The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-19
FOR PUBLIC SERVICE
ALDERMAN FOSTER TALKS OF
UTILITIES.
He Explains Reasons for Creating
New Committee of the City COun-
cfl-WouId Regulate the
Corporations.

| Alderman T. Gardner Foster be-
lieves that with proper action by the
City Council, the service of the street
car company. the telephone company,
the light company and the other cor
| porations holding franchises for public
utilities for the city can be materially
| improved.
Monday evening at the melting of the
| City Council Mr. Foster introduced a
| resolution that was passed, authoriz-
ing the appointment OF a Committee
on Public Utilities.
| This committee was not appointed
yesterday by President Gunter of the
City Council. but will probably be
Alderman Foster said yesterday, in
discussing his resolution providing for
the appointment of the committee that
| 1t was not done with the idea of plac-
Ing any impediments In the way of
the companies that are engaged in the
development of Montgomery. but SIM
ply to provide some means. If IL be
ests of the public in the service of the
iguarded.
Complaints of the service are very
weer member of the City Council,
you would hear a hundred such COM
plants. before the next melting of the
come. These complaints have been re-
ported to the Council. in some in
stances. but there was no central body
to attend to them, and they were sim
ply aired there in the meeting, and
forgotten. ] suppose that in the flu
ture all such complaints viii be re-
ferred to the Public Utilities Com
mittee and be investigated.
at was my purpose in introducing
the resolution for the committee to
provide body that might investigate
the manner in which the various pub
Apn W. 80 ~
the companies holding franchises from
the standpoint of fhe public, and in
sist that the various companies fulfill
their the. portion Of the contract with the
not be effected between the different
companies and the city in any other
manner. then 1t would be the duty of
behind the resolution. to suggest such
legislation to the Council as might be
required by the circumstances.
suppose. for illustration, that the
street car company were to be granted
franchise to operate in the streets
Of Montgomery. That franchise con-
stitutes.. as look at 1t, a contract be-
body here cares In the least how much
that company may make-in fact, that
is what they are coming here for, and
the more they make, the better every
it is the duty of the representatives
of the citizens to see that the company
should make no money by the neg
lect of the interests of the people, or
in any manner by giving poor SER
yie .r,sr. :. NOW, ,.,o,... :, :,
service, given by the Traction Compa-
ny. The. other evening / boarded a
car for home, aud when we got out
by the. Girls High School there were
four street cars, two on the Perry
tied up there. The consequence was.
as I suppose, that people were wait
Ing down town ten or fifteen miE-
s stas longer than they should have
pie We're waiting at the outer end of
the line for car to town when they
should not have done so.
Then take 1t on the question of
seats for negroes on the cars The
law provides that certain number OF
seats at the rear of the car shall be
set apart for the use of the negroes,
put on two or three occasions lately
I have gone. out on cars that were
crowded with negroes. One night /
rode home on the platform. in company
with another man. because the car
was crowded with negroes. Another
night l counted ten seats occupied by
heroes and six by white people.
Atlanta, have noticed, is moving
company there to use trailers, and it
Is rapidly coming to tho same con-
ditto dition Of affairs in MONTGOMERY: I
ne nave ,bo suggested ~ ss,ed to Manager Ragland
should be put on at once on the Oak
Park line and one or two others but
1t has not been done. It SENS to me
that the company Is getting to the
point where 1t cannot handle both
races without using trailers, at least
on the more important lines
1T would be the same way with
other corporations controlling public
utilities. II complaints were made.
as they have been in the past about
the telephone company, for i1lustra-
ton. II would be the duty of the Pub
lie Utilities Committee of the Coun-
ell to investigate them If the mana
ger could show that the trouble was
due to some unavoidable difficulty
breakage, or something of that kind,
1t would be my policy, and 7 think
that of all the other Aldermen to
give them everv opportunity and any
reasonable length of time to make re-
pairs and to correct service
But If no agreement that would
conserve the interests of the public in
the matter of service, without placing
tmpedlment in the path of the public
utility company, could be reached, and
1t became necessary for an ordinance
to he enacted by the Council upon the
subject. 1t would then be the duty Of
this committee. as I understand it's
purpose. to suggest such legislation as
II deemed necessary for the public
interests"