Evening journal., 1896-02-08
Lack OF Capital or & ,od Faith.

Lack OF Capital or & Iod Faith.
The EVENING JOURNAL has ever been
the friend Of electric railways, not only
n this city. hut also Ia the rural sections
OF Delaware. It has been the uacompro.
missing foe Of what the WILMINGTON City
Raiiway Company saw ft to term It's
exclusive right to operate street rail way
lines within our city limits As the
advocate OF electric railway bills intro
duced in the General Assembly Il has
contributed It's fair share to the secure
ment Of their passage We do not regret
our action, but we do regret the lsck Of
gooc faith and enterprise OF thoss to
whom charters we're granted.
OF all the roads chartered only one has
teea constructed and that has fallen
into the hands OF the men who control
the dsstlnies Of the Wilmington City
Railway Company. 1, Is operated but
few months each year. and then with no
particular regsrd for rapid transit and
public convenience. Tae secret OF this
failure &c build Is largely due to lack OF
capital. Men without capital secured the
charters hoping to induce men possessing
means to become liberal subscribers to
the capital stock. leaving good sizsd
block 10 the possession Of the owners Of
the charters to compensate them for
their legislative labors and worfiments
Capitalists have shown q dlslncllnation
to 90 into this enterprises In many In
stances while In others the owners Of the
charters did not make even reasonable
attempt to Undue, moneyed men to iu-
vest
We have charters for electric roads
from Wilmington to West Chester
Claymont Brandywine Springs, Nsw
Castle, Elsmere. Eewplrt aud Ssantoa
Then there Is a charter for road connect
ing Kirkwood, st. Georges, Port Penn
and Augustine Pier Mddietown aud
Odessa were given sn opportunity to
become locked ia a Trail embrace
smyrna and Woodland B,ash were TO
suffer shcek together. Governor Wat
son and others set on foot the scheme to
electrify Dover, Camden, Frederick and
Milford with one current and secured
rights OF way and everything Of that
kind, but an equipment company was
taken into tho deal, played the hog and
ate tho enterprise Harrington was crazy
for trolley cars. bat the fad died ous
LsWes and Rshoboth we're TO have
boom on a trolleyosis basis. Frankford
and FenWick's Island were to have line
which would shake old Sussex from
Cedar Cresk 70 B4un,rs. but no. a
tremor followed.
The work OF granting these charters,
some Of which have already expired b.
virtue OF the limitation clause regarding
construction and operation, consumed
much valuable time which might have
been devoted to legislation more general
In character. The contentious Of rival
interests concerning bills for roads seek
ing terminal facilities In this city we're
bitter aud prolonged, aud consumed
much Of the tins OF the com nittees 20
which such bills were referred. The |
Sights we're transferred from the com
mitiee rooms to ths Il lors Of the two /
Houses, aud lost mons OF the spirit Of /
bitterness on the way. Rscommittals,
holdnps, substitutes, amendments.
lobbying, importuning, debating and
everything else known in connection
with legislation followed one another
until It seemed that the sole business Of |
the General Assembly was to lay out
routes for and fix the powers OF electric
railway companies.
What have we In rsturu2 Nothing
and there is no immediate prospect OF
anything.
Before the next General Assembly |
grants an extension OF time on old
charters, OF acts upon any new ones, It
should demand positive proof that con-
struetion and operation will follow the
grants made.