El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-03-15

during the calendar year Of 1915. hence
citizen concluding TO engage in the motor
bus business after December 81, 1919. couio
not do so under the ordinance until 1917.
as the ordinance prescribes the application
for license must be made during the pre-
viOus calendar year.
summary Of Objections.
The following is a summary Of Few Of
the objections TO the legality Of the pro
posed ordinance
It is discriminative- IL is ultra wires
II is unreasonable II is a chaotic con
glomerate Of enigmatic antiquities It is
to the present holder Of a license retro
active The license tax under the guise
OF a license fee is a tax TO raise a revenue
to be used 10 enforce the ordinance. and
therefore illegal. it not being UNIFORM
tax nor a tax the council can lawfully inn
pose The requirement Of so onerous a
bond or any bond for the payment Of taxes.
fines. forfeitures and penalties by the own
er Of motor bus IS contrary 10 the
general laws state and municipal. which
provide a procedure and a way for the col
lection OF all taxes. fines, penalties and for
FIXTURES which can be legally imposed or
exacted by the council
while the council has the right 70 tax
automobiles as any other property. ana the
right 20 license them, and 10 provide Ior
their reasonable regulation. this is as Tar
as the courts would permit the council TO
go, for the power Of the council is circurn-
! scribed by the general law I'm the absence
Of express statutory ampAhcation Of Its
power
the law as it now IS. the council is power
less 10 effectively deal with the subject
! by ordinance. for It must be conceded that
the law sought 10 be appued alone 10 lne
Z jitne owner would be what IS commonly
J characterized as class legislation. ana
! therefore obnoxious; but the proposed ordi-
nance prescribes that motor buses with
Z a regular route shall be confined TO that
route and that such cars shall have dis
I travel. and thus defined. they alone FOR that
reason, shall give a bond with conditions
more onerous than even the legislature
could prescribe, and that they must pay a
! special onerous and unreasonable tax under
| the gAse OF a license fee. and which Is
not imposed upon any other private or pub
! lie service cars.
But One Effective Way.
There IS but one effective way TO deal
with the jitne problem, and that way is
not through or by the city council as the
which II enacted into a law. would be
simple and efficacious and free from tech
meal and substantial objection. but such
law would bear no resemblance TO the pro-
posed ordinance or the bill recently intro
duced in the legislature and which the
legislature wisely refused to pass
adopted. the oo9nciI will overlap its su-
thority and open up Pandora box OF
useless litigation an Of which would ulu-
mate to the benefit Of the Jitne, or mo
It has been jestinsly suggested that IN
effective way 20 get the jitne cars out of
business would be for the street railway
company TO voluntarily reduce its fare to
I , cents, as chapter Is Of the r. s does
way Charges by the district court. as It
does TO charges by gas, telephone and
/ light companies
Not Pair to street Railway.
The street railway company has invested
many thousands OF dollars and more than
/ any other one factor. it quickened the
growth OF FL Pasp from a village TO a city.
and it is not fair % it, though convenient
u - - 30 70
I pete with the jitne cars OF cars by what
ever name or no name engaged in the Jttna
service, and the public should consider that
with the Jitne competition, street railway
! extensions and the building Of street rail-
way systems will be only Of the past. for
the jftne. like the English sparrow is in
sznce. but IL like the sparrow has come TO
stay. and Ike the sparrow by team work
will prove annoying 10 competitors. but all
this as IL may be. the city council cannot
lawfully arroEate 70 itself the power Of the
state legislature, nor override the general
law and BY a specious special ordinance
single out the jitne car and impose upon
its owner. burdens. taxes. penalties. regula-
I lions. liabilities and annoyances. which are
not uniformly imposd upon other cars. and
which the council has no power to impose
on any car under suhsisring law
Don't delude the public into the BELIEF
that the 1itne bond would afford them any
redress or security for damages in the event
OF personal injuries through the negligence
% the jitne driver. for the bond, IL given.
the suretiss. and this Tor the reason that
the citizen desiring 10 operate a jltne car
by name any other name. has
equal right 10 do so. as could the owner OF
any other car. and until the legislature
adopts the necessary law to regulate the
nuisance. II nuisance Dc can he called. 70 is
better 20 bear the ills we have than 20 fy
TO others we know not OF. and in the mean
time the hest thing Tor the public TO do. II
Il wants 20 be paid for its broken legs. IS
to patronize q carrier Of its own choice.
The proposed ordinance IS adroitly
drafted as 10 could be. but a reading OF It
viii disclose that its author was full well
aware Of the insuperable legal difficulties
which confronted him
Leigh Clark