The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-06-04
Local Men Go to indianapolis
This Afternoon to Present
Copy of New Franchise to
Lines Officials.
DEUKER EXPLAINS HIS
ACTION MONDAY NIGHT.
Tells Why He Happened to
Have Traction Franchise
With Objectionable Clause,
In His Pocket.

Members ofthe board Of public
works and members of the CONNER
cial Club and T p \. committee met
this morning and prepared franchise
agreement which will be submitted
to the officials of the Terre Haute,
indianapolis and Eastern traction
company this afternoon. This fran
chise will be brought before the trac-
tion officials by f. NJ. Haas, represent
ing the Commercial Club, and j. Y.
Poundstone, representing the T. P. A
The franchise is practically the same
as the one submitted to the company
several days ago and which the com
pany signed. but later repudiated be-
cause it did not contain a clause grant
ing the company the right to use
Main street and every other street
in the city not now occupied by car
tracks, over which to operate traction
passenger cars.
The franchise to be presented to the
traction officers today gives the COM
pany the right to operate traction pas
senger cars over Main street. but no
other streets not now occupied by car
of tickets on cars and that the east
end of the proposed freight line shall
be located on North Twenty-third
street, with the prOvisO that in the
event the company is restrained from
using this street the line can be To-
Gated on North Twenty-se cond street.
1t is expected that the traction Off
cials will consent to this franchise.
Traction Line Willing
The city officials and many of the
business men are under the impress
sion that the traction company is more
than willing to effect a settlement
with the city and when they are con-
vinced that the city will never make
them a present of it's streets they will
at once come to terms. 1t is thought
that the company insisted on the OBJ
jectionable clause referred to under
impression that the city might agree
to it because the local shippers were
80 anxious to have freight service
resumed. The company proba bly
knows by this time that the local ship
pers are not so anxious for the re-
sumption of freight service that they
would sanction any action of the board
of public works and the city council
which would give the T. II. l. & E. the
rights to the streest, thereby making
1t possible for them to dictate wheth-
er or not any more traction lines
should enter the city.
Deuker's Explanation
councilman Henry W. Deuker pre-
sents most satisfactory explanation
Of how he came to have in his DOS
session a franchise containing a pro-
vision giving the company the rights
to all streets in the city, and why he
did not present this franchise to the
board of public works until the Off
cials of the company last Monday eve
ming handed out the ultimatum that
the provision referred to must be in
serted
Mr.. Deuker states that when the
local T. P. A. and Commercial Club
committees first began negotiations
for settlement with the company the
traction officials sent him a franchise
agreement prepared by them and
which contained the Objectionable
clause. He said he knew the shippers
and the city officials would not for a
minute consider this franchise and he
placed 1t in his pocket along with nu-
merous other copies of traction fran
chises he had obtained from other
cities. Mr.. Deuker states that after
the receipt of this copy he met with
the T. P. A. and Commercial Club
committees and franchise was drawn
up which was satisfactory to the city
officials and which the traction COM
pany. after considerable deliberation.
signed, only to repudiate last Monday
evening. He then produced for the
first time the copy of the franchise
the traction company had prepared
and forwarded to him. As the city
officers and business mems commit
tees did not understand the history
or this franchise, they were for a time
considerably mystited over Mr.. Deu-
kers action.