St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1895-11-01
DETROIT,S SMART MA YOR.

Several months ago we described
the conflict between the Mayor OF
Detroit and the street-car companies,
and mentioned the promise that on
Iuly / three.cent fares would be in
troduced. Mayor Pingree was in
this city recently, and in an inter
view published in the New York
Sun" gave picturesque account OF
the outcome not only of this conflict,
but also of similar one with the
Detroit gas companies. Wecondense
the interview, without altering
Mayor Pingree's English-or Amer
lean, as he might prefer to call it:
Il don't take any stock in the in
come tax and making the Astors and
the Goulds and the Vanderblts pay
other peoples taxes. | believe III
cheapenlng things so that everybody
can afford to paw his own taxes.
Every city has come to recognzt 1t
now that the weaker class need help
and have got to be helped, Now is
the opportunity for New York IN this
cheap fare, electro road business.
They ought to sell eight tickets for
Twenty-Five cents on the very outside
limit We have got it in Detroit,
We have got sixty miles OF electric
road there where they only charge
three cents fare, and there's trans
ter system that helps to get you al
most anywhere. forget just the
number OF miles you can 90 Tor three
cents, but | think its twenty-five
miles. Now, the way we got the
gas companies was this: There we're
three companies. One, the oldest,
had the most territory. Then syn
dictate came along and bought 'em
all. They charged 81 80 thousand
feet. They started to issue 81, 0OO,-
600 in stock, the syndicate did, and
we began to look up the franchises OF
the gas companies. Couldn't find
thing about the franchise of the old
est company. There wasn't any
thing in the official files, and the
newspaper files up in the library were
cut. Pieces were cut out of the
papers at just the time that this old
company got its franchise. That
looked mighty peculiar, aud we had
the whole City Hall searched. The
result was the bringing to light of
the fact that the old company hadn't
had any franchise tor twenty years.
1t had run out that long ago. Well,
then, we just put the screws on.
They were floating that $7,000,000
bond issue in Wall Street at so or 90,
We just pushed the price down to Is,
and the syndicate men had to come
to terms. Gas went down to 81 a
thousand for lighting and 80 cents a
thousand for heating. It'll all be so
soon. Just as soon as the city uses
certain amount of gas down will
go the price"
The price which Detroit is now
paying for its gas is still somewhat
greater than Cleveland is paying to
private company, and much great.
err than the cost to Wheeling, w. Va.
and the English cities which manu-
tacture their own gas; but the street
railroad fares in Detroit are now
lower than those OF any city either il
this country or Great Britain Ever
in GLASGOW, where public ownership
and lower fares were simultaneously
introduced a year ago, the twO-cent
fare carries the passenger but mil,
and quarter, and the three cent TAR,
but two miles and three-quartets
1t is true that these are the distance.
most frequently travelled, and tina
only one passenger in ten IN Dttroi
takes transfer, yet the fact that tn
passenger can travel TWENTY-FIVE
miles for three cents makes the Dc
troit system the cheapest in tn
world The Outlook.