Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-04-01

ing them short term franchise pro-
vided they relinquish their present
rights and reward the city with fair
compensation in the form of a GER
tain percentage of their gross earn
ings, the city to assume ownership at
the expiration of the short term fran
chise and the lines to be paid for at
the appraised value of their tangible
property at that time. Judge Edward
F. Dunno, Harlan's opponent on the
democratic ticket, declares his inten-
ton to instigate condemnation pro-
ceedings against the companies imme-
diately after his elevation to the may
panies have all that is coming to
them and that their so-called present
rights are more or less mythical He
proposes to carry the fight for imme-
diate municipal ownership to the SUI
preme court of the United States and
for once and all have the validity Of
the companies present franchises de-
termined. The voters will decide
their choice of these methods April
at the polls.
"The chief obstacle in the way of a
satisfactory settlement of the traction
question in Chicago, from the stand
point of the people, Is the existence of
a law known as the ninety-nine year
act, a grant made to the street car
companies in 1859 and yielding them
the right to own and operate street
cars on most Of the principal streets
until 1858. Tho validity of this act
has been attacked time and again by
the legal representatives of the city,
but it has never been successfully
proven void One of the features of
the grant on which the traction at
torneys elaborate is what has come to
be known as its twig and branch pro-
visions. These attorneys contend that
the original documents specified that
main or branch lines could be built
on certain streets at the, time the
grant was made and that other stub
or 'twig' lines, which might be con-
structed in later years as the growth
in the city demanded, would be cover
ed by the same franchise provided all
the lines were connected This brings
practically every line in the city under
| the protection Of the ninety nine year
act, and insures a franchise to extern
sions that may be added to the pres
/
alton of the act. This claim has been
ridiculed by the city's attorneys and
f1ayed from time to time in the news
papers as an outlandish and preposter-
Gus creation of the traction lawyers,
but it has never been disproved and is
still the chief bone of contention in the
traction legislation that is continuing
uninterrupted before Circuit Judge
Peter S. Grosscup of the United States
court of appeals.
Tunnels Necessary.
Experts in civic affairs are agreed
that no plan for the permanent i'm
provement of Chicago's transportation
facilities will be complete without a
downtown system of tunnels. Traffic
in the downtown streets is so con-
gested that it requires almost as much
time for some of the street cars to
cross the business district as is taken
up in the remainder of their trip and
during the rushes of the morning and
evening hours the jam is so solid that
vigorous police interference is re-
CURED to move it. Nothing but COM
plete system Of subways or the in
vention of a successful airship, the ex-
perts say, will open the streets suffi-
4 GENTLY to permit the proper dispatch
in the movement of the city's multi
tudes and as yet the local engineering
! geniuses have not pinned their faith
to the possibilities Of aerial naviga-
ton. There are at present three tun-
nels under the Chicago river for the
accommodation Of cable trains. These
tunnels were not placed sufficiently
ba vi 10
sage over them Of the largest lake
steamers and the marine business of
Chicago has been growing steadily less
on that account until the deficiency at
present amounts annually to millions
of dollars. The destruction of these
4 tunnels was so persistently sought by
Illinois legislators in the national con.
/ gress that law was passed at the
4 last session of that body ordering their
I lowering or removal altogether from
4 the Chicago river. The necessity OF
this legislation can be readily under.
stood by an one familiar with Chi
/ cago's Importance as lake point and
! the need of clear passageway
through the river. Every vessel that
enters Chicago must leave or receive
her cargo at the elevators and fac
tories along the banks of either the
Chicago or Calumet rivers. as there
is not single dock elsewhere fol
their accommodation. On both sides
: of these rivers throughout their en-
tire extent in the city limits are built
!. immense grain elevators, ore reducing
plants and lumber yards and with &C
cess to thes- denied the largest lake
vessels, their values have been greatly
: decreased and Chicago has lost pres
tige as lake shipping point. Now
that congress has ordered the remova
of the river tunnels there is a grow
ing interest in marine affairs and the
shipping concerns throughout the en-
tire chain of lakes are exultant, as {
perusal of their trade journals will
convince.
simultaneously with the destruc
ton or lowering of the present tun
nels it is proposed to connect, the
downtown district and the populou.
: North and yNpcf Cidac WITH