Chicago eagle., 1909-05-01


started.
10 the citizen who demands rapid
and safe transit In n clean and com.
Portable car running at intervals con.
venient to his requirements, there mny
be many answers, but the only one
that seems to satisfy him is the car It.
self. The people want what they want
when they want It In local transpOrta.
ton as In other matters, and when
their wants are reasonable It Is the
plain duty Of the transportation COM
panles and Of city officials to do all In
their power to satisfy them.
We are living In city where busl-
ness IL complex, interests are diverslfl-
ell and competition Is keen. The value
OF opportunity is a time value. Time
Is money; 1t means success; It means
a career. The professional man and
the wage worker demand, because they
require, rapid and regular transit In
addition to safety and some degree of
comfort in travel. 1t may be that II
traction company Is not legally obli.
gatedsunder the terms Of Its ordinance
to give the particular service wanted
1t may be that the right Of the citizen
TO better service ls conceded, or, II may
he that there are engineering, financial
or managerial difficulties which stand IN
the way Of obtaining 1t; 1t may bc that
the haul Ii too long to compensate the
traction company for giving the desired
service--a thousand and one explana-
tiOns more or less plausible may be
offered for inadequate service or lack
OF It altogether, but none OF these will
aid the clerk In explaining to his EN-
plOyer why he was late at the Office
In the morning, nor will It be accepted
ut the factory when retalled by the be.
lated emplOye. The man who Is late
must personally suffer the penalty--he
cannot shift II.
believe II to be one of the functions
OF the city traction expert to net as
clearing house for. complaints against
either no transportation or inadequate
transportation. 1t IL his duty to use
all honorable means and an the power
he can summon to his support to se.
cure for the people the best service
possible, and In this connection, i beg
to direct your attention to some OF the
more important features OF our local
transportation problem:
In the first place. there II no street
railway system In Chicago. There are
five ~" roads, two surface trunk lines
and Il half dozen minor surface roads.
The elevated lines have a total passen-
ger mileage Of about 142, while the
surface roads have nearly 500 1nlle>,
making total mileage Of nearly 1000.
Each company Is building up and. pro-
tectlng. In SO far as 1t IL able. Its own
particular system without regard to
any other system. The surface lines
are not only competing with each
other, but with the elevated roads as
well. Each company Is looking after
Its own interests and the travelling pub
lie Is taking the hindermOst.
Through routing has been effected to
some extent by the two trunk surface
systems merely because of ordinance
requirements, but II never will he en-
tirey successful under the present sys-
TEN and always will be beset by diff
culties. All efforts to secure through
routing ON the elevated lines have thus
far been blocked. The difficulty Is fun
damental, because the financial inter
ests involved are working at cross pur.
poses.
Chicago needs, and needs at the
earliest possible moment. u unified sys-
tenn Of street railway operation. In
short, 1t needs a traction system, at
the head OF which should be placed a
practical street railway operator who
can understand ChicagO's needs In their
entirety ana not be restricted In his
plan OF operation to a portion of the
city only. This city needs a street rail-
way manager clothed with authority to
act Immediately upon oil complaints
and suggestions for the good OF the
service, and who has both the capacity
and the disposition to coordinate the
various surface ana elevated lines with
reference to the present and future
needs OF the city. Chicago needs "A
system and a manager to operate Il
who can carry the people to their
places of destination quickly. safely and
comfortably without controversy or