The Pensacola journal., 1907-06-15
The Proposed
Railway Ordinance.

Il hallway ordnance.
4 The Journal prints in full today
THE pending ordinance granting the
street railway company the use of
| Garden street west of Palafox, with
( the privilege of laying turns into
tPalafox street, and carrying also the
right of way through certain streets
tfor the establishment of a day pas
Tsenger and night freight service to
FGoulding.
/ To the purposes announced, there
lean be no iast objection, but to the
ordinance as it now reads. there are
serious objections to be urged. 1t is
TOUR purpose to discuss these objec-
:tions at length between now and
Tuesday, when the franchise COM
mittee will consider the ordinance.
sgTo-day, it is our purpose to only indi-
cate the objections in a general
F~ay.
The ordinance is Objectionable in
Ethat it does not require of the rail
fsway company sufficient compensation
tfor the valuable franchise sought:
band Objectionable, also, in that it
s4neither specifies the life of the rights
,fconferred nor limits the exercise Of
9dudgment on the part of the street car
company in certain important details,
such as the laying of switches and
kspurs.
The ordinance proposes that, in re-
Rturn for the Garden street right Of
Sway, the railway shall pay for such
,paving as it would be compelled by law
TO pay for if its tracks were to occupy
She roadway instead of the center of
sthe street. The railway people know, as
.Severy intelligent man knows, that
Tboth by its location and it's splendid
3width, Garden street is destined to
ksoon become the business center of
kthe city, the heart of its commercial
Sand industrial activity. and the nerve
4center of the community life For
vested franchise rights in such
sstreet, any grantee should pay, willy
nilly, much more than is now offered.
In the first place, the street railway
sought not to be given the right to
fuse the center of the street 1t ought
Hto be made a park For the right of
Nway in the street, whether in the cen.
ster or no, the railway should be re-
4 quired to construct in place of the
Npresent drain, a closed concrete drain.
of such dimensions as the city author
ities may establish as being neces-
5ary for the present, and for the rea-
sonably probable future, necessities
of drainage; and over, and on each
= side of, this closed drain. the railway
company should be required TO es-
tahlish and maintain neutral ground.
or grassed park, planted with such
trees and shrubs as will combine ar
tistic effect with reasonable expense.
z The expense would not be great. and
: every dollar so expended would but
( add TO the value OF the right of way
ipredicated thereon. 1t might be speci-
) fed that, within a certain fixed sum.
; the railway company shall maintain
ithe neutral ground to- tho satisfaction
fof the park commission
/ Regarding the exact location of
tracks and 'alI necessary" switches
.etc., there is absolutely no reason
why the ordinance should not specific
j ally provide that all such tracks. etc
I shall be laid on lines and levels fur
nished by the city engineer under ap-
proval of the council. II is unsafe to
leave TO the unfettered Judgment of
ANY corporation the determination of
what is necessary for the corpora
'tion's convenience. when there NAV
be, and generally are. other interests
that ought to be equally considered.
II is absurd for this city TO grant
to street railway company any right
to stop running cars as early as 10
p m. The proposed ordinance does
so. 1t should be changed in this re-
} speet, and it should carry TO existing
grants the full force and effect of any
) change made as to the hours before
which and after which cars need not
1 be operated unless the grantees elect
! to operate them. The realty interests
] OF Pensacola, than which nothing is
, more important TO a community. re-
f0uire that the city be in position to