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 L161 O-1096
 
 The Opportunity 
 of Chicago to Be= 
 come a Great City 
 
 I 
 
 1901...,. 1903 V 
 
 EDMUND J. JAMES 
 
 A 
 DISCUSSION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TRACTION 
 QUESTION 
 
 I. The Present Crisis. 
 
 II. The Street Car Sit= 
 
 EDMUND J. JAMES. 
 
 III. How a Similar City Solved a More Dif- 
 
 ficult Problem. 
 
 IV. What Should Be the Street Car Policy of 
 
 Chicago? 
 
 Reprinted from THE WORLD REVIEW 
 
 THE WORLD REVIEW COMPANY 
 
 Publishers 
 FINE ARTS BUILDING CHICAGO 
 
 Five Cents a Copy
 
 I. 
 The Present Crisis. 
 
 The citizens of Chicago are now; confronting one 
 of the greatest crises in the history of this community. 
 The approaching election is one of the most impor- 
 tant ever held in this city, and on its issue turn some 
 of the gravest interests which have ever hung upon 
 -jthe decision of the ballot. 
 
 All such general elections are, it is true, of impor- 
 tance nay, of great importance. During the term of 
 ;any mayor or council difficult questions of city ad- 
 :ministration may come up for discussion and settle- 
 ment, and at any time a policy may be adopted 
 fraught with great injury or benefit to the community. 
 .At any time, moreover, there is almost limitless oppor- 
 tunity of improving municipal conditions open to an 
 .intelligent and honest mayor and council. 
 
 But it is also true that there come times in the life 
 
 -of cities, as of individuals, which have a special and 
 
 peculiar relation to their present and future welfare. 
 
 There come tides in the affairs of every community 
 
 which taken at their flood lead on to fortune, but 
 
 which being allowed to ebb may not return for many 
 
 a long year to come. Such a tide is now flowing in. 
 
 , the affairs of this city, and its flood will be reached 
 
 during .the next two years. Of all the pressing and 
 
 important issues before the city and there are many 
 
 none is so pressing or important as that of local 
 
 transportation. 
 
 During the year 1903 the franchises of the most im- 
 portant street car railways in Chicago will expire. For 
 the first time since 1863, or one may perhaps better 
 .say, since 1859, the city will find itself in possession
 
 of comprehensive rights over its own streets. It may 
 now for the first time in this generation determine 
 anew the conditions on which private corporations 
 may use its streets for the purpose of supplying local 
 transportation to its citizens; and in doing so it will 
 settle, for weal or for woe, the fate of the next genera- 
 tion in this matter. 
 
 The importance of this question can scarcely be 
 over-estimated. Its economic and social importance 
 is, if anything, exceeded by its moral importance; its 
 direct, by its indirect, significance. As to its direct 
 economic aspect, any one will admit that the relation 
 of cheap, convenient, rapid and complete means of 
 local transportation to the health, comfort, business 
 and industrial efficiency of the community is funda- 
 mental. And now we have the chance for the first 
 time in forty years to insist that the local means of 
 transportation shall be organized and managed pri- 
 marily in the interest of the great masses of the public; 
 that the cheapest and best facilities shall be afforded 
 in this respect which the advance of modern science 
 and invention has made possible. 
 
 But the indirect, moral importance of a correct 
 solution of this problem is equally great. Our Ameri- 
 can cities have become so in the habit of seeing them- 
 selves and their interests made the sport and football 
 of stock jobbers and promoters that our citizens have 
 almost come to despair of ever being able to protect 
 properly the public interest. They are so in the habit 
 of seeing their own sworn representatives betray and 
 sell out for political or pecuniary considerations the 
 highest welfare of the community; they have become 
 so accustomed to seeing the great public service cor- 
 porations openly and brazenly buying their privileges 
 from the city councils, paying not to the city or its 
 treasury, but to private individuals, either for private 
 or political use, the sums necessary to secure favor 
 and protection, that a sort of pessimism a kind of dry 
 rot of hopelessness that things can ever become bet- 
 ter seems to have seized them, paralyzing all the 
 efforts in the direction of honest or efficient govern- 
 ment.
 
 Chicago now has an opportunity to revive the 
 drooping spirits, not only of its own citizens, but of 
 those of every other American city, by showing that 
 it is still possible by a vigorous effort to rescue our 
 municipalities from the grasp of corrupt and aggres- 
 sive private organizations and by putting honest, 
 courageous and able men in office to protect and ad- 
 vance the public interest. 
 
