The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1920-07-13
BIG PROTEST ON
JITNEY ORDINANCE

the pIUpOSal OF May or Wilson to force
the 5ltneNs 4outi of business that the
plan adopted in the caucus proceed
ing the meeting to force the matter
through was SO thoroughly shaken
that the mayor hastily. called the ex-
Aldermen into executive session and
saved the day..by talking to his AL
dermen when there Was no one pres .
ent to counteract the effects of his
exparte plea.
More than a thousand were pres
ent at 8 o'clock the hour scheduled
Tor the opening but the crowd was
kept waiting for an hour In the hu-
mid and tobacco smoke laden air of
the A1dermanic Chamber while the
mayor held the members of the Board
in catfcds in the city clerks office
trying to convince them that they
should accede to the demands OF the
trolley company.
When the aldermen at the end OF
the session pushed their way through
the packed center aisle to their seats
they wore that hang dog look of
Jury panel which is jabout~to announce
a verdict of. guilty to a condemned
murderer,
They hardly looked at the great
audience. and held little or no con-
versasion among themselves and dur
ing the reading Of the mayors mess
age and the. following discussion they
showed little signs of activity until
Harry frank, in an inlpasstoned and
eloquent speech, with tears in his
eyes and voice, called attention to
the rank injustice of the act which
the .Connecticut Co through the
message and recoiimen dations of the
mayor wanted them to pass. Frank
said that he had been brought up
with number of the members and
had always worked hard for the may
or and his party and had accumulated
a little :noney, which he had invest
ed In tAse JiNey busanesa which, if
this ord1knces WAS passed and the
5itneys ehrbed as proposed by the
mayor, lhe would lose all "And
what tory" because I and the other
men who operate jitney buses have
done what they could to help solve
the traffic nauddle OF the city which
had been caused by the gross mis-
management and disregard of the
travelling public, which the Connecti-
cut Co. has always shown here in
bridgeport"
Must we lose everything because
the Holleys can't make money
here? That is the only argument
the mayor has We must be driven
out of business so that our competi-
claimed that the driving us out of
business viii be of any benefit to the
public 1T Is only ;. claimed that it
will bene1t the Connecticut Co. 1t
is a fine state Of affairs when the
Connecticut Co can come here and
tell you- men what you have got to
do. and they can't give any other
reason than that 1t must be done
solely for their benefit All I ask
L. f.I- 1AoI f,sc he
told me that would get fair deal.
And this Is the deal 1t isn't fair
1t Is death to the jitney buses of
Bridgeport"
The only speakers In favor of the
trolley company were two motormen
one of whom thought that it was In
the interests of Americanism the for
eigners be not allowed to run jitneys
and canse about 7o03good old fash
Toned Americans to lose their Jobs
with the trolley company
Former Corporation Counsel Chas.
1. Kleiner of New Haven, and Sen
ator NJ j. Quinn also of New Haven,
counsel for the Buss association, called
the attention of the aldermen to the
statutes of Connecticut which pro-
hibi.ed the aldermen or any other
city, town or borough officers from
passing any ordinances which did not
apply to all motor vehicles, whether
jitneys, buses, pleasure cars or
trucks Attorney Kleiner said you
may pass such an ordinance, but you
can't enforce it, and what is the use
of passing an ordinance which you
know is not legal
No one appeared for the Connect
cut Company until near the close of
the hearing when the Mayor noticed
President Storrs in the rear of the
room and asked him to make a few
remarks.
President Storrs came forward and
said he really didn't have anything
further to say than what he had al
ready said to the Mayor at the con-
ferences they had had and that all OF
the demands\of the Company were
contained in the written demand
which the trustees had made and Sent
to the city a few weeks ago
When asked by Senator Quinn il
the company would continue the cars
for a few days while the different
parties, the aldermen, the Connecticut
company and the jitney men get to-
gether and see if some solution could
not be reached SO that would be salts
factoryrr*S, ala parties.7 - Storrs sale
that the company would not wait
They would stop at the time stated
unless all competitive service in the
city was eliminated We are losing
money every day This cannot con
tinue. We may not have given salts
factory service in the past but nov
we run many cars which carry onl!
two or three passengers
During the recess one of the spec
tators who had taken no part in tn
debate said the jitney men had simp
1y got what was coming to them, TIL
same as the policemen, the firemel
and the teachers They were al
out shouting for Wilson at the las
election and he has turned dow
every one of them The jitney mel
were the worst Nof the bunch Ever
5stney bus in Bridgeport carrie
signs In large letters, Vote for viii
son and Save the Jitneys." The
voted for him all right and he save
the 5ftneys in order that he Nigh
feed them to the Connecticut Co
Whose 0ts60 wide ramificatfons Nigh
hetp him to get the Republica