The Detroit times., 1912-03-13
DETROIT WISE IN KILLING
THOMPSON HALlY SCHEME
CITY OWNERSHIP THE THING
PETER WITT
Franchise Presented Few Ad-
vaftages and Many Bfsadvan=
tages, Says Clevelander
JUST ONE LOGICAL STEP
Municipality Should Not Hest
tate To Gain Control of
Street Railway"

Detroit showed Its wisdom In vot-
Ing down the proposed street rail.
way franchise. The franchise may
have contained one OF more features
that would appeal to the average
citizen, used to franchise slavery, but
no city having the power OF munich
pal ownership In it's grasp should
turn over to any private corporation
the work IL can do itself with so
many better results"
Peter Witt, city street railway COM
missioner of Cleveland, thus express
ed himself on the -Hally
franchise in an interview with The
Times Tuesday afternoon.
"The people had little to gain and
an immense advantage to lose by vot-
ing for the franchise" he continued.
It now stands in better position
than ii ever did before to rid itself
OF the evils of private ownership.
The citizens should be commended
for the splendid stand they took"
Mr.. Witt Is a friend OF Mayor
Thompson and In years past frequent
ly gave assistance to the mayor in
the latter's encounters with the ID.
u. r. He was familiar with the
street railway situation in Detroit,
and whatever his personal regard for
the mayor may be he unhesitatingly
branded the franchise a rank impos-
ition ON the public.
People In this day Of enlighten-
ment will not barter away to a street
railway company two or more ad-
valtages of the kind the company Is
seeking to gain but one doubtful ad-
vantage for themselves" he said.
Mr. Witt came to Detroit at the
invitation of the Unitarian club, and
Tuesday night spoke to the mem
bers on the advantages OF NUM-
cipal ownership. He did not COM
ment on Mayor Thompsons part in
the recent street car fight or touch
on its merits in his public address.
This Is what he said In reference
to the Thompson-Hally ordinance In
his interview:
The part of that franchise that
appealed to me was the purchase
clause. The terms of the purchase
may have been unsatisfactory but IL
- healthy sign when the people
thus insist on a course looking to
public operation of the street car
system, and the company Is driven
to such a position that II must make
terms to SELL
For a private corporation such
as the ID. u r., with no limit set
on its profits, regulation OF the SER
vice Is simply out of the question, no
matter how strong the terms in the
ordinance may seem The company
is in business to get the maximum
profit with the minimum service. 1t
can claim almost anything to save
the expense Of adequate service. II
is for the money first and the pub
lie after.
There is only one solution for
the people OF Detroit. Let them
own anad operate the street railway
and they will get Just what service
they are willing to pay for. They
can be assured of getting all the SER
vice they pay for-not what a pri-
vate corporation chooses to give
them. or Is forced into giving them.
1t makes no difference how carefully
the franchise was drawn; franchise
cannot be drawn that will overcome
its own vital defects.
Certain municipal functions must
be performed, and the more quickly
the municipality performs them the
better. Detroit has made progress
and has successfully operated other
utilities; 1t should not hesitate to
manage It's own street railway. That
is only a logical step.
Il think any grant you will make
to any corporation is simply futile
from the standpoint OF operation. Once
the corporation Is firmly entrenched
and has a monopoly on the streets
II is going TO run things to suit
itself -