 The proper solution of this problem will contribute 
 enormously toward the solution of all other similar 
 problems. It will in so far teach the corporations once 
 for all that their only hope of doing business with the 
 city is to offer adequate and honest service for a rea- 
 sonable price. It will turn their attention from corrupt 
 deals with political managers to an honest attempt to 
 give the public the very best service for the very low- 
 est price, and thus transfer this whole branch of mod- 
 ern enterprise from politics, where it should not be, to 
 business, where it belongs. 
 
 The gas question, the electric lighting question, and 
 } every other similar problem will enter a new and 
 higher phase if this street car question is correctly 
 solved. Nay, an entirely new era will be opened in 
 every other branch of public administration the 
 instant it is made plain by our method of solving this 
 problem and by the results we may obtain, that the 
 public service corporation has been retired from the 
 field of illegitimate politics. 
 
 No other great American city, and but few foreign 
 cities of equal size, have had any such opportunity as 
 has come to Chicago. Will it prove equal to the 
 occasion? 
 
 The city will have practically a free hand to adopt 
 a wise and far-reaching policy in this whole question. 
 The expiration of the franchises leaves the city free 
 either to enter into relations with the existing com- 
 panies, if they offer reasonable terms, or to grant 
 privileges to new companies organized to compete 
 with the existing companies for these franchises. Or, 
 if the present bill advocated by the Street Car Com- 
 mission now before the legislature becomes a law, the
 
 city may construct and operate a system of its own, or 
 construct the same and lease its operation to private 
 companies, if it be found impossible to make any 
 other equitable and reasonable arrangement. It is 
 thus in a position, if it will promptly adopt an intelli- 
 gent and courageous policy, to solve this question in 
 a manner conducive to all interests concerned. 
 
 But in this, as in everything else, eternal vigilance is 
 the price of success. It is unreasonable to expect 
 private corporations desiring to secure these leases to 
 be unduly concerned about the interests of the city. 
 They have enough to do to look after their own, and, 
 it is the business of the city, in the same way, to look 
 out for its interests. The existing corporations, or 
 new ones which may be formed to compete with them, 
 for this service, will secure (and very properly, too) 
 the ablest men they can find to represent th~ i their 
 boards of directors. And they will spare no expense 
 (and no one can reasonably object to th ) ^ retain 
 the ablest lawyers in the country as their counsel. 
 
 All this, however, is an added reason wny the. city 
 should do likewise; why it should see to it that its 
 board of directors the City Council and the Mayor 
 shall be composed of equally able men, who shall 
 be honest, intelligent and courageous in safeguarding 
 the public interests. And just as the ci' , has no equit- 
 able claim to representation in the boards of direc- 
 tors of the corporations, so the corporations have no 
 equitable claim to any special repres ntation in the 
 City Council or the Mayor's c' air. 
 
 Their effort, therefore, if it is being made, as some 
 claim, to elect councilmen pledged to their interest 
 is an endeavor to corrupt public administration at its 
 very fountain-head and should be rebuked. 
 
 The question of the next Mayor, therefore, is a very 
 important one, and no man should be elected to that 
 position, who has not a perfectly unequivocal record 
 on this question ; who has not staked his sacred honor 
 in behalf of maintaining the interests of the public at 
 every point, and who has not given evidence by his 
 previous work of intelligence and of courage in rep-
 
 resenting those interests against all possible combina- 
 tions to overthrow them. He should be a man before 
 whom the companies would not dare to lay proposi- 
 tions which are at any point aimed at the exploitation 
 of the city's, interest. He himself should be as Caesar's 
 wife was, absolutely above suspicion. 
 
 The Mayor, however, is of less importance in this 
 contest than the Council. In our system of city gov- 
 ernment the Mayor is indeed a positive force in the 
 actual administration; but rather a negative force in 
 any constructive policy. He may, it is true, by his veto 
 prevent a job, and from this point of view his position 
 is one of great power, but he has little means of en- 
 forcing an active and aggressive constructive policy 
 against the will of the council. In such matters the 
 Council is by far the more important element, and it 
 is just this kind of work which we have before us 
 now. 
 
