The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1930-02-07
ON This
!. Occasion
D lust a few thoughts by the Editor on things
Q Material and Immaterilai
! MINNESOTA State Autouohll6

The Minnesota State Automohal6
Association has come out naG-iuoVru
for legislation that viii remove ir-
responsible automobile drivers from
city streets and state highways. The
Association will make a demand for
laws that will protect law-abiding
drivers and provide stringent penalties
for those who do not obey the driving
code that will be drafted and put into
force after the next session of the
legislature.
Without a doubt such measures will
be hailed with delight by those COM
PEELED to use the highways which at
present are not of the best. Drunken
drivers are altogether too numerous
and coupled with this menace is the
heavy trucking being done in COM
petition to the railroads who con-
structed their own right-away while
the heavy freight hauling truck uses
roads built by taxpayers money and
whose bridges and surface are not sufh-
cient to stand heavy trucking
The trucking permits in competition
with the railroads should by all manner
of common decency not be allowed.
The people, at public expense, built the
highways while the railroads built in
and opened new country to settlement
before there were any highways which
could be designated as such. Some
one will now pop up with the state
ment that the railroads were well paid
for their trouble with public land
grants. The fact nevertheless remains,
that they put in their money and
built roads for passenger and freight
traffic into territories where afterwards
cities and communities were estab-
lished and where they have been fur
nishing service since.
We have in mind the Duluth g. Iron
Range. TINS road built from Two Har-
bors to Tower before assurance was
forthcoming that they would have
business enough to warrant the con-
struction. What land grants were
given them have never been missed
In the thousands of acres through
which they were forced to build at
heavy expense. After having given
service for these years (and it must be
said that the service was Al and often
commented on by the travelling public
along come the truck lines and at
tempt to wrest the freight business
from them, while the buses have cut
immense inroads into the passenger
business.
The freight situation in Ely is of the
best and the service given by the D. &
l. r. is in truth an express service for
dc eli 81 I,o cfo
in Duluth during the afternoon arrive
here in time for the use at the opening
of business the following morning.
there is no excuse for the truck freight
line Then there is the question of
employment. At present the railroad
is furnishing employment and living
for several families employed in the
freight traffic. Ship everything by
truck and these families will be out of
a job and may be compelled to move
to other places.
The Commercial Club committee on
passenger service have suggested new
time card which met with the approval
of all those approached. This sug-
gestion is that the passenger trains
leave here in the morning and after
noon and return at noon and at or
o'clock in the evening. How far this
suggestion will meet with the approval
Of the management remains to be seen
but 1t Is our opinion that the time card
makers will pay some attention as they
have already intimated that for the
convenience Of Ely patrons some such
arrangement should be made.
The Communists of the Head of the
Lakes are showing their teeth and in
tend to sink their fangs into the city
government with a demand for the
adjustment of laws at present on the
books to curb just such outbreaks as
this one promises to be. Life is like
that. A complacent city government
allows the growth of anti-American
sentiment in its midst and then is
compelled to combat the same sent
iment in order to conduct affairs
Years ago, and it is not so long
since, several of these rabid reds were
sent back to the Russia they loved and
which they professed to believe was
the Utopia. After getting there they
left no stone unturned to get back
Here they thought they were somebody
but over there that idea was shattered
to snithereens and they found that to
be somebody in Russia they had to be
nobody. The boats are still running
and there are no strings on them. A
bunch Of one-way tickets should be
secured by the United States and
passed out to the dissatisfied ones.