The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-07-18
STAND
ON GAS GRANT
-Four Councilmen Undergo a Sudden
Change OF Heart.
OPPOSE The FRANCHISE
BLOCK 1T AFTER ONCE AGREE
ING TO 1T.

A FTER agreeing TO a report favoriuS
~ granting a gas franchise to GeorEe
a Snow and William Darst. four
city cOUnCilmen yesterday suddenly
changed their minds and refused to
sign the report. These four are +. :.
Fernstrom. w. J. Tuddenham. F. II.
Davis and J. II. Preece- All belong to
the solid Seven" composed of the
Mormon members, who have stood to-
gether for all demands of the Utah
Light & Railway company and allied
interests.
Messrs. Snow and Darst convinced
the cOuncilmen individually that they
had ample backing. and that the enter
prise was bona fide. They showed evil
dence that e A Potter. president of
the American Trust < Savings bank.
OF Chicago. and one OF the wealthy
men of that city. was associated with
them.
In obedience to the instruction of the
joint municipal laws and streets COM
mittee. Assistant City Attorney w II.
BrameI prepared report of the COM
mittee recommending the passage of
the ordinance granting Il gas franchise
to Snow and Darst, together with
amendments to the ordinance submit
ted by them granting them the pro-
posed franchise, which amendments
were agreed to at the meeting of the
joint committee held yesterday after
noon.
The report and the ordinance as
amended We're ready for signing by
the members of the committee before
the meeting of the city council held
last night. and had the programme
agreed upon at the committee meeting
been carried out, the report would have
been signed and the ordinance would
have passed its first reading. and pos
sibly might have passed the third and
final reading under suspension Of the
rules.
counciImen Are Moved over.
Between the adjournment of the
committee meeting and the calling to
order of the city council these four
councilmen changed their minds. and
when the committee report prepared
by the assistant city attorney and the
ordinance as ordered amended were
submitted to them they refused to af-
fix their signatures to those docu-
ments- The men who didn't sign are
COuncilmen FernstrOm. Tuddenham.
E II. Davis and Preece. Councilman
Wells was at the joint committee meet
ing, but left before its delibera tons
were finished. after announcing that
the proposition which the promoters.
Messrs. Snow and Darst made. TO de-
post $4,000 in bank 10 insure the in
corporation of their company, was sat
lSfactory to him. He was not present
at the council meeting. but it is be-
ieVed that had he been there he would
have Joined with COuncilmen Fern
strom. Tuddenham. r. H Davis and
Preece in refusing to sign the commit
tee report recommending the granting
of the franchise
COuncllmen FernStrOm, Z. H. Davis
and Preece were asked why they had
not carried out the understanding ar
rived at by the members of the Joint
1 committee, but they offered no ex-
plantation. simply aging they had de-
cided not to sign the report recon-
mendinS the granting Of the franchise.
One of the solid eight councilnen
who voted against the ordinances ex-
tending and consolidating the fran
chises of the Utah Light & Railway
company. presented two months ago.
by a majority of the members Of the
joint committee. said.
The reason FernstrOm and the 9TH
ers went back on the agreement
reached at the committee meeting this
afternoon is because they DO not dare
TO vote for a franchise that would en-
able Snow and Darst and their asSo-
clates 10 organize opposition to the
hghtlng monopoly held by the Utah
Light K Railway company They have
got 70 stand pat for the Utah Light &
Railway company under any and all
circumstances