The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1910-01-27


The referendum, so=called, is over.
The Traction men called for it; almost
cried for it, and they should now be sat-
isfed, and yet they are not. Instead of
fooling the majority of the people, the
people have fooled the Traction Com
pany and its leaders
Although as dead as a smoked her
ring, some of the leaders on the side of
| the Traction Company, the men in the
| Council who were the loudeSt and the
most persistent advocates of the scheme,
are not yet conscious of their actual
condition. Like the turtle whose head
was chopped off early in the day, they
are crawling around and about not
knowing they are dead. Any leader of
any movement, who after having had
his head chopped off, as was the turtle
early in the day, who, Notwithstanding,
can reach the realization that he has not
| been swiped and swatted but is still one
of the chosen to lead, is in that frame of
mind which is beyond the reach of any
possible estimate of value 1t is remark
able, an extraordinary leader who will
receive with smiling composure the di-
rect kick, instead of approval. as antici-
pated, throug s@The Voice of the Peo-
ple."
The Caucasian is not boastful, nor is
it inclined to disparage the influence and
the power centered in the efforts to sad
die on the people the scheme of the
Traction Company, and yet, with two
dailies, one morning and one afternoon,
advocating the scheme and urging the
| people to support the scheme, besides
personal appeals, The Voice of the
People" when heard was direct, en-
/ phatic and decisive protest, not only as
/ to the haste of the proceedings, which
,, were Illegal but to the manner of sub
mitting the issue which was more or
| less garbled and misleading.
! As fact, SO misleading was the
scheme, that men of good average COM
mon sense were in doubt as to what
course they should pursue until the
situation was made clear by the Caucas-
ian, and then followed the landslide
under which lies the franchise exten-
sion and the transfer scheme of the
Traction Company. "The Voice of the
People has been heard, and the result
is most satisfactory to the people
Before the referendum, so-called, it
was stated by the Traction men that
the verdict of the people would not be
binding on the Council, and there has
been reiteration of this declaration,
in public print, since the scheme has
| been beaten to frazzle.
Let it be remembered that the Cau-
casian explained intel1igently the mean
| ing of this proviso. In brief, if the YER
dict had been in favor of the Traction
Company, the Traction men in the
Council, only wanting pretext for ac-
ton, would have hardened to "The
Voice of the People" and put through
the Traction Scheme as had been fully
programmed, but if against, the reserva-
ton is or was that they are not to be
bound by "The Voice of the People"
When this proviso was incorporated
in the Ordinance" or the resolution"
the Traction men were confident, indeed
assured, of success It is now safe to
say that there is no Traction man in the
Council SO bold as to fail to respect
/ 'ESThe Voice of the People" as ex-
pressed on Tuesday, January Is, 1910,
and the one hundred and thirty-third of
the independence of the United States
of America
Having heard distinctly sThe Voice
of the Peoeple," it is now in order to let
franchise extension and so-cal1ed trans
fers remain buried, as it is. In the mean
time the litigation will proceed through
the courts, and in time (less than fifteen
years. there will be a decision which
will settle the issue fairly and honestly
In the interim let not the people, those
nisled, be disturbed over the declaration
that the cars will not be operated to
| Gladstone, nor should any sleep be lost
over the implied something's that will
never happen.
/ Some men, as small children, may be
intimidated by ghost stories, but men
who are sensible and thoughtful and
reach conclusions intelligently are not
As a sweeping reply to one and many
| misunderstanding and misstatements
connected with the franchise extension