The Duluth rip-saw. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1917-19??, 1919-03-29

printed as an illuminant, emsaating
zen.
Council Has Power.
In the first place, the city charter
does not give the city legal right to
put the question involved into an
election, though it does grant the
council power to condemn property
of the company. In reality, then,
the power the council asks is already
possessed by it.
Many Duluth attorneys argue that
the election is illegal, and that 1t
could have been stopped by the
traction company. After the cleo
. ton any taxpayer could ask re-
straining order to prevent the coun-
Gil acting under the election.
However, if the vote is in favor.
the order is mandatory. 1t then will
be necessary for the city to 60 to
district court requesting the appoint
ment of a board of three men, to
appraise and fix a price on the prop
erty ordered condemned.
Become Court or Jury.
These three men automatically be-
come court or jury to hear evidence
of both sides. Both the city and the
street railway company will have to
appear before this body, employing
experts, who know the subject, to
present the respective cases. 1t would
be necessary for the city to exercise
great care in obtaining such men, for
it would be necessary for them to
know every angle, so that expert
enced experts of the street railway
company could not hold them up to
ridicule. Well informed, they would
have to be, on the most minute de-
tail. Legal fees have been estimated
at from $500 to $4,000 which the
city would pay.
Decision to Come Later.
At any rate the city's evidence
would go before the board and then
would be combatted ny officials of
the street railway company. Ulti-
mately, of course, decision would
be handed down.
Following this, too, there is the
perfectly natural fact that one side
or the other may not be satisfied
with the result, If the city did not
like the result handed down 1t could
appeal to the district court, and even
later to the state supreme court. And
the street railway company could DO
the same thing.
However, there Is room for the
possibility of the street railway COM
pany requesting that action be car
ried into federal channels. In that
event it could be thrown into the
United States district court at Du-
luth, presided over by Judge Page
Morris. Higher than that 1t might
be carried into the United States cir
cult court of appeals, or even into
the United. States supreme court.
Price Final Desideratum.
Attorneys point out, too, that even
after a decision by state supreme
court the matter could be returned
to the district court for further hear
ing.
Surviving all this would be just
one result: The figure at which the
city might buy the property OF the
street railway company.
An important thing to remember Is
that the determination Of purchasing
765. The district court, according to
records available at the courthouse,
found in the proceedings to enforce
value would be based on what 1t
would cost to replace the property
now, and not five or 10 or 10 or 20
years ago.
How. many months or years 1t
would take to cover that ground Is
another matter, but at any rate an
other election would be necessary at
the completion of that goal to de-
termine If the people would buy at
the specified price. Lawyers say that
this would be the only legal cleo
ton, according to Interpretation Of
the charter.
Change in Values.
In the meantime there would be
the financial situation of the trac-
ton corporation. The concern
would have to devote, time and even
money to the case, and service,
proposed improvements and extern
sions and other matters probably suf-
fer as result.
From the actual financial side the
outstanding feature is the fact that
values today cannot be compared
with values any material number Of
years ago, due to abnormal increases
in all commodities and materials.
For the sake of convenience, In
arriving at some comparison thesyear
1910 may be taken as working
basis.
Showing on Records.
Records at the city hall show that
in the report of the company filed
with the city comptroller In Febru-
airy, 1910. the company reported the
cost OF its property in Duluth as of
\ Jan. 1, 1910, as s3,624,s24.34.
However, the company contested
Its taxes for the year 1910 and the
county OF st. Louis engaged the en-
cheering firm of Burch & Pillsbury
to make valuation.
The report OF this firm gave the
reproduction cost OF the property In
Duluth Of May J., 1910, as $2.1s0,-