Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-30
CITY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS
Street Railway Company Target for
Much Legislative Fire.
ARBITRATION Is DEMANDED
for MOtormen, Physical VAL
uation by state and Regulation
Of street Car Traffic
Also wanted.

The Omaha & Council Bluffs street Rail
way company was the target for council
u anic guns at the meeting last night. With
out much show of fireworks one ordinance
and three resolutions directly affecting the
street railway ompany and the present
strike situation were introduced and the
resolutions were passed. G. O. Pratt and
Ben Commons, i"nternationa officers Of the
street railway employees union, and Pat
Ford, president Of the Central Labor union.
sat back on the visitors row and smiled as
each resolution came up and received the
councilmanic y. X. The measures drew
SO little tire there was practically no active
opposition to any Of them.
Briefly summarized, the measures in
tended to hit at the street railway company
are as follows:
Ordinance by Bridges requiring a license
and special qualifications for motormen.
Resolution by Bridges demanding imme-
date arbitration Of the strike differences.
Passed.
Resolution by kugel demanding the State
Railway commission make a physical valu-
alton Of the street railway company's prop
erty In Omaha and that a Councillnanic
committee Of five be appointed to investi-
gate the merits OF the controversy. Passed.
resolution by Berka demanding the legis-
lature pass a law providing for a state
arbitration board with compulsory arbltra-
ton.
Opposition to One.
OF these measures the only one dra wing
very material opposition was the one pro-
viding for the valuation Of the property
Of the company by the state Railway com
mission. Brucker, Johnson ana sheldon all
voted against it, but the other nine cast
their ballots in the affirmative, carrying it
under a suspension of the rules.
The resolution demands the differences
be submitted at once to an arbitration
board composed of one member selected
by the strikers, one selected by the com
pany and the third selected by the two
from a list of fifteen chosen by the mayor
and city council, or that the board be
made up in some other way satisfactory to
both parties.
Bridges ordinance providing for the H.
censing of mOtormen is stringent in the
qualification it presCrlbes. 1t requires the
license to be secured from the city clerk
and that no one shall be granted a license
until he has had at least two weeks in
struction under a licensed motorman, who
has been a motorman for three years. The
ordinance was read the first time and re-
ferred to a committee.
An ordinance presented by McGovern
provides for the inspection of all animals
killed for food purposes. A penalty of
from S25 to 800 Is provided for selling meat
from any animal which has not been
tagged by a government or city Inspector.
Ordinances were also introduced provid-
Ing for the submission of a Sl45, 900 bond is
sue for fire houses and $50, 900 for park
purposes.
The garbage contract was before the
council in a communication from Health
Commissioner Connell in reply to the re-
quest of the council that he find out from
Guy l.. Axtell, the garbage contractor,
whether he intended to fulfill his part of
the contract to collect the garbage. DR..
Council submitted a letter he had written
Mr.. AXtell and a communication, i'm which
the garbage contractor asked two ques-
lions in reply to the city,s query. Mr.. AK
tell desired to know in what he is not
carrying out his contract, and what the
duties of the city are In connection with
the contract. Brucker declared the reply
was not satisfactory, but the proposed
resolution to begin suit on Axtel's pond
was not taken up in any way.
City Engineer Craig announced the re-
appointment of r.. Peterson as chief clerk
and Joel Johnson as ~bookkceper.