The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-28

the seashore, 40 that their young ones could
breathe tho ,life-gi,ving cir II said tho orator, and
NE crowd Sh cheers Railroad, nS ai Con umS men en- OF the
discharged and blacklisted because they went
on strike, aud ia paying them $3.50 n dny-bet.
ter wages than any other road prolonged
1t this point johnson olbowed his way to he
front with his troubadonIs ana advanced on the
and he motioncd for tn crowd to keep quiet.
My friend who spoke to you II moment ago
taken" said he. 81 am not, anu | assure you
that ut the time I decided to reduce the fares on
the Nassau trolley road from 10 cents TO cents
! was so selfish that It was not the thought OF
the poor mothers with. their sick babies that |
had in mind. hut that | could make more money
out of you at 3 cents than ! could at IL cents"
There was n peculiar stiffness over the crowd,
that had been wild with enthusiasm n few mo.
Neither did | employ tho blacklistcd strikers
of the Brooklyn Heights Railroad because they
were blacklistcd or strikers, continued John
motormen, and that was what ] needed at that
time. That was business. not philanthropy, and
Tho crowd glanced from one to another and
things looked gloomy. There were n few Kisses
from one corner of the hall. ~.
That's what l want to hear" exclaimed
Johnson. Il would rather speak to my enc
mics than my friends on n subject like this.
Now. may nsk those discontentSd gentlemen
what caused their dissatisfaction T.
There was no answer and johnson went on:
81 want to say to you that ! am everything |
III represented u DC III u UuSlICSS sense. i All
q land %Erabber, a franchise ~grabber. IA monopo-
list, and everything else that YOU choose to
S D,l,D me i9 9or a b nus n 5s,i sense and ! am Hom not ,r in
You allow me to do It. The laws which you
make thousands OF dollars which should right
fully 20 to you. But | say that just SO long as
you continue to make and maintain those laws
I'm going to do just as much as anybody els to
make money under them. You are the rightful
owners of the franchises. but you allow us to
"A trolley railroad or any other in fact is not
valuable just because of tn cars and track
which it runs on, If built two miles of trolley
road on the prairie with nothing but sage brush
would be Of any value with nobody
] build two miles of railroad on broadway, with
the thousands of people who are Obliged TO use
it along the route. don't you think l would have
The fault lies with you who allow these
laws to be made; The persons who ride on the
routes, own them just as much as the man
who holds the franchise. as it is their
industry and presence along The route
that makes them valuable. Now. you have
q candidate for Mayor who believes
in giving YOU your rights in regard TO these rail
roads. Henry George is that man. The remedy
lies with you, and the quicker you act the better
for yourselves. But just so long "a you main
tain the present laws you may depend we shall
they take from you."
Johnson wound up with praise of Mr.. George
ChccrcG him To the echo.
Last night johnson was campaigning in New
York in a horsclcss cab. Accompanied by
Willis J. Abbot. the Chairman OF the EN.
ccutivc Committee, he rode up Eighth ave
nue. from West sixteenth street to Wes,
Fifticth street. reviewing the George truck
cnmpaigncrs. Eighteen George trucks loaded
with speakers were distributed along the ave
nue. at various points. and all had crowds around
them. johnson stopped ut each one, and had
encouraging words for the speakers. After
ward he slid that the truck speakers had ad
dressed 10000 persons.