Omaha daily bee., 1902-11-25
TO CALL IN BUSINESS MEN
Council Will Hold Open Meeting for Discus
sion Of Franchise.
QUESTION OF LOWER ELECTRICITY RATES
Counci1man Hascsu Proposes an
Amendment which City Engineer
Rosewater Says would Make
Franchise of No value.

Having threshed over the franchise ordl-
nance Of City Engineer Rosewater in com
mittee three times without having reached
an agreement as to its form, the city coun-
Gil has now decided to discuss it stlll far
Their at an open meeting to be held next
Monday in the council chamber. 1t is the
expressed wish OF Mr.. Rosewater and the
members Of the council as we'll that there
shall be as large a representation as pos
sible of the business men and property
owner on that occasion.
At the committee meeting yesterday the
ordinance came up late because Of a con-
troversy among the members over street
lamps, which occupied a great deal Of
time. Mr.. Rosewater presented to the
committee at this time a revised draft
Of his ordinance which, he explained, en-
braced all but one OF the amendments
which had been suggested by Councilman
Hascall. The particular one OF the pro-
visions proposed by Mr.. Hascall, that Mr..
Rosewater was not willing to have incor-
porated into his ordinance was that re-
Quiring that the contemplated electrical
plant shall be finished before the council
shall grant the desired franchise, and that
the charter amendment to be submitted to
vote Of the people shall empower the coun-
~ W AeA ~ SAA aANSA NAS
completion OF the plant.
Considers Condition Unfair.
This condition, Mr.. Rosewater said, had
not been imposed upon any other company
which bad been granted a franchise and
he considered It unfair, and objected to
It as a matter Of business policy. No COM
pany, he argued, could be expected to ex-
pend 1000. 900 or $4,000. 900 in the con-
struction Of a plant without positive as
surance that 1t had the franchise necessary
to make that plant of use. He declared
that he would not accept an ordinance
framed in the manner proposed, as he was
convinced It would only open the door
for innumerable law suits. int he felt very
sure that men Of capital such as he wished
to interest In his company all had better
use for their money than buying law suits.
HI desired to have the ordinance framed
In such q manner that the vote Of the peo-
pie would confer the franchise and he
would not have to take his plan before a
future council for any supplementary ac-
ton.
Councilman Hascall was disposed to in
sist upon his amendment and opposed &C
tion Of the committee at this time on the
ground that the provisions of the ordi-
nance should all be thoroughly discussed.
Mr.. Rosewater said he did not object to
any reasonable postponement. but 1t was
essential to the success Of his plans, that
the council should act upon the ordinance
in time to permit the required legal no.
tice that the charter amendment might
be submitted to the vote Of the people
at the coming election. Mr.. Hascall sug-
gested that 1t was desirable that the busi-
ness men Of the city should be given a
chance to express their views upon this
matter and Mr.. Rosewater replied that
such a plan would SUIT him exactly. as he
felt that his proposition would appeal to
any business man from a strictly business
standpoint, and he was fully prepared to
show the business men the advantages OF
his plan.