 The whole attitude of the city and the City Council 
 and the Mayor toward this question of the public 
 service corporations should be radically changed. 
 Thus far we have been content, as a rule, with waiting 
 until the corporations desirous of securing privileges 
 from the city indicated what they wished; or at the 
 most, we have gone to the extent of asking them what 
 they desired, and have then given them as nearly as 
 possible everything that they demanded. 
 
 In other words, so far as this point is concerned, 
 the city should take the same attitude as any great pri- 
 vate corporation; that is, get the work which it needs 
 done on the best possible terms by others, provided 
 those terms are reasonable; but if reasonable terms 
 cannot be obtained, then undertake the work itself. 
 There is little doubt, however, fortunately for us, that 
 if this policy were adopted the city would quickly find 
 private corporations able and willing to comply with 
 all reasonable demands. 
 
 We must not lose sight of the fact that under the 
 present circumstances it is far more to the interest of 
 the city than of the existing corporations to have this 
 constructive work undertaken as soon as possible and
 
 pushed as rapidly as circumstances may permit. The 
 interest of the present companies lies in doing nothing 
 if they cannot get what they want; for, although they, 
 know that if nothing is done they will have no rights 
 in the streets after July I, 1903, yet they also know 
 that in that case they will not be driven out of the 
 streets; for that would mean that everybody in Chi- 
 cago would have to walk, and rather than walk for any 
 great length of time the public would insist that the 
 Council should give to the companies the franchises 
 which they desire on their own terms. This method 
 is an old and well-tried device on the part of shrewd 
 parties for obtaining privileges by force which they 
 could not otherwise get. Proper safeguarding of the 
 public interest, therefore, means in this case, that this 
 question should be taken up immediately, and that the 
 policy indicated above should be aggressively pushed 
 through to success. 
 
 The existing Street Railway Commission, or a sim- 
 ilar one containing the same members, and perhaps 
 other members of the Council, should be enlarged by 
 the addition of competent engineers, able lawyers and 
 shrewd business men all beyond suspicion of repre- 
 senting anything but the public interest. It should be 
 supplied with the requisite funds to examine this 
 question in every detail and to employ expert engi- 
 neer and legal service. It should draft as a result of 
 its study and report to the Council a model contract 
 betweeen the city and any corporations asking for 
 these franchises. If, as a result of reasonable negotia- 
 tions, no offer can be obtained, the city should con- 
 struct the system lines itself and lease them to private 
 parties, or if no agreement can be made on this basis, 
 operate the lines itself. There is little doubt, however, 
 that such a reasonable arrangement can be made. Pri- 
 vate capital would be found in abundance to compete 
 for this opportunity. 
 
 This plan, however, is dependent for its success on 
 securing the right kind of a Council, and to this prob- 
 lem the voter must give his earnest attention. He 
 should study the record of every man on this subject
 
 who is up for the Council. Every individual candidate 
 should be required to declare himself on this subject, 
 and no man should be voted for who has not a well- 
 known reputation for probity and faithfulness to his 
 pledged word. No man suspected of any connection 
 with any corporation asking for such privileges should 
 be considered an available candidate. 
 
 In this work the Municipal Voters' League is per- 
 forming a most useful service. It is investigating 
 and from time to time publishing the record of every 
 candidate for the Council. The thoughtful and patri- 
 otic citizen should study its recommendations care- 
 fully. It is to be hoped that the League will combine 
 its bold and uncompromising policy and take upon 
 itself also the work of making these candidates declare 
 in unmistakable terms their attitude on this question, 
 giving us at the same time its own estimate of the 
 probability of each candidate's redeeming his promise. 
 
 With an attitude such as this, we can secure a good 
 Council, and by a good Council is meant not merely 
 an honest one, but an intelligent and courageous one, 
 whose members will not content themselves with 
 merely rejecting unsatisfactory offers by private par- 
 ties, but will themselves, after careful investigation, 
 indicate the lines along which propositions must be 
 framed in order to be acceptable. 
 
 Such a Council will secure for us either cheaper 
 fares, or increased compensation, or improved facili- 
 ties (such as more frequent cars and more extensive 
 transfers); or greater comfort and convenience, or 
 greater safety (such as the substitution of the under- 
 ground for overhead trolley, or of storage battery cars 
 for both); one or more, or all of these advantages in 
 the best combination possible and all with a due 
 regard for private and vested interest. Such a Council 
 will be as incapable of using its power to browbeat 
 and harass a private company merely for the sake of 
 "striking" it for funds as it will be of selling out the 
 public interest to groups of stock-jobbing promoters 
 in return for private compensation either pecuniary 
 or political. 
 
