The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-10-08


"sWhen the City Council, in 1893,
Mr. Gardner says, made the contract at
per cent. they sold y franchise worth
200, 600 year, Two hundred thousand
dollars year Is big figure. find that
Mr.. Gardner was a member OF this
Council from 1884 to 1887, Inclusive four
years; that he was president OF the Coun-
ell two years, and there is no evidence
anywhere that he made his influence felt
In the direction of procuring from this
corporation for the benefit of the city OF
Providence one single penny. The city
OF Providence today has about 160. 900
people. When MIR. Gardner was in here
Il had about 10000. Figuring from his
tasis, the franchise which this company
enjoyed at that time was worth s16O, 600 =
year, or three-fourths as much as II is to-
day. Now, taking MIR, Gardner at his
own word, he allowed this corporation to
steal from the city OF Providence s16O, 600
year, or one billion and a half in 10
years, from 1884 to 1894, and ho did not
lift his hand TO prevent H. Is that con.
sistency? What has The Providence
Journal to say about this ontract, this
franchise, when II was passed in 1892
what is known as the franchise act? The
Providence journal says, the arrange
ment now completed between the city
ana the rail road company Is a great i'm
provement over the one proposed last
year, and shows that a business-like
agreement is not opposed to the careful
protection of the public right Three
years ago the public was amply protect
ed, according to The Journal, but it
must be remembered that three years ago
the Union Railroad Company was control
led by the same men who controlled The
Providence Journal, and that makes
big difference. When the devil was
sick, the devil a monk would be; when
he was weil-he changed his mind. The
Journals fairness has sometimes been
brought into question, either rightly or
wrongly. I would like 10 quote one or
two paragraphs from 1t. 1t stated, IN re-
gard to this COMMITTEES, soon after II was or
statement that they could get no informa-
tion from this committee in regard to
what was going on. Now, / wish To say,
Mr.. President and gentlemen of this
Council, that no representative OF the
press has ever approached me or any
l know, that has been denied any infor-
nation which the committee possessed
that would be OF any interest whatever
Tor the use OF the press or the public.
From first TO last, as everybody knows,
they were determined that no change
should be made which should give the
railroad company lease of seven years
more, under no consideration; and yet,
after this report was presented, The Jour
nal came out In great headlines and said.
The city gets nothing--peither transfer
tickets nor crosstown lines" as though
that was the dearest thingto The Jour
naPs Neutrality-suspicious. lines. 1t Is no more
in consistent than the item which / have
Just read, and which was presented by
The Journal three years ago, when / say
their controlling stock holder controlled
the Union Railroad Company.
"Mr. Gardner says, why don't the rail-
road company address the Council and
W hu artQ fhar MA hntn
what they wanted? Instead of thar they
get Councilman TO introduce desired
resolution, refer il to committee who
hold their sessions With closed doors, and
no one is allowed TO know what is being
done AT the time of that May meet
ing, member OF this committee stated
to MIR. Gardner that he could have, at any
time, any information that he should de-
sire that was in his possession in regard
to this whole business. He never asked
for such information, and never wanted
it. He preferred TO go before the public
and make the statement which he did
make, which are full of errors which IL
seems to me ought not TO have been made.
At that same meeting appeared upon the
platform
A Gentleman by the Name of Bassett,
lawyer OF this city. AS many OF these
gentlemen know, it was not known at
that time that he was to be a candidate
for Mayor Of this city. People wondered
why such men as he and Mr.. Gardner
should try to knock this Council and mu
nicipality as they did, with q sledge ham,
mer, without any apparent cause. 1t was
not PLAIN at that time what the reason
was. But, Mr.. President, suppose you
were going down street and were TO see q
man with a mask on his face and sledge
hammer in his hand knocking In the
windows and doors of your nsig ghbor's
a
him, and his reply was that there was
robber inside and that he was going to
drive him out, don't you forget the fell
low who is going TO drive him out il the
fellow that is after the silver plate him
self.
snow, these gentlemen, under q
mask, pretended what they were do
ing was for the public good. / was
told today by Dmocratic
of the city committee, that GER
tam parties are tumbling over themselves |
to get the nomination for the Mayoralty. |
They have perfect right TO do it, MIR. |
Bassett says the Councilmen are men who |
are in politics for business with settlers |
i-p who arrange how things should go. |
don't know what he means by 'set- |
ters-up'; i have heard that when VIII |
Jam the Silent was king in the Tenth |
Ward, that he was sometimes struck by /
a tornado from the wild west, and things |
were knOCkeu uOWH anu 10 De set
up. 1 think the gentleman must have |
referred to the Tenth Ward. i don't |
know any other place or ward where that
would apply"
Mr. West Interrupts.
Councilman West-"Will 1t strike the
Fourth?"
Councilman Joseph II. Kendrick-"The
Fourth Ward is very quiet ward.
Councilman West-''I know, but il gets
nstalments once in a whilen
Councilman Kendrick-" says the
Legislature passed franchise, il is true,
ina not the Council. MIR. Bassett makes an
admission there, it Is true. 1t has not
been very freely stated by any member
If the party, i should say, or by the pub
ic press, ana, Mr.. President, even mem
)ers of this Council have but short time
)een aware of the fact, or il they were
hey have forgotten, that the Legislature
Iassed this franchise act. and not the
,ity Council. But he says, 'While they
lave nothing to do with the act, they
ppointed committee to go ana oppose
/, but il passed, and il IS fair to pre-
ume they agreed with it, contend
hat this Ia mot fair r,raau,,ntfon