The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1905-03-07
dfcted the senator. Congressman Her
mann burned all the letters he could
get hold of and they indicted him.
"THE USE OF OUR STREETS"


company has now fallen back upon the
proposition that under this arrange
ment the city RECEIVERS the right to the
use of its own streets. Every man who
justifies the deal falls back on this
argument, upon which all lay great
stress. Let us see just exactly what
there is in it. Does st. Paul recover
the right to use it's own streets, and
has the blanket franchise with the
street railway company been in any
important particular impaired? The
section of the agreement in question
reads as follows:
.12) Save and except as in this subdi-
vision provided. said company will In the
future when ii desires to build any new
or additional lines of street railway upon
streets not then occupied by it and not
excepted by the terms and provisions OF
existing ordinances, file with the city clerk
of the city of st. Paul notice in writing
stating upon what street or streets and be-
tween what points it desires to construct
and operate such new lines of street rail-
way, and in case said city of st. Paul at
any time within forty days after the filing
OF such notice in good faith pass a resolu-
ton by majority vote of the members
of both bodies of said common
council declaring that the. streets
any of them. are not desirable or suitable
for street railway purposes. then and in
that event said st. Paul City rail-
way shall not occupy such street or
streets so designated in such resolution
until such resolution is repealed or modi-
ned by the common council, provided, how
ever, that this condition providing for
filing and giving notice to the city shall
continue and be in force for such time
only as the city of st. Paul shall not grant
or give to any other company, persons or
corporation the right to use or occupy
such streets and avenues, or any part
thereof. for or by street railway of any
the surface thereof; it being expressly
understood and agreed that this provision
shall not and does not take away any Of
the rights or authority of said St. Paul
City railway company under existing or
dinances of said city, but only that said
st. Paul City railway company hereby
agrees not to exercise its rights or author
1ty in that behalf save as herein provided.
1t is further agreed that the terms
and provisions of this subdivision as to
filing and giving notice to the city as to
intended construction and extensions shall
not apply to the extension of any existing
lines of street railway or to any future
line that may be constructed under the
foregoing notice; that is to say, any then
existing line may, at any time, be further
extended along and upon any street run
ming in the same general direction without
giving Such notice; provided the foregoing
provision as to giving notice shall not ap-
ply to the following streets and parts OF
streets, viz: ASbury avenue, from the
right of way of the Chicago, Milwaukee
thony avenue, and st. Peter street, from
Tenth street to Fourth street.
To call this waiver or even an i'm
pairment Of any rights that the street
railway company has ever possessed or
claimed excites a laugh. Observe ex-
actly what this section states. The
street railway company before building
a line upon any street not occupied by
it shall file with the city clerk a notice
Of intention. The council may there
upon veto such action If it pleases, but
if it does so it cannot permit any other
company to enter upon that street or
build there. If it should try so to do,
then the blanket rights of the street
railway company under Judge Loch-
and it can go ahead as it pleases. Fur
thermore, this provision does not apply
to extensions of any existing lines,
which may be made without giving
any notice whatever.
The only conceivable value Of a
waiver of the alleged rights of the
company would be in case of possible
competition. 1t might be worth while.
il there were a chance for competition
to be introduced, to have certain streets
exempted from the existing monopoly,
upon which other lines might be built.
This is precisely the right which the
city has not secured. Instead Of that,
the street railway company has Sc
cured an express agreement that such
right does not exist and shall not be
granted for the next thirty-five years.
At the end of that time, Also it has
secured by this agreement an admis-
sion by the city under the decree Of
Judge Lochren that the old horse car
franchise still remains valid; giving it
power, like the dog in the manger, to
sit down forever and prevent any other
company from doing business here.
This is not an attempt to make the
case worse than it really is. 1t is a
plain statement of fact. The clause
which has been interpreted as giving us
back the right to our own streets, and
which was designedly fashioned to
have that outward appearance, is in
reality powerful confirmation of every
monopoly that the street railway COM
pany has enjoyed upon our highways,
and double rivets it upon the munich
pal body. That which has been put for
ward as a reason for entering into this
compact appears, as careful examina-
ton of the above section will show to
any intelligent reader, as complete and
fruitful a concession for the benefit of
the street railway company as the
heart of monopoly could desire.
OF course, as a last resort, the senate
can pass the code on to the board of