were adopted touch
! ing the general character and style of cars.
d, the duties OF conductors and the mode of
/ operation In the streets. 1t vas particularly
/ specified that cars were not 20 lie over
/ crowded, and that a comfortable" number
/ of passengers for each class of cars should
! be determined 10y the city engineer and an
proved by the city council. As 10 wornuen
| employed by the company, IL was detcrm;n-
! ed that no man should he required to work
| in the service Of the stree. railway for n
longer period than ten hours per day, or
than sixty hours per week. or ON more than
/ six days per week. and ;n1t no adult en-
ploye in the service Of the COMPANY should
| ever be paid less than fifteen cents an hoar
| Terms of the street Hallway FRAN
! chfsc.
! The advantage of The method employed
/ by the Toronto authorities was obvious. In
! stead of gaining all these points by a pro-
| cess of haggling IN barg inning with some
| particular COMPANY. the city Grst acquired
! absolutely everything that partaincl 10 the
| street railway system, and then calmly ar
ranged the condition; under which i, would
| be disposed TO entertain the bid Of a pro-
posed purchaser. The city had strcn2then-
! ed Its position by nav.ay obtained from the
ontario legislature me permission 10 Cper-
ate the street rail way system on its own ac-
count If IL should prefer t. IL So. Now The
| average street railway 'magnate' of the
! United States on ,he one hani, and ,he
I average American alderman on the Other
! would declare Chat purchaser could never
| be found for street railway francht:e
! helgei about by such conditions But lot
/ us see What success Toronto had in market
I ing its franchise. The arbitration which
! fixed the price to be paid the. retiring COM
! pany was completed in April, 1891. The con-
/ ditons which would govern the sale of a
| rev franchise were made public in Nav
| In June the terms of a sale We're practically
agreed upon, and on September l the bar
! gain was formally completed and ratified
! The purchasers agreed to all the conditions
| and reservations required by the corpora-
| ton. They assumed the city's place i'm COM
! pensating the retiring street railway COM
pary; they agieed TO pay $500 per annun
! per mile Of single track, or 81 600 per mile
| of double track, to the municipal treasury:
! they further agreed to pay percentages of
| their gross receipts from all sources what
| sewer. as follows:
on all gross receipts up to 1905, 900 per
| 3Enum, s per cent.
Between sl,0o.ooo and sl.JO0000 per an
Between $l,5ooOoO and 5000, 900 per an
! mum. IL per cent.
! On all gross receipts over 100000 per
! annum, 20 per cent.
They bound themselves further IL the CITY
! should at any time release them from the
requirement Of issuing eight tickets for
| twenty-five cents for use al certain hours
| OF the morning and evening, to pay per
| cent of the gross receipts in addition to the
percentages above named. These percent
age payments We're to be made monthly.
| and the city's officials We're to have the
| fullest right Of inspecting the books and ac-
counts of the purchasers.
| An Example fer the United states.
| This contract Is the most complete and
| satisfactory municipal franchise that has
| ever been grated in America. 1t ought to
| form a model for the cities of the United
| States. The street railway companies of
| this country can afford quite as well as
| that of Toronto to make just such returns
| to the public for their privileges. Already
the Toronto street railway Is a source of
| very considerable revenue to the city treas
| ury and the rapid development of the sys-
/ tenn. both 20 its mileage and also as to
| the volume of its business, is constantly in
| crepsing the municipal revenue from that
| source. But the advantage 10 the public
| does not accrue alone from the share of re-
| cejpts that goes into the city treasury The
/ tEree-cent workingmens tickets. the two
er.d-a-half cent school childrens tickets
/ and the four-cent ticket for general and nm
limited use, constitute in the aggregate an
enormous concession to the public. The
transfer system moreover. is strong point
| The protection of the employed men against
longer hours than ten per day and sixty per
| week, and against lower wages than fifteen
cents per hour. secures practical immunity
| from strikes and dtssensons, ard must be
! considered an excellent example. To dwell
| lCrs il most Of our American cities the pro-
| vision against the overcrowding of cars