The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-27
CITY NEWS
ASKS MAYOR TO
VETO FRANCHISE
F. B. LARRABEE WRITES A LETTER
TO MR.. HAYNES. 20 s=
Saws Grant to Proposed Electric Com
pany Is Undemocratic; Describes It's
+ Possible Political Effect; Declares
Council Is Acting with Undue Haste,
f5&,- Fl ~. ssIats"3 I
for Which City Will Be Sorry !.

4OA "AASA IVY 'A~A ~ N~o"HJ' Il
F.. D. Larrabee, the local attorney, to-
day sent to Mayor J.. G. Haynes letter
urging him to veto the franchise which !
the city council purposes to grant to; a
new electric company, giving in detail
his reasons for the request The letter
Within the last thirty days an ordi-
nance has been proposed to the city coun-
ell and is now pending before it, which,
if enacted into law, will give a thirty
year franchise to- a private corporation
to- lay Wires,s ETC., with the necessary
poles, etc., in, on, over, under and across ,
the streets, avenues and alleys of the /
city of Minneapolis to enable said COM
pany to furnish electric light and power
for public and private use. A commit
tee of the council; comprising a major |
sity of all Of the members, has unani- |
rously recommended its passage, and it
will probably be passed by the council
this week and be submitted to you for
your signature before you retire from
office. -.'e." :s.% F.7s@-~,~ : p -.
+ You could prevent its becoming law
during your administration and lessen
its. chances of ever becoming so, and I
write to urge you to veto it,: ~ -:
Calls Tt Un-democratic. j.: II
+ am justified in asking you to veto
it because it is .undemocratic and. Tbe-
cause during the; last primary zelectien
+ campaign, at which you received the
nom ina ton by the democratic party for
the office of mayor Of, the city OF Min
i5neapolis, in many. public meetings -you
expressed yourself as agreeing substan-
, TALLY with many of"us who were; :adNo-
t.cating the ownership and control by the
| city of public utilities. -"
+ T. am inapelled to- write this letter to
you to let you know that there are some
democrats still true to the faith, even
tho in the city council nearly all, If not
ALL Of the democratic aldermen favor the
passage of the said ordinance, and even
tho the principal promoters of the cor
pora tion are democrats, and the attOr-
Eneys of the private corporation are DEM
ocrats. '.
Fit is painful in the extreme to see
democratic officeholders laboring to Gre
ate special privileges-contra to the
fundamental doctrines of our party. :
+ +. Nowadays, in the principal cities and
villages Of the United States the people
are trying to get rid Of just such bribe7
sgivers as this ordinance proposes to cre-
ate in our city. It is now generally ac-
Acknowledged that the only way to prevent
fpublic service corporations from owning
1.-THE cities is for the cities to own the
public service business. Who have been
the bribers of city officials and, of alder
men in this and other cities, In the past:
None other than the. "hire1fngs Of pub,
lie service corporations. It has become
the common custom thruout the country
= for public service corpora tions - to con
Tribute money to campaign funds to pu
Lsubservient tools Of. theirs in office tt
! taVoid the otherwise subsequent. neces
3sity Of bribing officials. :Eg.*.f
~as :::i' It's Political Effect.
! In all probability, if this proposed or
= ! dinance becomes a law, the. eMinnesot
: Power: & Trolley company, to whom tn
= !. franchise will be granted, will be a po
!, tent factor in the politics of Minneapoli
''i during it's life Of thirty years; that
will contribute money to influence cleo
J i tions and use money to corrupt officis
e action: These considerations alone ar
q Sufficient to justify the defeat of tn
~ proposed ordinance. >
q i This proposed ordinance is the mo:
IS important piece Of legislation that ha
e been: before the council for many year
g. and yet there is danger of its beir
es passed within thirty days from the tin
h, it was proposed, >,by aldermen. many
o-4 whom are about to retire from offic
T.. having been defeated at the last election
* Land it is the hope of the promoters thu
gi eve of your retirement from office.
s. Why this undue haste? Let, the ne
T. council and the new mayor also cOnsid
Il, It; give the people a chance to consider
t. the newspapers, the peoples watchdog
G, have not aroused the people on the subje
;Eyet. If it is good thing let them. infor
III the people andsarOuSe them to support al
n X sustain it: If 1T is. bad thing let the
y, i,arouses the" people to effort to defeat >
,ii>E We have not yet heard from the publ
+ welfare cornmitteer of the Con1merci
~ club. Let "us, give them chance to. Il
% form themselves and let them inform t
II people p: - ...r : eszraz )
~ This undue haste cannot be due: To- t
fact that the city is in darkness, becau
ne lit is not. We already have one elect
y, light company and we have a gas coz
o. pany.- Besides the city could build
le plant itself to furnish light as; quickly
IL the private corporation can. = 'e5Ea
Il, Value Of the Franchise. 2 -. =
en- In reality this haste sts-on account of
ma Value of the franchise under the propos
ordinance. The, attorneys Of the Mini
j. sofa Power and Trolley company ha
openly avowed that they are in a hui
tho because they will be able to borr
'D0 money as soon as the same is passed.
mo The city mlghtaas well give me the c
'Ne hall that I.may borrow money on it q
ned also charge the city for the use of it.
our- 1t would be far better to pay out of ]
city treasury the value Of the franch
ter: in money and keep the franchise. Blu
een-1 object to anything being given away
-: the city to anybody except for char
anu M unless the same amount be given to eve
No body, in which event 1t were as well +
,.. no one received anything.
viii If the city wont build it's own pl
II and serve the people, force the council
Ting take time to learn If some other comps
and may not do better than the proposed
+ dinance will lrequire the Minnesota Pc
ow- err and Trolley company to do. Gr
on God! Why doesn't the city council
least advertise for. bids-give all of
meet people chance to. bid on the jcb
: 9 anybody is to rob us let us find out y
:, ,,. viii rob us the least. .a9s
= r. In truth and in fact the city has W.
. power of it's own in the city sufficient
tells: enable it to build a plant and furnish
tn self with all the light which it needs.
h. In truth and fact the city has 1po
to compel the present General Eee
itur- ua company to furnish lights In this city
Ray HaS public and private use at just and
sonable rates, and this could be acc
with plished much sooner. than: a new e
nary, trio light plant can be Constructed
oend- put in operation 81. n -
1ead-,l : I,,.17 Es5s. 80 s5s%,s -5{7
1850 Regulation Of Charges.
If the CITY will not regulate the cha