Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1904-06-11
JUDGMENT HAS ITS
VINDICATI0N.


our fellow citizens to compel the sub
mission of the Wauwatosa Street Rail-
way extension franchise to a vote of
the people.
The city attorney of Wauwatosa has
been for some months roundly scored
for the opinion he gave the common
council on this matter and some have
even insinuated that he was in the pay
of the Street Railway company.
We happen to know that the city at
torney was, prior to the giving of his
opinion, DESTROYS of rendering an opin-
ion that the franchise must be submit
ted to vote of the people, and was
personally in favor of vote being la
! ken, SO much so, that he counseled
with others to see if a way could be
found under any law TO enable him to
give an opinion in favor of vote. We
also know that the members of the
common council entertained a desire
TO have the franchise so submitted.
The law however seems to be conclu-
sive, that the franchise could not be
submitted, as Judge Burnell's opinion
holds,
Judge Burneil was called in from an
outside circuit at the suggestion of
Judge Halsey, and upon the agreement
of both the petitioners and defendants,
he gave the matter most careful and
complete hearing, excluding no evil
dence offered by either side.
The case was then argued by both
sides orally, and again on written
briefs that were very voluminous. The
judge took the case under advisement
for several weeks and his decision was
careful and deliberate.
1t is a full vindication of the action,
in the matter, of our public officials and
we think it and other developments
show that the whole trouble has been
raised by a few agitators who have
kept cloud of hard feelings hanging
over our little city for several years
past. Jealousy has cut big figure in
the motives behind this agitation. Pol
itics is another element in it, and there
may be other motives for aught we
know The public officials did not
rush into newspaper print or hire pub
lie halls to meet insinuations or try
their case in the newspapers in adj
vance as was done by the other side
but quietly awaited the courts deci-
sion.
We have seen no newspaper boast
ings coming from them of what the
supreme court will do if an appeal is
taken but the newspapers have not
been left without suggestions from the
agitators and a reversal by the SUI
preme court has been quite breeziIy
proclaimed as sure to come 1t is to
be hoped that an appeal may be taken
SO that our highest state tribunal may
pass upon the question. We are not
the city officials whose acts or opinion
arein controversy but we have no
question of an affirmance. AS to us there
seems no room for serious argument
to the contrary.
Those who advocate submission to a
vote commonly speak of thismatter as
though the public were being deprived
of great right of long standing. But
such is not the case. We have explain
ed before and now reiterate that until
the last session of the legislature, there
has never existed in Wisconsin a right
of the people to vote at popular elec-
ton to validate franchise granted by
the common council.
The last legislature after amendment
of the then pending bill, and after
careful consideration of all the exlg-
encies, saw fit to grant the right to
vote, but only with the important ex-
ception that extensions of existing fran
chises should not be submitted to Il
vote, if the term of such extension ex-
pired at the same time as the existing
franchise of which it is IA part The
- ttbN tttNNtt ira luis NuuGT lue
exception and it requires point Of
mental irritation to read anything else
into it,
So, it now appears judieially determ-
ined that If the common council of
Wauwatosa had submitted this fran
chise to a popular vote it would have
been without authority of law and the
following trouble would have probably
occurred.
lsG The expense of an election would
have been an unauthorized and illegal
expenditure of public funds.
9nd: 1t would not have affected the
right of the Street Railway company
to build.
3rd; 1t would, if adversely voted on,
have probably brought about serious
litigation between the city of Wan
watosa and the Street Railway com