 Such a Council will solve this question and pave the
 
 way for the solution of all the other vexed questions of 
 our present city politics, and we shall have the satis- 
 faction not only of having solved this particular ques- 
 tion in a proper manner, not only of having put all 
 other city questions in the way of a satisfactory 
 advance toward solution, but also no mean result- 
 of having vindicated the power of our American cities 
 to safeguard the public interest without in any way 
 infringing on legitimate private interest. We shall 
 thus set a new pace in this respect for all other Ameri- 
 can communities, and shall have contributed a great 
 share toward rescuing our American cities from the 
 deserved odium which their slipshod and corrupt 
 administration has brought upon them.
 
 II. 
 The Street Car Situation in Chicago 
 
 In my former article the statement was made 
 that of all the pressing questions now before the peo- 
 ple of Chicago and their name is legion none is 
 more urgent than the relations of the street car com 
 panics to the city. This arises not only from the gen- 
 eral importance of improved means of local trans- 
 poration to this community, but especially be- 
 cause of the early expiration of the franchises oi 
 the existing companies, whereby this question, which 
 has long been chronic, now becomes highly acute, 
 Something, therefore, must be done. Either the fran- 
 chises of the present companies must be renewed, 
 or similar privileges must be granted to new com- 
 panies, or the city itself must undertake the construc- 
 tion and operation of a system of street railways. The 
 third alternative is practically excluded under prevail- 
 ing conditions except as a very last resort. Either 
 the first or second method must be adopted. Which 
 shall it be? 
 
 It appears at first blush as if the simplest thing 
 were to renew the franchises of the companies now 
 operating. They can certainly afford to offer better 
 terms, if they will, than new companies ; and if they 
 do offer better terms, their conditions should cer- 
 tainly be accepted. 
 
 It will not do, however, to take it for granted that 
 they will offer of their own free will the best conditions 
 which the city should obtain. That would be expecting 
 too much of such corporations. They are not organ- 
 ized primarily to give the City of Chicago the best 
 possible transportation for the lowest possible price, 
 but rather for the purpose of making the largest pos- 
 sible profits for their stockholders out of this busi- 
 
 10
 
 ness. It would be unreasonable to expect anything 
 else from them. The managers of these companies 
 are looking out for the interests of their stockholders, 
 and that is fair and right nay, it is their highest 
 duty. But let the city, on the other hand, look out 
 for its interests also. 
 
 Now what are the considerations which the citizen 
 should keep in mind in arriving at a conclusion on 
 this important question of" what the city may fairly 
 ask of the companies ? 
 
 In the first place, he should remember that his own 
 welfare as well as that of the city at large demands 
 the most careful regard for vested interests and the 
 rights of private property. The City of Chicago 
 can get no advantage from a brutal use of its authority, 
 or of its vantage ground to harass or exploit any pri- 
 vate interest, which would at all make up for the 
 injury which would be done to the fair name of the 
 city by any unreasonable disregard of existing legal or 
 equitable rights, whether of individuals or corpora- 
 tions. This fact is fundamental, and must be ever 
 kept in sight. Any wild talk about the necessity of 
 resorting to lynch law, such as was heard a few years 
 ago ; any appeal to violent action on the part of the 
 city ought to be severely condemned by thoughtful and 
 law-abiding citizens, even though they may very prop- 
 erly feel that the rights of the city have not been alto- 
 gether respected by past or present street car com- 
 panies. 
 
 Now the first thing which strikes the citizen who 
 tries to arrive at clear and just conclusions on this 
 subject is that owing to the apathy or indifference of 
 the community, or the ignorance, short-sightedness or 
 corruption of its representatives, no means has been 
 provided for taking the very first step in this process 
 in any direct way. In order to know what demands 
 are reasonable, it is necessary to know first of all what 
 is the actual cost of construction and operation of street 
 
 11
 
 car lines in this city. Now we have had horse cars 
 in Chicago for forty years, cable cars for twenty years 
 and electric cars for ten" years, yet we do not know 
 definitely what the cost of any of these various modes 
 of transit is. The only exact way of finding out would 
 be through access to the books of these companies, 
 provided the books had been kept honestly and effi- 
 ciently. Such access the companies have uniformly 
 refused to give the authorized agents of the city. In 
 this action it is true they are certainly within their 
 legal rights, for neither at the time when the first 
 franchises were granted for twenty-five years in 1858, 
 nor at the time when they were renewed for twenty 
 years in 1883, was the community sufficiently wide- 
 awake, or its representatives sufficiently far-sighted, 
 courageous or honest, to insist, as they ought to have 
 done, that the books of the companies should be always 
 open to the inspection of properly certified public audi- 
 tors. 
 
