The Savannah morning news., 1902-01-26
Mr.. BALDWIN'S PROMISES.
What They Mean to Patrons Of
street Car Lines.

| street Car Lines.
The patrons of the new railroad sys-
tenn, under the control and manage
ment of the Savannah Electric Com
! pany, of which Mr. George j. Bald
win is the president, were greatly
pleased and encouraged to read in the
| Morning News a full and frank ex-
preston of his views, and knowing Mr..
Baldwin to be citizen of Savannah
largely and sincerely interested in it's
welfare and progress, and gentleman
of the most truthful and reliable char
acter they feel that they can place i'm
plicit confidence in his promise. He
assures the public that he only asks the
City Council to grant permission for
the new company to use the fran
chises it now enjoys in such manner
as to give the public the best schedules
and the best service in the power of
the company. No new franchises are
asked only that the company may be
| placed in a position to use those they
now have, not solely for their own best
| advantage, but for the convenience of
the public. And as a guarantee of the
! sincerity of his application, he assures
| the public and the patrons that a track
/
the theater. merely as a public con-
venence, and with no expectation of
making on the investment.
! This promise and announced policy is
so very different from that only too
commonly pursued my wealthy corpor-
ations. which frequently, as just re-
vealed by the Interstate Commerce
| Commission, result in deliberate and
| criminal violation of the statute in the
| greed of gain, that the patrons of our
| local electric road feel fully embold-
ened to call attention to some fran
chises now in use which are not oper-
ated with 1.-The best service" within the
power of the company.
| Among these the present extremely
| insufficient and Anticipated service, on
| some of the outer lines, which are just
as much franchises of the company
as any in the city, may be cited; and
more especially the line between Sand
| Fly station and Montgomery, which no
| doubt the ancient mules themselves,
| less obdurate than their owners, blush
to operate if their bushes could only
| be seen.
There is not a patron who uses that
line who does not have daily occasion
to hurl his anathemas against it, and
| to wonder that a railroad company,
claiming to be up to date, can consent
| to maintain it in it's present deform-
| ity. If the company had never con-
| structed a line between those points 1t
might well be deliberated by it whether
such a line would pay. But having
constructed it for it's own profit,
| il remains under as much legal
obligation to maintain it as any one of
| it's lines in this city, and Mr.. Bald
| wins promise of ''the best service in
our power applies here with conspic-
| Uous emphasis.
The necessity to equip this line with
electricity was impeded under former
management, it was always declared
by the public, through some personal
hostility or prejudice.
With a complete change of manage
ment any such impeachment can no
longer exist, and the assurance of Pres
| ident Baldwin for better service
| throughout the system will be relied
| on. If the present track between Sand
! fly and Montgomery could be taken up
and re-laid so as to include the South
| ern section of the Isle of Hope, and
then proceed as close as possible, to
| Bethesda, Cedar Hammock, Cattle
| Park and the settlements along the
| water front now occupied by many
residents, with early large additions
almost assured, through advantageous
service, and then via Beaulieu reach
| Montgomery the most attractive and
| promising of all our nearby salt water
resorts, it is confidently believed that
such a line would prove remunerative
at an early day. But President Bald
win has pronounced his promise that
"the best service" will be granted ir-
respective of the present profit. We do
not think that the city should demand
actual money for the improved fran
chises asked. They are really not new
franchises, but only supplemental to
these already granted But we do think
that they should be granted only upon
the express condition of an improved
and perfect service, as nearly as prac-
ticable on all the lines of the new
company now in use by it. Another
company, through Mr.. Lester, has long
sought the opportunity to grant rail-
road facilities to our eligible outlying
resorts. This effort had been steadily
resisted. With what possible consist
ancy and justice to the people can our
city government now refuse the ac-
QUESTION of these advantages, desired
not merely by residents of localities.
but by the general public as feeders of
Savannah, when it can all be accom-
plished by the imposition of a few
proper and just conditions, implicitly If
not expressly conceded by President
Baldwin himself Citizen.