The Irish standard., 1908-10-17
STANDS ON HIS RECORD
Mayor J. c. Haynes Address at Last
Saturday Nights Meeting.

In his speech at the Auditorium
last Saturday night, Mayor Haynes
delivered a forcible address in the
course of which he said:
when I stood upon this rostrum
two years ago, specifically promised
the people more efficient admins
tration of police affairs to the end
that crime should be detected AMI
punished and vice suppressed as far
as practicable. l also gave my pledge
that the saloons should be kept closed
on Sunday, These pledges have been
faithfully kept.
1T is a significant fact that certain
self appointed reformers always open
their batteries a few months before
the campaign, quit the night of cleo
tion and are not heard from again tiN
the next election. 1t is we'll understood
pared with other cities Of her class,
Minneapolis leads the van as regards
public morals and general intelligence.
For this. credit must be given to tho
excellence of our institutions and the
consistent work of those who take an
active interest in public affairs and So
cial conditions. The duty Of the ro-
lice. however. is to protect society
against the criminal and lawless. sun
press vice as far as possible and pro
serve the public peace. Private NOR
ais must be left to the influence of t!,o
home. the church. the fraternity and
the individual. and If these all lis
charge their several duties we shall
have little trouble with public mora's
After all. there Is but one really vi
tai issue in this campaign and that re-
lates to the lighting problem. My .",-
sition on this question has been wen
known ever since l vetoed the orii1-
ancc granting to the General Electric
company a practical monopoly in our
streets for a period of 30 years, and
giving the city nothing in return cx-
|
and an agreement to arbitrate and IT.
igate the question of rates and tho
value of their plant in the future. J
was willing to sign an ordinance giv-
ing them short term OF a reasonable
basis. but insisted that the day had
gone by for long grants on any terms
| II
to control such corporations is by fre-
quent adjustments, say once in five cr
ten years, and it is only when thcic
grants terminate absolutely that the
public is able to deal with them on
anything like equal terms.
"Another thing. while this ordin-
ance was under consideration and
down to the moment that the commit
tee agreed upon 1t the companys rep
resentatives insisted with all apparc 1T
sadness that it imposed burdens and
restrictions upon them almost too
great to be borne and that 1t was very
doubtful whether they could accept it
ifpassed. But no sooner had the COM
mittee agreed than they began to lab"r
with the aldermen in season and out
of season for it's passage and labored
with me to sign it, and after I had "a
toed it they spent thousands Of dollars
in advertising trying to convince tie
people and the council that Waf
wrong, hoping to pass it over the We
to. And now they are spending money
and using all of their influence to d.
feat my election, so have come to tho
conclusion that the franchise is worth
ali I thought 1t was.
"rhe gas company is also very deep
| ly interested in this contest, because
it's franchise covering the west side Of
the river expires year from next
March, consequently 1 am also meet
ing their strong opposition to my re-
election. The original charter of tho
gas company contemplated the ulti-
mate purchase of their plant by the
city, and in my Judgment the city
should, at the expiration OF their fran-
chise, take it over and operate 1t for
the benefit of all the people. unless the
company will agree to furnish gas at
not to exceed IS cents in consideration
of a renewal Of their franchise for
term not to exceed ten years. I know
they claim that they are entitled to
renewal OF 20 years at present prices
unless the city buys the plant. but
take a different view.
There are several important pre-
liminary steps to be taken by the city
council, also certain important propo-
sitions in this connection to be act"d
upon by the voters at the next or some
succeeding election before the city viii
be in position to deal with the gas
company, which l shall take up and
discuss in the near future.