Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-11-26

be granted further time. He received
q second from Aid. Fender. Mayor
Medill said he did not consider it wise
to continue the matter longer. He
! believed the aldermen were all famil-
lar with the situation, and could vote
as inteligently now as any other
time.
The Gall motion was thereupon with
drawn. and motion by Aid. Lawhead
that the committee recommend to the
council the rejection of the ordinance
was carried by the following vote:
| Yeas-Surman, Aster, Bleuer.
Wheelan, Fender. Gall, Lawhead-7.
| Navs-Beck. johnson, Lohse, Win
ter, Soderstrom, Elwell-6.
The council adopted the report by
the following vote:
Ayes-Surman, Maucker, Aster,
Bleuer, Wheelan, Fender, Gall, Law
! heads.
Nays-Beck, Johnson, Lohse, Win
/ ter. Elwell, Soierstrom-6.
The Councils Stand.
The fact that, in the opinion of
| THE ARGUS, the position assn med by
the council has met with general APP
probation, need not be extensively
dwelt upon. In holding that the ced-
inc of track rights on the new levee
would be the establishment of an I'M
| wise precedent, one that should be
discouraged at the very outset, and
! one that under no circumstances
should be countenanced or considered
! until the railroads had given manifes-
tation of purpose to do their full
| i, -,
ual concessions. the council took
course that is worthy of the highest
praise. The time has come for the
city to show to the railroads that her
rights are to be preserved, and that
the policy of giving is not entirely
| one sided. In word. that the city
| is just as much in earnest as the rail-
roads could possibly be. The coun-
ell is not wholly convinced that there
is no other way of solving the track
situation than the one upon which the
! railroads interested have united. The
railroads have discovered that a plan
more agreea BILE to the city's interests
| must be determined upon; that it is
not to be the policy of the city. now
that the levee is fairly iDaugurated,
| to build Il permanent improvement
| one day to have it torn up the next at
| the behest of corporations that, desper-
ately as they may seek to get through
| it, do not consider the privileges they
seek of sufficient value to give any
thing in return. Briefly summarized,
/ the council took the position with
reference to the new switch, that il
should be avoided if there is any pos
sible wav to ITO so-and there are
MANY aldermen inclined to the belief
that it can be avoided and all rights
at the same time subserved-and that
| in no case could the ordinance be Sc
riously considered until the railroads
! that have not yet given the city the
assistance that they should in fur
| therance OF the general project,
pledge themselves to do unequivo-
| cally.
The position taken by the council
affords The ARGUS q sense of satisfac-
ton, not that there comes to it any
qualification in the denial to the rail
roads coveted rights. but the satisfac-
ton does come in the fact that it has
had opportunity to establish its good
faith with the council, to demonstrate
rio hit on the heels of the miserabl
accusation that it was controlled by
any corporation having tracks on
the river front because it fought
the Terminal company in its first
attempt at grab there the abso-
lutte falsity of such statement. 1t,
strangely enough, came about that
the Terminal company, after seeking
TO impugn the motives of THE ARGUS,
by charging it with being swayed and
preJudiced by the influence of an
mother corporation, furnished the oc-
cacasion when the Terminal company
obtained the influence of this same
corporation in its own behalf. And not
withstanding this and the equally sig
nificant fact that all the railroad
interests became allied on n more rea-
sonable proposition than the original
one of the Terminal company, THE
ARGUS, while seeking to be fair to the
railroads claiming to have so much at
stake, consistently and steadfastly
maintained that the city's interests
were paramount and should have con-
sideration first and above all.
THE ARGUS believes that an ar
rangement may be reached which will
work neither hardship to the railroads
nor to the city, one that instead OF
jeopardizing the interests of any will
prove advantageous to all.