The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1911-12-21
MAYOR AAD HALIY URGE
D. U. R. FRANCHISE BEFORE
THE BOARD OF COMMERCE
Executive Travels Old Ground
in Bolstering Up His
Settlement Plan.
GEO. w. MOORE NOT THERE
City Ownership Advocate Re-
fuses To Attend Because Dis
cussion is 0ne-Sided.

About 500 members Of the Detroit
board OF Commerce attended buffet
luncheon In the Pontchartrain hotel,
Wednesday noon, and afterwards
gathered In the convention hall TO
hear Mayor Thompson and Corpora
ton Counsel Hally discuss the pro-
posed Thompson-Hally street car ordi-
nance.
President McRae, who presided. an.
nounced that one member had object
ed TO attending the luncheon, and that
was George William Moore, the NUM-
cipal ownership advocate. Mr. Moore
based his objection on the ground that
the discussion was TO be a onesided
affair, inasmuch as no one had been
invited TO talk on behalf OF the advo-
Gates Of municipal ownership.
Mayor Thompson had prepared his
address In advance He said in part;
Now, my friends what is the pur'
pose OF this statement? To appreciate
IL. we must 90 back little in the his
tory OF our city. have been in pub
lie life for about 20 years, and during
all that time the street railway qles-.
ton has been an unsolved one. Com
mencing with the days of Hazen 3,
Pingree, we began our long fight for
three-cent fares, and there has never
been a municipal election from that
time on when the issue was not low
er street car fares for our people
There is another fact, too, which
desire to call your attention 10, ana
that is. that In the past IL years,
scarcely 10 miles of extensions nave
been built In the whole city, although
the population has doubled In that
period. Today, therefore, we stand In
need OF certain advantages In the way
Of street car transportation. namely:
Lower fares better service, extern
sions north and south, east and west;
and last. but not least the right OF
the municipality to acquire the prop
erty for municipal purposes, II the
neonIe want il. How will these ends
he served by the settlement which Mr..
HalIy and myself, with the aid or MI.
McRae. have secured with the COM
pany? II the Thompson-Hally ordl-
nance passes. you will ride on an
eieht.for-a quarter ticket at any time
between a. m. and p. m, and upon
that ticket you may get universal
transfer. Between the hours OF D.
M. and 5 a. M. you may ride on SIX
for.a-quarter ticket. and get uni.
yersal transfer. So much for the
cbeaper fares, which | insist Is the
cheanest contract rate OF fare In the
United States.
Nov. as to the extensions. The
Thompson-Haliy ordinance contains an
agreement with the company that, In
1912, Il shall build north and south
line on the west side, and a belt line
connecting the Myrtle-st line with the
Mack-aye. line through Bagg-st., or
some contiguous street. Also that IL
shall extend the Kercheval-aye. line
ont as far as the ST. Jean-rd., and nm
ish the Hamilton-blvd. line 10 the
northerly city limits. Every year
thereafter, IL shall build 10 miles or
track extensions upon the streets TO
be designated by the city. need
hardly say TO you that the outlying
districts sorely need street car ex-
tensions and accommodations, and
that new routes, even in the down
town districts, are needed for the pur-
pose Of preventing the inconyenient
congestion OF travel during the rush
hours
sions, the Thompson-Hally ordinance
gives the city a continuing option to
buy the property upon appraisal, upon
six months notice. without this agree
ment, the city could not acquire the
street railway property unless, indeed,
through the very doubtful method OF
condemnation proceedings. And IL
condemnation proceedings were de-
clared invalid by the court, after
tedious litigation, the city. If il de-
sired to engage in municipal owner
ship. would be put TO the necessity OF
paralleling the lines.
These, In the main, are the -fea-
lures Of the Thompson-Hally ordi-
nance. Mr. Haliy and myself worked
10 secure II for the best part of this
year. We depended not entirely upon
ourselves, but we called in men or
experience. like your president, Mr.
McRae, and all the past presidents
and executive officers OF your board
We took II to the owners and manag-
ing editors of the various Detroit
newspapers, before IT was made pub
lie, and asked them to give us any
suggestions that occurred to them to
make IL stronger In the protection OF
the city. s...--s-.-e-a
I'm passing may say that one man
aging editor, who Is now opposing the
passage OF the ordinance in his paper,
made the statement that II. was so