Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-13

CLEVELAND, Ohio, Dec. 1O.-Cleve-
lands three-cent fare fight, which has
ragged so long that It has almost be-
come a habit, promises soon to enter
upon It's last stage. If it has not all
ready done so. The war, which has
been waged in political scrimma ges,
legal battles and Legislative skirmishes,
has finally reached the supreme court
Of the United States, and decision is
expected soon that will probably de-
termine whether Cleveland is to have
a competing three-cent fare street car
line or to renew the franchises of the
big combine" now operating what is
really an excellent street car system.
This fight for low fare, which began
in 1897, has grown in strength until to-
day cities everywhere are watching its
daily development. It Is fight that
has elected and reelected Mayor Tom
l.. johnson, overturned the method of
city government in Ohio, disturbed
party conventions, defeated the Repub-
lican party repeatedly In Cuyahoga
county and sent number of men sail
ing smoothly into a sea of political
prosperity. While it centers around
4
from coast to coast as the great apostle
of three-cent fares, It has drawn many
other persons of more or less local
prominence into it's meshes and has
caused the late Senator Hanna many
troublesome moments during his tri-
umphal and tempestuous political ca
reer.
Today the situation is briefly this
After years OF fighting Mayor john
son a few weeks ago saw the first cars
on a three-cent fare street railway
start down a Cleveland street The
company operating these cars is only
waiting the outcome of the legal suits
now pending to spread out until
pretty healthy rival of the Cleveland
Electric company could be competing
for the public patronage. The building
of this three-cent line, popularity known
in this city as the three fer" was only
accomplished after twenty-five injunc-
ton suits had been surmounted. The
twenty-sixth Is now awaiting the action
of the highest court in the land. At
every step the plans of Mayor Johnson
were met by legal opposition on the
part of the Cleveland Electric company.
How the courts were used by both par
ties would take a good sized volume to
relate, but the Forest City Street Rail-
way company, child of Mayor john
sons brain, finally got tracks down and
cars started. So far the low fare line
has not been able to get its cars into
the east side of the city, where the
heavy traffic lies, but tracks are par
TALLY laid, and if Mayor Johnson wins
in the supreme court he will have sew
eral long streets that will afford the
low fare line a firm foothold in the
front yard of it's adversary.
The real crisis came when few
weeks ago the mayor on busy Satur-
day stationed policemen on a down.
town street and stopped the cars of the
Cleveland Electric company from going
over a short section of street which
gave them a loop to send cars around
the public square. Mayor Johnson said
he took the action to determine If the
company had any further right to use
streets on which he insists the fran
chise expired over a year ago.
This action sent the Cleveland Elec-
trio company into the United States
supreme court, and the case was ar
gued there a week ago. The Cleveland
Electric company claims that the fran
chises on the streets in contest have not
expired, because franchises on cer-
tain crosstowns line to which transfers
from all lines intersecting 1t are given
has several years yet to run. Mayor
Johnson insists that If this claim holds
good the Cleveland Electric company
can just as readily lay claim to perma-
nent franchises. as new franchises are
given almost every year for certain ex-
tensions and cross lines. But the latest
legal action has practically brought the
fight to the last ditch and Cleveland
people who have been regaled with
steady diet of low fare talk for many
years expect soon to get little benefit
other than excitement and good news
paper stories.
The low fare fight really began in
1897, when a Republican city admins
tration won the election on low fare
platform, and the council passed an act
reducing the fare. The companies
(there were two at that time) fought
the matter into the United States su-
preme court and won, the tribunal de-
Gliding that the city had been stripped
of it's right to regulate the fare by an
act previously passed under which cer-
tain consultations had been accom-