New-York tribune., 1902-12-07
COOL.


| ~ ,dor NevYork shivered on Friday.
NJ william Fl Page counsel for the Union
Street Railway Company. was in operation De-
| fore the Board of Estimate on that day Ihat
| uas enoupb TO CONCEAL miles of surrounding Ter
! ritorv o1Iite regardless of meteorological conol-
tions For cool impudence Mr. Page and the
company which he represents can give polnts
TO the polar bears, Mr.. Page with cheeh
hard as any iceberg which ever sailed Wlthih
the Arctic Circle calmly offered to pay S3.ooo
wear for the next five years for the use of the
Central Bridge and the One-hundred-and-nlls-
ffth-st viaduct by trolley cars!
When the history of this little TRANSACTION Is
reviewed the hardihood of Mr. Page will seem
worthy of admiration. The Dridge was ouli'
bv the city under law which forever forbade
its use for railroad tracks The Huckleoerry
road. however, soon set hungry eyes upon 1t and
secured the repeal of the law protecting the
bridge from its grasp. Then it applied for
franchise to use ii and the vaduct, alleging tnat
this was the only way it could possibly reach
Manhattan Island and give needed transit Ia
cilities to the residents OF The Bronx lt pro-
fessed great willingness TO pay iberaily for the
priyilege and declared that il asked this IRAN
chise not from any desire to save money py
getting the public TO furnish a bridge for 1t. 1t
had wanted to build its own bridge over the
Harlem and pay for its own access 10 Manhat-
tan. but it alleged that the War Department
stood in the way of another bridge in that
neighborhood. So in spite of its willingness to
spend money it was compelled TO turn to the
city and ask to share the existing bridge on fair
terms On this understanding the grant was au-
thorized. and the question of compensation is
before the Board of Estimate
Obviously the fair rental for the use Of the
city's bridge would be the maintenance charge
ard the interest the cost Of a bridge built
by the railroad itself giving it the same faciii-
ties as would be acquired from the city. Com
petent engineers estimate that such a bridge
would cost 100000. The Central Bridge cost
the city much more than that but as that bridge
would still be of seme-though decidedly i'm
paired-use to carriages and also to foot passen-
gers, it was deemed fair to ask for its use by
trolleys only what a simple, cheap trolley bridge
would cost. Five per cent on 100000 is $15,-
oo0 The maintenance charge of such a bridge
would be about $4,000. Therefore, in paying
$4,000 a year to the city the railroad would
only be giving what it would have to expend to
secure a crossing of the Harlem by its own en-
terprise. The viaduct, which is also to be de-
voted to trolleys, cost the city S741.630 10, and
the Controller has declared that $4,000 would
be a fair rental for the share of it which would
be occupied by trolley tracks. These figures
were discussed last July before the franchise
was granted, and the railroad company taciuy
accepted them. 1t asked the franchise know
ing what was expected for the city by the alder
men who voted it and gave nc sign of dissent,
but, on the contrary. dsclaimed all desire to
save money by use of the city's bridge, and as
serted a wish merely to secure a crossing which
il was not allowed to build for itself. Now 1t
has the impudence or the bad faith to offer
for iviIa ,1-bi +ba
taxpayers $4,000 year 10 furnish!
We are greatly surprised to note the attitude
of Controller Grout on this subject. He is gen.
orally a valiant corporation tail twister. He is
a veritable Bombastes Furioso in denouncing the
Rapid Transit Commission and the subway con-
tractors. Yet when the bridge franchise was
under discussion on Friday and the report Of
Mr.. Mclean the engineer Of the Finance De-
partment. in favor of the $4,000 rental was re-
ferred to, Mr.. Grout disclaimed this report.
said it was made under former administration
and was probably BIASED, and showed himself
ready to make substantial concessions to the
Huckleberrys grabbing mood. Yet Oh July Is
last he recommended to the Board of Estimate
that Mr.. McLeans figures be adopted In fixing
the rental for the bridge and viaduct, and he
declared that the engineers recommendations
concerning that and other bridges would prob
ably stand, and that any company that occu-
pied the city's bridges would have to pay on
about the basis suggested by his engineer. 1t
is trife late to disclaim responsibility for that
engineer and explain his figures as an undesir-
able Inheritance from Mr.. Coler. The admins
uation cannot afford to make any large reduc-
tons from the amount which Mr.. Grout fixed
upon proper last summer, and which is so
clearly only a reasonable rental for the city
property taken by the railroad in lieu of build
ing its own crossing. All arguments based on
the Brooklyn Bridge rental are beside the mark.
Everybody knows that the payment there is
ridiculously inadequate. and the surrender of
the structure to private corporation was a
scandalous betrayal of public interests