The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-02-28

delicate subject. If this were a meeting
called to vote upon a proposition that the
Indiana Bicycle Company ought to be COM
PEELED to sell bicycles at $40 apiece, I should
say thai we ought to 90 a little slow. at
least until we know something about the
cost of making bicycles. Now, ! 90 not
know anything about the cost OF construct
ing and operating street railroads. and l
presume that a majority of the people here
90 not know much more about 1t h do.
but this much ] am clear about: If a 8
cent fare means tracks and cars and service
OF a cheap and inferior sort. then l don't
want 1t. And 1 don't want it If 1t means
that the mOtormen and conductors and en-
ployes, VINO are now getting lZ12 cents or 10
cents an hour for working in rain and sleet
and snow and when the thermometer is
about 10 degrees below zero. are to be cut
down., although they don't get enough now;
and, FOR one, l had rather go on paying D
cents a trip as long as l live rather than
to make 2 cents myself by having some
working man skinned down who don't get
enough now, and believe that the poorest
wOrkingman in this city will agree with me
in this sentiment"
CLAIM MEETING WAS PACKED.
Charles A. Gauss, a former member of the
Council, stirred the friends of the street.
car company to some pretty noisy demon
strations when he said that the meeting
reminded him of one before the last city
election, when, at Mozart Hall, representa-
tives Of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com
pany gathered to pack a meeting that had
been called to protest against tracks being
laid across South Delaware street. Mr..
Gauss was a%pplauded from the center, while
not a few Kisses were heard from the right
of the church. THE hall was packed then,
and l believe that that is the condition here
tonight" said he. He declared that the
people want Scent fares if they can be
obtained, and, if necessary. they are willing
to wait two years until it can be ascertained
whether the company can afford TO grant
them.
1T is not so important that the question
be settled now as that it be rightly settled,
said John =. White. I'VE van the best
possible service at the lowest cost. The
burden lies with the company to prove that
it cannot give a 3-cent rate. At Detroit
the average rate is 8 10 cents. There are
sixty-eight miles of track. over which eight
tickets for 20 cents are sold Tor tour hours
a day, and six for % cents the remainder OF
the time. In Buffalo the rate is less than
4 cents; in Dayton tickets are sold eight Tor
% cents. In Glasgow. with municipal own
erShip, the fare is 22 cents, ana then opera
tives' wages are higher and they work TWO
hours less a day than under the old system.
Mr.. White insisted that organized laoor
in this city stands committed to mqilclpal
ownership, and said that its every declara-
ton in ten years has been for scent
fares and skorf-time franchises.
William Patterson held in his hands a copy
of the acts Of 1897, to which he referred as
containing two of the best laws that have
ever D6eu DdSSGU, inc I1uSS z
bin and the New bill. He said that the
people do not want those bills repealed, and
that neither the mayor nor city attorney
had any right to go before the Legislature
and ask their repeal
r. T. McWhirter, we'll known as a Prohi-
bitionist leader, said Judge Howe's COMPARE
son of the Parry and Indiana Bicycle Com
pany franchises to that of the street-car
company was not fair, as they are private
corporations on private grounds, and not
Major w. J. Richards, of the News, said
that he assumed that there would be no diff
ference of opinion as to the fact that the
granting of the old street-car charter, under
which the people now suffer, was a crime.
There might have been e~xtenuating circum-
stances at that time, when the rapid growth
Of electric moter power had not been an
ticipated. If those are condemned who
thirty years ago made such a blunder,
what shall be the measure of your condem-
nation" he asked ''of those who make a
greater blunder now? What has hypnOtized
our brains to make US talk of a thirty-four
years franchise? What DO they offer? $500
900. That is like the highway robber who
holds you up and then returns a small por-
ton of the plumber. Fairview Park. That
offer is a transparent fraud. They bought
that park expecting it would extend their
Srattic. Now they propose to let the city
for maintaining and policing it, while
they continue to profit from it," He denied
that six tickets for % cents was a Accent
fare, saying one dollar'S-worth must be
bought and paid for in advance, and the
passengers must run the risk of losing them.
have adopted six tickets for % cents as a
means for increasing their income as the
sale of tickets increased traffic. Mr.. Rich
ards said that he did not mean to impugn
motives Of the men that are forming the
new company, exclaiming that IF there is
an honest merchant in indianapolis, his
name is H. p. WATSON. 1 do not believe
that my ~neighbors of the press are improp-
erly influenced. l would say, perhaps, that
they have been influenced by eX parte state
lnents, before hearing what the sentiment
of the people is on these subjects" Mr..
Richards expressed regret that his friend,
Judge Howe, had undertaken to draw a
parallel between private corporations and
the street-car company. ITO my mind" said
he, that argument discredits every other
thing he has said on the subject"
Albert Sahm, former. postmaster, ex-
pressed regret that such an Incorporate
tone had pervaded the meeting, calling at
tention to the fact that some had been I'M
fair enough to charge the promoters of the
company, their friends and ~neighbors, with
a desire to rob the city. The question, he
said, is do we want this ball to pass? DO
we want this subject to go before the city
authorities and there be settled, after care
full consideration of all the points involved?
If so, the bill must pass Mr.. Sahm eX-
pressed himself as opposed to procrastina-
ton. He thought hat opportunity should be
taken to settle the vexatiouS questions at
once-so as to get better service. He thought
it was less a question of how cheap, than
how good, and referred to the promise of ST.
100000 to be expended in case the settle
ment is made. He opposed the resolutions,
as they simply meant further procrastina-
ton.
Thomas Marley. another former member
of the Council, declared himself as thor
oughly in favor of the sentiments expressed
by Mr.. Sahm, saying that what the people
want is to see money spent Fin betterments,
where they will reap the benefit. While he
was in the Council with Mr.. Gauss, and
since then, he declared, he had never heard
a better proposition from any company.
d. b. Shideler said that the speakers
seemed to overlook the fact that the bill
in the Legislature simply provides that the
city authorities may settle the matter, that
they are not bound to accept any PROPOSE
maximum is set, and the city may do as
much better as the citizens may desire. He
insisted that the bill does not repeal the
old law, quoting a representative who had
handed him a copy with the remark that it
re-enacted the New law verbatim.
"Tain't true" interrupted William Pat
terson.
He told me so.'
"Then he lied"
That, Mr.. Chairman" Numbered Mr..
Shideler, lis the Vindictive spirit that has
dominated this meeting"
Lucius E. Swift urged the adoption of the
resolutions above, using them as a text for
a more elaborate explanation of the ideas
they embody. The Scent fare he regarded
paving between the tracks. Until the COM
pany opens its books the people Will not
be convinced that a scent fare is impos-
sible. He said that one reason they did not
want the present city government to settle
the question was because they are afraid
that the mayor and the Council Is already
committed to the proposition.
Alonzo Green Smith declared that be was
not there to defend nor condemn the city
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