The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-01-30
Many City Council
Members
OPPOSED TO ORDER.
Grade Crossing Question
Comes Up Tonight.

IT, rTIaa4s--ss Oh Inc city council THIS
T eveninz rs mainly for the purpose of
considering the report of the grade
crossing commission
4 Several other matters which will be
on the calendar are of minor import
ance, and will be disposed of quickly
if they are reached at ALL
4 The grade crossing question is the
all-important one, and supporters OF
the report of the commission are deter
mined that an order to instruct Mayor
Rufus b. Dodge, Jr, to petition the
legislature will be passed at the meet
ing, The order is already on the table
of the board of aldermen, having been
presented even before the hearing Sat
urday evening. The hearing will be
continued this evening.
4 A determined attempt will be made,
however to prevent the passage of an
oroer' the opponents Of the report hay
ING double reason. One is that the
4 commissioners have not satisfied the
city council and the people that the
pan of eleyating the tracks is the best
Tor the interests of the city. The sec
ond reason is that the question is of
100 great Importance to be dealt with
on snch snap judgment
me all VINO nave spoken in favor.
OF the report of the commission have
uiscialmed any intention of railroading
the matter through the city council,
ttielr actlons do not carry out that
easement. When Alderman c. A.
Vaughan presented an order before the
nearing Saturday evening. he let the
cat out of the bag. The unfairness
ol introducing such an order with n
rearing on the very question only a
minute distant, struck even the civ
council members of the commission
Gnu el.pl II was laid on the table until after
the nearing, without debate.
Ihe argument of President Frederick
w. White of the common council tbat
the council should brook no delav no.
cause the plan is the best that can be
ADOPTED, is another straw to show from
what direction the wind has ser in A
Eeafiy everybody in Worcester excenf
members OF the grade crossing com
iiaissioi ana their supporters in the city
~ TIa,io ~ question the superiority of that
pan over others, President Whites ar
sumeht shows that the scheme is to
sush the order through without anv
| ton iilollild-
~ IS not absolutely certain that all
VINO voted for the early hearings are
~ favor OF the report of the commits
a a,9i, anu VIII vote afiirmatively on the
U u,eri some OF them have stated they
were Wiling to give the commissions
every chance to show its renorf IL ~
| pest as soon as possible in order Ia oat
| tne matter before the legislatures bafora
the time limit. oeiore
As tomorrow is the last day on which
BUSINESS can be filed in the Iegjslatura
Wlthout suspension of the rules the,,
w. sotsu Iof early hearings. But wheth
er they Will vote for the passage IF fba
order in the face of the a1ditio' rilg
llsht which the petitioners have thrown
On the matter, is not so certain
me petitioners have certainly made
out tne strongest case. The. commits
sloners claimed before any hearing
was given that no other solution conid
~ arrived at and that hearing would
develop that fact. Instead of s,,ch y
result the hearing has develonad ~, .
what the commissioners at first SAIL
Was impossible, is entirely practicable
MOI only that, but the petitioners have
satished everybody who heard fbe sc
cussions that the commission did not
plans. 10 olner
Although all the speakers have urged
fha
consideration of the question. there
mas not been a great departure from
party INES IN the votes thus far taken.
Alderman Carberry and Counci1noan
OLeary and Mcmahon of the minority
nave voted for the desires of the com.
mission. Councilmen Lancaster. TirrelL
ana Rivard have appeared against
nasty action II the party lines are
maintained tonight there can ba no
doubt of the disposition of the renort
one of the best arguments which
nave been heard against immediate 40
tlon and, for that matter, against the
report of the commission, was made
Yesterday by a prominent business
man. Said he: Regardless of the
eNhortatlons not to make the question
a sectional one, that must be done The
west side is not affected narticlas
the east side is affected to its greatest
depths. | would say proper DISPOSE
ton of the matter could be easily made
IN this wise; the west side not being
anected, does no care whether the
tracks are elevated or depressed. The
east side, stirred to its foundations
wants depressed tracks. When they
are the only ones affected, their desires
should be granted. ! should not saw
that councilmen whose constituents do
not care much one way or the other.
should force something on the east
siders that they apparently do not
want. Everybody in Worcester would
complain bitterly II the Boston and
Albany had forced on the city the
Harvey Shepard plan Nm h the CITY
did not want Now, the strongest sec
ton is doing exactly the same thing
forcing on the weaker the plan it does
not want. This is being done because
the strongest section is not itself ar
fected
Members of the city council ought
to remember one thing before they vote
to give the east side the plan It objects
to, and that is 1t was not the east side
which was responsible for the Harvey
Shepard plan. and it was the east side
which prevented the consummation of
that plan. Before some Of the men
who are now in the city council knew
the first thing about the grade cross
ings, east side men saved Worcester
from what would have been an ever
lasting disgrace and detriment to the
city. 1 hope somebody VIII call their
attention to that fact tomorrow eve
ming"
RAPID TRANSIT FOR MAIL.