Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-01-29

not commit himself, but sought at the
Ioutset to divert attention from the sub
lject by endeavoring 10 prove that poll
ltical significance had been attributed
to the meeting. Failing in this, he ram
lbled about in characteristic street cor
liner style, giving a political boost to
lG. Wash--"so | did"-whenever he
saw an opening and ended by reserv
ing the right to speak later and get
into the bandwagon if one came along.
The mayor insisted that he had never
urged the council TO adopt the ordin
ance it is now considering, though
there are dozens of reputable citizens
no whom within a week he has boosted
that he had forced the Central Union
company to settle on terms of the
highest advantage to the city, and
saved the taxpayers $4,000 into the
bargain He declared somebody was
a public falsifier in attributinS TO him
the remark that the ordinance would
pass the council 1t had not yet been
placed upon its passage.
Chairman Guyer then. after express
ing the hope that thereafter irrelevant
matters would be eliminated from the
discussion. opened the evenings dis
cussion by dividing the PROPOSE
ton before those present under three
heads: That as TO whether the Cen
trail Union has in fact valid fran
chise in Rock Island; what the status
of the contending parties is before the
| courts, and whether the ordinance up
for consideration, if enacted into law,
is sufficiently strong and binding to
hold the company To satisfactory dis
charge of it's functions. Under these
heads Mr.. Guyer invited those present
to express their views.
President Myers Heard.
President f. r Myers of the Bust
| ness Mems association was first called
/ upon. and responded by saying that.
while the subject had not formally
come up in its present form before his
organization. he was satisfied as to
the position of the membership. which
was that no ordinance should be adOp
ted that did not contain a maximum
rate provision. The alternative from
the city's point of view should be a
| fight to the finish.
EXMayor Henry Carse was next
heard. Mr. Carse was in favor of ex-
treme measures. He had seen the city
time after time make terms with a cor
poratiOn, only to find out in the end
that there was a joker somewhere and
the municipality had gotten the worst
of it. The joker in this instance. he
said, was the failure to name a maxi
mum rate. Mr.. CarSe went on to tell
of his dealings with the Central Union.
which he said had given very msatis-
factory service. Personally. he was
satisfied that if the present ordinance
were adopted the two companies now
doing business in the city would short
ly be found to have merged, and the
people would have no redress. The in
corporation of clause naming reason
able rates would be satisfactory. even
were the two companies afterward to
become one.
The Case I'm the Courts.
S. r. Kenworthy, who is one of the
counsel for the city in the litigation
now in the courts, was next called upon
for light upon the legal phases of the
case. He responded by saying that he
would give only his personal views, for
under the circumstances he did not
want to be placed in the position of
seeming TO further his own interests
by advocating a finish fight. His pri-
vate opinion, and he was supported by
other members of the bar. was that
the company has neither an ordinance
nor a binding contract with the city. |
True. the issue as here presented has |
never been passed upon by the highest
court of the state. but the idea of |
perpetual franchise appeared so I'M
reasonable that it is scarcely conceiv- |
able IL the courts will uphold it. Mr.. |
KenwoI .hy went into some detail in |
regard to the city's position in the liti- |
CATION now pending.
The present action before the appel |
late court is an appeal by the city to
dissolve the temporary injunction is
sued by Judge Ramsay to prevent fur
Their destruction of the company's
property. Only questions of law are
involved victory for the city would
place the company at the mercy of the
city. which could by a display of force
compel settlement If the city loses
in the higher court, il will be in the |
same position 1t now Is. and the ques
tions of fact involved, which will be
given hearing In the circuit court at an
early date, with a view of determining
whether the temporary Injunction shall
be made permanent. will proceed in
the same manner as if no appeal from
the first ruling had been taken and
without prejudice If the city finally
loses in the circuit court and the writ
1
lion of appeal to the state supreme
court. Mr.. Kenworthy WAS of the opin-
ion, at rough guess. that the expense
of carrying the fight through to the
end would not exceed $4,000 or $12,-