Waterbury Democrat., 1903-02-07
FOUR FULL WEEKS TROLLEY STRKE>>MORE STONE TFROWHt
O'NEILL'S PLAIN TALK.
Would Put Trolley Co. in Hands of Receiver Says Franchise
 is Worth $l, 900, GOO.

After bar meeting in the district court to-day Il number of lawyers were asked their opinion regarding the troll ley strike and most of them said that the legislature should "do something. Some of them said the only cure tor the situation would be to apply for Il receiver, as was threatened in the New Haven trolley trouble last summer. None of them, however, cared to be quoted, but Attorney ONedn was an exception. He had the courage to say h the public press what he thought and believed should be done in the mat ter. He spoke as follows
 My sympathies are with the strik- ing trolleymen. believe in their union and in the organization of labor. | I believe there is no other way in which labor can meet capital except by organization. What show now would an individual working man have against combined capitnlg None what soeyer I believe labor has <, much right to organize as has capital. Of course I can see how an organization of working men could commit abuses l by sustaining men without merit or by l sustaining cause that has no merit; i but this does not alter the principle. l Capital certainly abuses it's privileges l ten thousand times more than any l labor organization ever heard of In l this instance of difficulty have thought of making the suggestion to the board having the power to act oil the application of the Connecticut Rail- way and Lighting Co to put in more switches, which practically means dou- ble tracking some of the streets. If the board having the power should dic- tate terms that the company, if they put down new switches, should main thin and hereafter maintain the whole of the highways from curb to curb where they propose to put these switch es, the public would in some measure be then compensated for the franchise which this company got for nothing The public laid out these highways at Its own expense, graded them at it's own expense and maintained them year after year at an enormous expense. The trolley company goes to the legis- lature and practically appronrfates these highways that were built bv others for their own purposes. and Etakes all the profit and pockets 1t. They practically own the highways now, No lone thinks for q moment of riding Where the trolley runs. This franchise ! as II IS. fully established to-day is worth one million dollars at the very ieas Bart the company have capltal4 1zed and nortgaged the pr0nerfy sfxa~ Eseveral millions: they pay interest t,l, the mortgage bonds and dividends ,n the stock, nine-tentIs Of which is either wholly water or the franhcise of the streets. If they were to pay divi- dends on the actual equipment and construction and the anfiiaf cost of oI,. eratlng the lines, these dividends wouisl
 amount to over 100 per cent twice over.
 This fact that the company has cot
 so much for nothing ought not to he
 lost sight of in any dealing which it
 may have with the public I'm not
 sure that in difficulty like the present
 one 1t would not be good thing if a statute law was passed for the ad-
 ministration of the company's property
 by public receiver. I have no doubt
 that this could be done. because the
 operation of the road Is n quasi-public
 matter. Receivers have been appoint.
 ed to operate railroads, to operate grai,
 elevaSors, and the supreme court oi
 the United States, in one Of the grain
 elevator eases, said that any quasi
 public utility could be controlled by the
 legislature and the courts, and men.
 tioned the fact that they could be regu
 lated by law. The price of gas, the
 price of elevating grain in elevators
 railroad fares, elevated railroad fares
 in New York city, express charges
 hack fares, all these are commonly reg
 ulated by city ordinance. There is nc
 reason, therefore, why the trolley com pany's property cannot be regulated II ! the same manner, except because they
 have so much money and influence ai
 the capital that the interests of tht public are neglected while the interests , of the trolley companies are careful, protected 7
 TAFT ops OTTATPEy