The Irish standard., 1910-10-22
interest to us all which must DC set
tied continued llaldane.
Whats that"

| interest to us all which must DC set
, tied continued llaldane.
whats that"
The old franchise OF the New York
Street Car company that expires this
spring; the link that completes the
circle of the Gotham Freight Traction
company"
We'll. it doesn't seem to me that's
very difficult proposition" said l,iiley.
: We've got .he board of aldermen.
and the borough presidents as we'll.
| All we've got to do is to draw up an
ordinance and shove 1t through. The
mayor he7e'll sign 1t, and thatll be
the end Of It,"
/ lit is by no means as easy as YOU
! think. Liffey," said Haldane "lf
know anything about Gormly he'll
/ make a fight on that issue. That is
I; our weak point. II we had that fran
! chise safely passed and in our peck
cts. we could laugh at him. don't
f; know whether it would not be better
! to defer the passage of such an ordi
nance until after the election"
! ~ think that while there is much
! IN what you say. ]aldane," said Van
: Slyke. yet we'd better make sure of
! the ordinance before the election.
We would have that, anyway. even II
/ we failed. which, as Mr.. LiNey says.
+: is hardly possible"
: Gentlemen" said Iaidane. " am
by no means convinced of what you
/ say. l tell you that the main fight
will be on the disposal of that very
! franchise. admit that we can pass
anything in spite of any connections,
, hut the question is do we want it,
J That's hardly the question" said
Mcdonald "Of course we want It;
i but the question is. is 1t the best
Gus force in your arguments. Mr. Hal
dane. Il we present ourselves with
that franchise. which Is 20 immensely
valuable and vital indeed to tho COM
pletion Of our properties, as we'll as to
! the public. We shall certainly have
given to the opposition the strongest
ground for appeal to the people. II
| we do not present ourselves with the
4, franchise, II we allow the election to
| determine that unofftcinlly as 1t were,
and then when We have won the cleo
ton. we avail ourselves of our oppor
tunitics, we shall be in much safer
and better position"
DO you wish to submit this fran
chiso to the vote Of the people. Mr..
McRonald?" asked Rutherford.
by no Means" answered the finan-
cier
Well what do you propose then
This. Would 1t not he well. in
case this movement grows strong
enough to be worthy Of the attention
we arc giving it. to declare ,s from
the party in power that while we have
the power to grant the franchise. aud
while we think it would be for the
interests of the people that 1t should
be granted. yet we are willing to de-
fer action until after the election and
let the election determine"
"That would be wise course" said
Haldane ~ don't know but that It ia
the wisest course; but we must face
the alternative"
"Whnt is that7''
| i/IICuL. - VIZ lJ1l ~ Opt'Sl-
ton. and then were defeated, 1t
would be impossible for NE to secure
tho franchise. Tho stock Of the
Gotham Freight Traction company Is
$250.0O0,000. and the bonds outstand-
ing aggregate almost az much. If
we don't have this franchise, they
won't be worth ten cents on the dollar
to u.s."
"Iow much actual money has been
invested In the concern?" asked the
district attorney.
"rwo hundred and fifty millions
from the people. and-very little
else" answered Haldane
How much is 1t really worth ?"
qneried Liifey.
TITS worth. Of course. what wns
put into it,
"And what will its earning capacity
be?"
IF we control it.. 1t will pay a fair
dividend Oh all the stock that has
been put out. most of which is held
by our friends and the friends of the
organization" answered Van Slyke
The problem was tremendous one.
They faced 1t silently moment or
two. and Mt last Haldane restated it.
You see, we can, if necessary. defy
public opinion and jam through an
ordinance at the lass minute even II
we are likely to lose the election, al
though by 80 doing We should give the
enemy n tremendous advantage at
the close Of the campaign. Or we can
defer the granting Of the franchise
until after the election, in the hope
that tho postponemcnt will be our
strongest card for winning. tell you
gentlemen, that other interests OF
greater magnitude would be involved
in the fate of the Gotham Freight
Traction company"
why in the name of all that's
businesslike didn't you get control OF
this franchise before?" asked Ruther'
ford
1--WE couldn't" Haldane replied. 1T
Is impossible to get renewal of q