 In the very first step, then, we are compelled to 
 resort to outside sources for information as to the 
 most fundamental facts of the situation, and if our 
 reasoning based on these facts should be faulty to 
 the disadvantage of the companies the latter have 
 only themselves to thank. It must be said, however, 
 that, judging from the history of other American 
 communities, as well as of this, there is not the least 
 danger of the city taking any undue advantage of the 
 corporations, since the American community is very 
 long-suffering indeed ; in fact, far too long-suffering. 
 
 A second circumstance strikes the honest and 
 thoughtful citizen at the very outset of this inquiry, 
 and that is, that owing to the apathy or ignorance of 
 the community in former years, or the ignorance, 
 shortsightedness or corruption of its representatives, 
 the companies have been able to cloud and befog the 
 real issues by raising a great alarum about the com- 
 prehensive and permanent rights which have been 
 
 12
 
 granted to them in the streets of Chicago. 
 
 The story is a long and complicated one, but a 
 glance at it is necessary in order to appreciate the 
 gravity of the present situation. 
 
 The first street car franchises were granted by the 
 city in 1858 for the term of twenty-five years and 
 "thereafter until the city should purchase the equip- 
 ment and the plant" of the respective companies. As 
 it seemed doubtful whether the city had authority 
 under its charter to grant such franchises, the legisla- 
 ture in the next year confirmed the grant. But this 
 grant, requiring the purchase of equipment and plant 
 if the city desired to resume the franchise, was lim- 
 ited to a very few lines and a comparatively short 
 mileage not over ten miles altogether. With this 
 exception, all grants by the city were made either for 
 twenty-five or twenty years, with no mention of pur- 
 chase. In all such cases, of course, expiration of 
 franchises means simply that the companies must 
 vacate the streets it being presumed that they have 
 already received in the shape of profits, a reasonable 
 return on the actual capital invested and in addition 
 the full amount of the capital originally and subse- 
 quently invested a supposition more than fulfilled in 
 the case of all the leading companies in question. 
 
 The corporations of forty years ago, however, were 
 not satisfied with this. Like those of a more recent 
 time, they went to the legislature for additional privi- 
 leges, and, in spite of the governor's veto, who at 
 that time was with the people, and in spite of the pro- 
 tests of the citizens of Chicago, they secured the pas- 
 sage of a law extending their charters and their privi- 
 leges for ninety-nine years from the beginning of the 
 franchises that is, until 1958. This was an "Allen 
 Bill" still more iniquitous and disregardful of the 
 rights of the people than the famous bill of 1897. 
 
 The constitution of 1870 and the Horse and Dummy 
 Act, passed in pursuance thereof, practically repealed 
 
 13
 
 the ninety-nine year act, so far as subsequent grants 
 were concerned, and all charters since that time have 
 been for twenty years. 
 
 The city has always claimed that the ninety-nine 
 year act was unconstitutional from the beginning, and 
 that, consequently, no rights could vest under it. But 
 when the original franchises expired in 1883 the city 
 was embroiled with the companies in a dispute over 
 certain taxes which the city had levied on the cars 
 of the companies. The latter claimed rights under 
 the ninety-nine year act. Francis Adams, afterwards 
 Judge of the Circuit Court, and Julius S. Grinnell, 
 then City Attorney, in an opinion, apparently pre- 
 pared by Grinnell, held for the companies and against 
 the city. Grinnell afterwards became counsel for the 
 Chicago City Railway company. The reasoning in 
 this opinion may be inferred from the statement, that 
 the original right of purchase subsequently confirmed 
 by the legislature, was invalid because the rule is "that 
 a municipal corporation cannot bind the people by a 
 contract foreign to the purpose of its creation, or 
 which not being in terms authorized is against public 
 policy!" 
 
