The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1905-03-16

- WI W NoAi JlHe the nRnC with the
street railway company to the supreme
court, and was disappointed when the
| matter was settled SO suddenly. If the
street car company is not going to he
| required to pay the gross earnings tax
1t should be made to concede a low
| er fare.
Swan A. Ponthan, president of the
FIRST ward Improvement association
The city was goldbricked. The COM
promise agreement should be set aside
II there is any legal means Of doing it.
II does not contain the concessions
from the street railway company de-
manded by the people, and 1t could
never have passed the council except
In the hurryup style that it did.
r. M. pctan, president of the Eighth
ward Improvement association-Crim-
mai on the face of it. For the paltry
consideration of few dollars which
the company agrees to spend in i'm
proVements st. Paul has transferred
TO 1t the streets of the city for all time
to come. The people of the Eighth
ward are aroused as never before.
They demand with one voice the revo-
cation of the agreement. Appeal from
the decision of the federal court before
! 1t Is too late.
William G. White, attorney, Globe
building-The agreement is absolutely
void on its face. The council has
| Sought to give the street railway COM
! pany privileges through acQuiescing in
the decision Of Judge Lochren which
they had no right to give under the
| charter Action should. be taken at
once through injunction proceedings
Dy the corporation attorney or any tax
payer. If the company is permitted to
lay its tracks and make Improvements
before any suit is entered to set aside
the agreement another element will
enter into the controversy and that is
the vested rights proposition. If the
people want to test the legality of the
agreement they should do so at once.
John D. O'Brien, attorney-The
agreement is not worth the paper it
is written on. All the city has left is
Its reputation for being the healthiest
city in the world. Everything else has
been given to the street railway COM
pany by the terms of the compromise.
An appeal should be taken from the
decision of the federal court imme-
diately, and the company should be re-
strained from operating under the
terms of the agreement
u. ]. Hammergren, representative
from the Thirty-third district-It was
absolute folly for the city council to
accept such a compromise. 1t was
contrary to the expressed wishes of the
people. The city has secured abso-
Iutely nothing, and in return for ii
has agreed to give the company every
thing it wanted.
Fred korngable, First ward business
mani would be ashamed to look the
next generation in the face If I should
not at this time vigorously protest
against the action of the city council
In accepting such a compromise. With
the exception of a few business men
who hope to profit by the money which
the company will spend in labor hire
and materials, 1 don't believe there is a
war in le 9TH
denim the action of the council in pass
ing such resolution. 1 am against it
first and last, and If some action is not
taken to undo the action of the coun-
ell there will be such a protest go up
from this ward as will be heard for
many years throughout the city.
Edward Peterson, deputy city as
sessor-What do 1 think of the COM
promise? Why, there wasn't any COM
promise, so far as can see. The COM
pany got everything it wanted and the
city got nothing. Anybody that be-
lfeveS that a compromise was effected
between the city and the street railway
company needs only to examine the
conditions Of the city's surrender to
disabuse their minds. AS see the mat
ter, the council surrendered to the
street railway company on very short
notice, but they did so in an illegal
way. If you will read section No. "a
of the new city charter you will find
that the council has not power to pass
any resolution granting special privl-
leges or franchises to any corporation
or person unless the resolution had
been up for consideration for a period
of ten days. When the so-called fran
chise was passed it was passed on a
days notice, and it granted to the
street railway company the privilege
OF building lines on a great many
streets. The council may set aside its
own rules in passing resolutions, but it
has not the power to throw to one side
the charter under which the city oper-
ates, in any case. Therefore 1t seems
TO me that the action of the council in
granting the franchise is plainly null
and void. 1t was illegal to begin with,
and the council, to pass the so-called
compromise measure, should have held
IL under advisement for ten days. in
stead or railroading it through in one
evening. But even supposing that the
so-called compromise was legal. IT
was not SO good compromise as the
company offered to the conference
committee at the last meeting, when
the committee unanimously turned
down all the compromise measures of
fered- Take one paragraph of it as in
stance. In the original compromise the
company promised to build shops at
would keep engaged $500. In the COM
promise resolution passed they say
that they, the st. Paul City railway
company, will do all of their manufac-
turing in shops which they will es-
tablish in st. Paul Now it is a we'll
known fast that the st. Paul City rail-
way company does not Manufacture a
single. thing. The Twin CITY Rapid
Transit company does all the car
building and manufacturing for its ST.
Paul City railway company, a fact
well known to everybody. Instead of
gaining through this so-called compro-
mise the city seems to have been a big
loser. 81 T. 't -
y. w. Willis, attorney-The action Of
the council was in excess Of the DOW
ers of that body in making the alleged
compromise with the city railway COM
pany. Thesproceedings are void from
the initial move, The position of T h
G b in demanding that the agree
ment be rescinded is right and should
prevail. My views on the subject are
well known. | spoke against compro-
mise before the committee of the coun-
Gil and have no reason for changing
my views. i believe it is the duty of
st. Paul citizens to take the case to
the supreme court with the least DOS
sible delay and get a construction of
the law and facts.
Assemblyman r. D. O'Brien-I did
not vote for the compromise and I am
glad of it. 1t did not appear to me as