The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-02-01

CHICAGO. Feb. 1-Chicago-s naavoraI-
~ campaign, which opens next month, viii
be the most important in the last twenty
| five years. The underlying question of the
| campaign viii be: Shall the public, through
the city council and the mayor. or shall
the street railway corporations. control the
| streets and the system of taxation to be
! imposed upon corporations using the
streets? Collateral issues. such as closing
saloons at midnight. admitting women to
| saloons, politics in the police force, and
! management of the public works depart
ment, viii have some slight effect on the
! final outcome Of the campaign. but the
| streets and street railway question will
| be what finally determines the course of
! the city government during the next two
years.
! The Democratic candidate for mayor
| Will be Carter II Harrison. the present in
! cumbent, or Charles II. Walker, the pres
/ ent corporation counsel, with the chances
/ fayorinS Mr. Harrison The Republicans
| are much at sea as to their candidate. al
I though there are some indications that
/ lie may be John N. Harlan. brother Of
! James s Harlan, the recent appointee Of
! President Mckinley to a Porto Rican post
In 1892 and 1884 nearly all of the i'm
pOTtant street railway franchises of Chi
| cagO expire All of them were granted
/ years ago when there was little local ap-
probation Of the value OF the streets to
! the public Only few of them require any
| compensation TO be paid to the city for
! the use Of the streets. The companies
I have pretended to pay a car tax, have
kept some viadUcts in repair. done some
paving and some sprinkling, but no spe-
! chic requirements have been made of
I them, and past efforts to induce them to
be more liberal have proved failures.
The city council and ma yor selected this
/ spring Will have the question of the re-
aewal Of these franchises before them.
/ They viii decide if the city shall enter
upon new policy OF requiring heavy com
/ pensation before granting a street fran
/ chise or il the old order Of things shall
/ continue The street railway companies
/ have slgElfied in q roundabout way that
/ they desire franchise renewals for at
least a twenty-year term, and fifty years
II they can get it; and that they are averse
! 10 paying over per cent per annum on
/ their gross earnings to the city treasury
! This per cent. further, is TO be taxed
/ only against established main lines and
not the suburban lines
Mayor Harrison was able to convince
/ the city council two years ago that the
companies would be paying little enough
! II they gave the city $500 600 annually for
! their franchise rights, and he further con
tended that 81. 0G0 600 per year would not
( be too much. The result vas then that
/ the companies did not secure the fifty
/ year franchises they asked for. and final
! settlement OF the issue was postponed two
+ years
/ Whereas two years ago Democrats and
Republicans we're united against the
I street railway companies this year the
/ Democrats 2 fnI MT for mt =
! ing the companies franchises of longer
! than twenty years term for 10 per cent
! per annUm compensation to the city to be
I taken from the gross earnings of all lines
main and suburban and for eventual mu-
I nicipal ownership Ct all the lines. The
/ Republicans, on the other hand. have
( partly fallen into the control Of the com
. panies through the workings Of the party
/ machine, dominated By Congressman VIII
I liam c LOriTner.
Mr.. LorImer, although repudiated at
/ the polls last fall, and crushed this
! month by the reelection OF United States
/ Senator CullCm. is still power in To-
/ cal politics. and il is his purpose that
/ a mayor and council shall be chosen
/ which viii be favorable to the wishes Of
! the street railways His position may de
! feat the nomination OF John II. Harlan
/ who has been a street railway opponent.
/ and bring about the selection of a cor
! poratiOu candidate
/ In this event. the election of q Demo-
crat IS almost a certainty, and after hat
the greatest battle between the pe3pl 5
/ representatives and the corporations he
/ municipality has ever known. II Mayor
! Harrison is reelected il is q foreg0ne
/ conclusion that street railway cotnroI OF
/ local legislation is ended forever and
/ that the corporations VIII have to pay
/ handsomely hereafter for franchises. The
( same viii be the case II a radical Re
/ publican is chosen. but there is less pos
sibility Of this. owing the Vaccinations
/ Of Mr. I.Griraer