The Saint Paul globe., 1904-12-08

man of the committee of the whole,
will name the members of the commit
tee, Mr.. Haas, being made-a member
by the resolution creating it.
See No Concessions
Mr.. M4inn, attorney for the company,
made an extended argument in favor of
compromise by which the company
agrees1to dosthe things mentioned, but
|. it was generally Nnarked by the MEM
berss of the council after adjournment
B that the company had not. made one
concession. 1t was argued that the
widening Of .Sfb1ey street and the plac-
/ ing. Of street cars oifstfle thoronghfare
viii Increase the. business of the COM
pany,.- and that it will be impossible
for. the company to- install the third
interurban line by way of Marshall
avenue without widening the bridge.
Half of the bridge is in Minneapolis.
Corporation Attorney Michael made
a strong statement of the citys side of
the litigation. He stated that he be-
lieNed that the decision of Judge Loch-
rem would be greatly modified by a
higher court if the case were appealed.
1t was possible that the contention of
the city that the street railway COM
pany occupies the streets as a tres
paSser would also be upheld. This
. would compel the company to secure a
new franchise, making it necessary that
it come within the provisions of the
charter.
A number of business men and repre-
sentatives of commercial bodies favor
ed a compromise. Largely their plea
was made on the basis that the city
cannot afford to tie up all street rail-
way improvements and extensions un-
til the case is taken to the United
States supreme court Many of the
speakers accepted and elaborated upon
the. plea of Mr. Mum that if the city
should win the company and the city
would then.be in the same position that
they occupy now. This would make
an. greement necessary A compro-
mise at this time would save the years
of delay and allow. the company to
spend the S2.000.000 it has for extern
sfons ands improvements.
History of Litigation
Opening his argument for the COM
pany, Mr.. Mum said that the company
appreciates the. effort of the council to
bring about an understanding. The
company hoped that it would be possi-
I BILE to. reach an agreement that would
permit the company to proceed with
| its extensions and improvements. He
gayesa general history of the litigation,
| in which he said that he expected that
| the company would eventually be up
held by the highest courts. This would
| make it impossible for the city to en-
| force the provisions of the charter inn
posing the gross earnings tax and make
! 1t Impossible for the council to regu-
| late the fares charged. During the two
| to four years while the case was drag
ging its way through the courts the
eoBpanySwould not make any improve
| ments,%an could not construct the
shops, for which forty acres of land
/ had been purchased
Mr. Mum argued at some length
that the city will be the gamer if it
should make compromise at this
time. If the company is permitted to
extend its lines in the city 1t will build
to South st. Paul and likely extend
! this line as far as Mankato. Other
| electric lines to the country are con-
tempiated. 1t had been proved, he
| said, that a large amount of trade now
comes from Saltwater, and the other
! roads would increase the sales of st.
/ Paul business men. He thought it
should not be difficult to reach an un-
/ derstanding that would be satisfactory.
THE company really has no definite
proposition to make, said Mr.. Mum.
I'VE considered it proper that we
should come here today and talk over
| the matter in a general way and see
If it is possible to reach common
| ground We feel that it will be for the
! benefit Of the city to allow US to pro-
| coed to make the improvements we
contemplate. .
Would decision of the supreme
court bring the company under the
| provisions of the charter relating to