The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-08-22
THE RAGE FOR RAPID TRANSIT.


THE RAGE FOR RAPID TRANSIT.
According to the members of the
illustrious committee on streets, this
town has been struck by cyclone of
anxiety for rapid transit between it
and Minneapolis. The marvel of it is
that nobody outside Of the council has
any knowledge of the existence of such
demand, but we cannot question the
veracious statements of our official rep
resentatiVes. If We are to give full Gre
dence to the views set forth by assem-
blymen and aldermen, and held by no
ether citizen that we have yet discov.
cred. our business men are congregated
daily in crowds on the street corners
down town just rending the air with
clamors for rapid transit The whole
future of the interests of st. Paul de-
Ponds, it would appear, upon shorten
ing the running time of interurban
trains from fifty minutes to some un-
specified schedule. What the new
time is to be we confess we are puz-
zled to make out
When the friends of the new ordi-
nance are discussing one aspect of it
they tell us that the cars will not run
at any higher rate of speed than at pres
ent; that their new velocity will apply
only between Rice street and the city
limits; that they will not be run on
separate tracks, and yet that they wilt
not collide with the regular slow cars
Tor poor people who are not in a hurry
This, if carried out, would indicate lit
tie or no diminution Of the time re-
quired for the interurban trip. When
they pass to another section, however
the glittering bauble of rapid transit
is dangled before our anxious eyes, and
we are told that it would be worth
while to surrender every right that the
city now holds, and allow the street
railway company to do anything that
its interests or convenience may sug-
gest, If only we can secure this new
boon Of ''rapid transit" Unless we
can have fast trains between ST. Paul
and Minneapolis, the whole country is
going to the demnition bow-wows.
We need not say to any intelligent man
that this excuse for favoring the pro-
jected grab of the street railway COM
pany is a pretentious humbug. Nobody
is suffering desperately for fast time
between the two cities. The people Of
Minneapolis are not up in arms to al
low express trains to traverse their
streets. The steam railroads offer rapid
transit, as they did years ago, on very
favorable terms. At that time we had
an hourly service between the two
cities at all times except late in
the evening; and during the busy hours
of the day the trains ran at intervals
of half an hour or less. They made the
journey in twenty-five minutes, and the
charge for round-trip ticket good on
any road. was so cents. 1t is now pro-
posed to permit the street railway COM
pany to charge 30 cents for a trip re-
quiring at the best much longer When
the Interurban line was completed and
began to operate on a time schedule
of one hour between the cities, the hun
ger and thirst of the people for rapid
transit was not so great as to prevent
them from f1ocking unanimously to the
electric cars, and leaving rapid transit
by steam roads so completely deserted
that the companies took off the trains.
In all the discussions of what the
street railway company ought or ought
not to do that have been had; in all
the deliberations Of business men and
wOrkingmen; in all the communications
sent to the press, there has not been
one word about the consuming desire
of the people Of st. Paul for rapid tram
sit between the cities 1t is a straight
invention of the street railway compa-
ny and it's friends; and, with an impu-
dence that matches the terms of the
extraordinary document presented to
the council for its approval, it is now
represented as an expression of the
earnest demand Of the people. There
is no demand. We have no doubt that
swift trains run on an elevated road,
as they ought to be, between the two
cities would be patronized freely. We
have no doubt that franchise to con-
| struct such a road would be accepted
willingly by parties financially able to
build and operate it. We have no doubt
| that the city could obtain a handsome
cash bonus for the concession To
base a request for the transfer Of Uni
versity avenue entire to the street rail-
way company, together with the right
to increase rates Of fare and the sur
render of all power over the company
now possessed by the council, on a
mythical anxiety for rapid transit, is a
fitting part Of this bold attack upon
| the interests Of our city
LICENSING BICYCLES.