The Detroit times., 1912-01-17

/ ed To live up 10 its obligations. Ex
perience has shown that the peopl'
/ invariably gee the worst OF any bar
gain with that corporation, he de
clared.
what We want TO do he contln
ned, lis 20 revise our charter and ther
say 10 the ID. IT, r., You will now
get your terms from the city OF De
/ troit. There Is no reason now 10 ex
pect that the ID. II. r. will do In the
future what II has failed TO do In the
past. On Dec. %. 1909, Jere c
Hutchins. OF the ID. U. r.. said in a
speech: Whenever you see the waters
muddled, look out; when you see a
set OF men together, they are trying
to put something over
That is just what we are looking
out for now. My experience In the
past tell me that when the ID. L. X.
wants a majority of the city council
| il generally gets what il wants ] say,
there should be no surrender.
Mr.. McVicars remarks drew hearty
applause.
Answers Not Satisfactory.
Mayor Thompson spoke briehy
along familiar lines and then invited
his hearers TO ask questions. he
audience was not slow 10 accept the
invitation though many OF those pres
ent did not appear TO be satisfied With
Ithe mayors explanations. With re-
gard TO the paving, he said that he
had received assurance that, within a
week. a certain contractor would OF
fer TO put up $4,000 bond TO guar
antee that he would keep mp the
pavements between the tracks for
100000 per year for 10 years.
Both MIR. du Pont and Mr.. Reeves
made comparisons between the De
troit street car situation. and that OF
Cleveland. Although he claimed 10 be
a firm believer In municipal owner
ship. Mr. du Point said he regarded
the proposed franchise as 'the best
possible thing for Detroit
James Schermerhorn said. in clos
ing the discussion, that only the ma
terial side OF the issue had been con
sidered by the preceding speakers;
he believed the hour and the place
should invoke the spirit of social SER
vice, now recognized as a definite
form OF church activity-that there
was a moral side TO the street rail-
way controversy that must not be
overlooked by men and women pledg-
ed TO the principle of human broth
erhood and industrial justice. All
municipal experience. the irrepres-
sible conflict between corporate mas
tiers and the masses. pointed newt.
ably to the determination OF fran
chises.
The shame of American cities has
been written around the struggle OF
corporations 10 obtain and to hold the
opportunity of exploiting the people
along the line OF Their daily neces-
stiles. This present controversy that
was agitating Detroit so tremendous
ly was neither personal nor local, the
speaker said: II was simply an in
cident in the forward movement OF
social and economic Justice toward
the complete abolition of private own
ership of public utilities and the TAX
ing over Of these functions by the
people for the benefit of all the
people.
1t was the unfolding OF economic
destiny, and all who opposed il will
speedily join their predecessors in Of
fetal retirement. II is a foodtide that
cannot be stayed
All that Mr. du Pont urged in the
form of the courts Instructions and
capitals antagonism as a reason for
falling in with this truce with the
ID. u. r. made up the strongest pos
sibe argument for wiping out forever
a power so ready to enlist both
courts and corruption for the over
throw OF the peoples viii We have
suffered much. we can suffer a little
longer for the sake of the final vic
tory.
The mayors recital of the benefiac-
tons that were going to fall to the
people as the result OF renewing the
ID. U. RS grasp upon our throat
sounded very alluring until We re-
fiected that the corporation that de-
fies the people now is the one that
is expected to deal so literally with
us in the future, said Mr.. Schermer-
horn. Simple Simon fishing for whales
in his mothers Tain-barrel had just
about the same prospect of success
as the people have OF adequate facil-
tiles and service under the continu-
ance of ID. II. r. domination
THE mavor challenges as TO come
forward with an alternative proDosi-
ton said Mr.. Schermerhorn. Here
II is: Let il be known by the over
whelming rejection OF this proposition
that the city will never again negotiate
with the ID. U. r. on the basis OF A
franchise, and that II will be fatal TO
any mayors official ambitions to UNI
dertake such thing You will then
have the corporation In the position
of a supplant for such terms as You
care to offer conditioned upon good
behavior--exactly what Toledo is now
doing with the bondholders Of its trac-
tion system I. In the meantime move
with all possible dispatch for the gen
eral revision of the charter that viii
permit the city TO come into its own
in the matter OF using it's streets for
the transportation OF the people az
cost. and eliminate forever this fruit
full source OF corruption and contro-
versy-a franchise
Don't erect barriers before our
guns when the adversary is about to
weaken. Fight II out on the no-fran-
chlse line n II takes another summer
and another. The ultimate gain will
us for patience-to say
of tho moral side of the