The Saint Paul globe., 1897-08-29
THERE IS A REMEDY.


THERE IS A REMEDY.
We desire the people of st. Paul to
bear in mind the fact brought out by
the discussion of the proposed street
railway ordinance, that they have a
remedy in their hands against re-
tusal by the company to give It's pat
rons reasonable service. That remedy
it is full time to apply. The service
on the present cable line is more than
dlsgraceful Not only is there nothing
like 1t in any city of 100000 inhabitants
IN this country, but we believe that
no such outrageous conditions are Of
fered in any, town or village. This line,
Whlch WasiIbadly constructed in the
nrst place, hasn0w got thoroughly out
OF condition. The rolling stock is an
clent and dilapidated, and the move
ment of the cable itself is so uncertain
that no passenger dare stand up in a
car, unless he has firm grip of some
support, without the danger of being
prostrated by a sudden jerk. AS he
cannot sit down either, except at GER
NNNAii iiNuIo the Qdy, lHlS comes
pretty near to being driven off the
earth
AS far as the people who live at Mer-
ram Park are concerned, the wonder
is that they have not done physical
injury to the property Of the street
railway company long ago. When the
car reaches the power house on the
hill an old horse is hitched to it and
the passengers are dragged slowly out
TO where the electric line begins. This
defective and abominable service is
simply a makeshift. designed as a part
of the companys scheme to force the
public to submission by making them
lntolerably uncomfortable. No doubt
the railroad company argues that, if
this state of things is maintained long
enough, the people of ST Anthony hill
and Merriam Park will consent to any
thing in order to get an Improvement.
Then the railway company will get
what it wants
Now, this is not the way in which
self-respecting people ought to deal
with a corporation to which they have
granted valuable privileges, and which.
on It's part, has undertaken to perform
certain duties. The franchise granted
to the street railway company to op-
crate cable line on Fourth street AL
though valuable concession, is not
wholly one-sided. 1t does require the
company to give to the public a. rea-
sonable service. That they are not re-
celV1ng this today is apparent to any
one who travels over the line. The
street railway company is, therefore.
guilty Of breach of contract and la
bic to the forfeiture of it's franchise
for misuse. f. instead of holding COM
mittee meetings and public joint de-
bates and caucuses to know Just how
much st. Paul must give down to the
street railway company in order to
have perfect service, our council were
to. use the remedy plainly within its
reach and distinctly pointed out to it,
II would not, be a month before the
railway company would display activ-
1ty on their side to crafty all proper
PUBLIC den4a 1lds, - It ga met afford sto
lose its franchise; or to have it impair
ed or to have 1t even seriously .ques-
toned in the courts. It would rather
make every Improvement thatethe pub
lie eeuld reasonably ask than to have
shadow of doubt cast upon it's title.
We therefore recommend to the
public attention more strongly than
ever. the authority which it has over
the"company by virtue of the franchise
contract, and hope to see this a promi-
nent feature of all agitation and dis
cussion of the subject hereafter. Let
us do away with this endless ATTEMPT
to reach a common ground; this see
saw that has been carried on between
the, city council and the street rail-
way company for more than year;
this alleged Compromise" policy, in
which the street railway company in
variably gets all the meat and the peo-
pie of st. Paul are left with a bare
bone to gnaw,. and set ourselves to
work to use JUSTLY but firmly and un-
hesitatingly, the mastery that belongs
to US.
The people, through their representa-
tives, have the undoubted right and
power to force the; street railway COM
pany to give a reasonable service or
relinquish their franchise; and no court
will hold that the service now offered
on at least one line in the city could
be called reasonable" by any stretch
Of popular or legal imagination. If the
people insist that their representatives
take the street railway company in
hand and direct against it this effective
weapon in their arsenal, they will have
no more need to organize campaigns to
defend themselves against the calm re-
fusal Of the street railway company to
give a decent service unless it is com
pensated by a surrender of privileges
worth an immense sum of money and
improper to be granted in any event.
LITERARY OPPORTUNITIES.
A well known book reviewer, also as
sociated in the editorship of one of the
most prOminent of the Deriodiaa9c Ia