The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1910-02-02
IS There ANY WAY TO BREAK TRACTION TRUSTS
GRIP EXCEPT THROUGH CITY OWNERSHIP?
Fern Hin is still paying /

Fern Hill is still paying 10
cents for a 5 cent ride.
1t will soon be three months
since the fight started and up to-
date the street railway company
has won every battle. 1t has tax
en- the city's case to federal court
where 1t has been nicely put 10
sleep 1t has enjoined the Fern
Hill leaders against causing any
trouble on the cars. 1t has gone
right ahead charging double fare
and putting the peoples money in
its treasury and the people APP
pear to be helpless.
Attorney Lorenzo Dow of Fern
Hill is burning the midnight OIL
trying to find some legal hook on
which to impale the traction trust.
He thought he had It last week
when he discovered the Pacific
Traction franchise originally al
lowed the city to regulate fares.
But later ordinance repealed this
section.
Now he wants the city to en-
coming into town, for the Puget
Sound Electric has no franchise
But the company that has the
franchise a few years ago secur-
ed the authority from the coun-
ell to transfer the franchise to the
Puget Sound Electric and it can
be done in about 10 minutes, so
the company will probably be safe
on that.
The city attorneys have been
digging into the franchises for
days to find something on which
to attack the company and force It
to come to terms. The company
has no franchise for the tracks
around the loop on A street.
But 1t has been there for years
with the full consent and knowl-
edge of the city and Judge Stiles
himself wrote an opinion when he
was on the supreme bench in a
similar case which decided that
when the city allows a company
to hold a street for years with its
tracks that it is thereby estopped
from ousting it even though it has
no franchise.
The West End club last night
appointed three lawyers to search
the books to find some way OF
evening up the street railway
company.
The chances are about 10 to 1
in favor of the company. These
old franchises run for nearly a
third of a century yet They
were written by the best lawyers
the companies could hire and
passed without question by form
er councils, before there was an
independent newspaper here to ex-
pose the deals. TIL shrewd law
yers were paid to look ahead to
just such situations as the pres
emit and so frame the franchises
that the company would be able TO
do as it pleased.
With the general tendency oil
the courts to stand by vested in-l
terests as against the humanities
IN the case there appears to be
little hope of driving the tracti On
interests into any great conces-
sions to the people.
Judge Stiles says that what isl
needed is more legislative author
ity to handle the public service
corporations. This cannot be Sc
cured for a year yet, If it ,anI
then. He would have a publicI
service commission t\eated by thel
state to have jurisdiction over
street railways and other public
service monopolies.
But this might bring relief and
1t might not. it would depend on
the personnel of the commission.
Assistant City Attorney Baker
has suggested that the council
pass more ordinances. He would
have ordinances to compel more
cars and to regulate similar nj At
tiers.
But every ordinance of this kind
would simply mean long litigation
and in the end the company might
win out. And all this time the
people are being imposed upon.
All over the city the people are