 In their shortsighted eagerness to settle the tax diffi- 
 culty, or in fear that the courts were so controlled by 
 corporation decisions that they would hold for the 
 companies in case of a test, or in their haste to secure 
 the extension of the cable lines, or actuated by baser 
 motives, the city authorities consented to extend the 
 franchises for the then existing companies, and prac- 
 tically on their own terms, for another twenty years, 
 although other companies stood ready to make much 
 better offers. And so now we are again face to face 
 with the same preblem as twenty years ago the com- 
 panies ready to claim rights for certain strategic lines 
 until the year 1958 ! In fact, they have made contracts 
 in certain cases running to the year of our Lord 2885 ! ! 
 
 In the meantime, however, things have changed for 
 
 14
 
 the advantage of the city. The original franchises 
 give authority to use horse traction only ; so that even 
 in the extremest case the companies have merely the 
 right to use cars drawn by horses only over a very 
 limited mileage until the year 1958 a right which it 
 is safe to say, they do not care much about, except 
 as a means of browbeating the city in the approaching 
 contest. 
 
 The legal rights of the city, then, while tolerably 
 plain, are clouded, it must be confessed, by the claims 
 of the companies. There is a sufficient shadow of 
 justification for them to confuse the minds of the 
 honest citizens who, while desiring that the city shall 
 have its full rights, do not wish to do injustice to any 
 private interest individual or corporate. 
 
 What an opportunity there is here for a weak, cow- 
 ardly, owned or bought mayor to seem to be protect- 
 ing the public interests to the utmost of his ability, 
 while actually engaged in selling out the rights of the 
 city to private corporations that would place him in the 
 chair or buy him after he takes the seat, or browbeat or 
 threaten him with loss of future advancement in case 
 he does not do their bidding! 
 
 What a chance for a scheming, corrupt, weak or 
 inefficient council ! They can give the companies 
 everything they wish, while they are saying to the 
 people : "We are very sad, but you see the law of 
 1865 or the agreement of 1883, or the opinion of the 
 City Attorney twenty years ago, has so committed 
 the city that we are practically at the mercy of the 
 cc-porations. We are very sorry indeed, but the fault 
 is in our predecessors, not in us." 
 
 It is plain that our only hope in this situation lies in 
 a courageous, honest and intelligent mayor and council, 
 who will be ready to safeguard the interests of the city 
 by taking the initiative, and will not wait for the com- 
 panies to make propositions. Only by such action can 
 the public welfare be insured.
 
 So much for the legal rights ; now what of the equit- 
 able rights ? There are many different forms of street 
 car franchises, and there is a great dispute as to which 
 of these is the best for the public interest. The inves- 
 tigation of this question must be undertaken in earnest 
 before future franchises are granted. 
 
 But we have thus far had in Chicago the twenty- 
 year franchise without special compensation to the 
 city. This means that the company asking for the 
 franchise is willing, in return for the right, to install 
 and operate a plant for twenty years, to take the risk 
 of getting its money back in the enterprise. "Getting 
 its money back" means in this case, receiving by the 
 time the franchise terminates, a fair return on capital 
 invested, plus a sum equal to the capital invested. 
 
 Now it is evident that even if the company fails to 
 make the anticipated profits the city is not bound 
 through any principle of equity or law to make this 
 loss good, any more than it is bound to make good the 
 losses of grocerymen or dairymen, who, while expect- 
 ing to make great profits, have instead reaped losses. 
 Much more is the city not bound in absence of a con- 
 tract to the contrary, to add anything to the profits 
 of the companies by buying their old iron and worn 
 out cables and cars after the companies, in addition to 
 reasonable profits on all capital actually invested, have 
 received in extra profits full payment for such a plant. 
 So much the more is this true if the companies in their 
 ambition to make profits have exploited the public in, 
 an undue manner, even though they may have acted 
 within their strict legal rights. 
 
 Now what are the facts about these last points ? 
 
 It is plain that 6 per cent is a reasonable return for 
 capital invested in such sure property as the street car 
 railways in a city like Chicago, at least along all the 
 strategic streets. Anything more than this may be 
 fairly enough considered as properly belonging to a 
 reserve fund or sinking fund, to replace the capital 
 
 16
 
 invested by the time the leases expire, when, in the 
 absence of a contract to the contrary, the property 
 of the companies in the streets becomes worthless to 
 them, since the only rights which make the property 
 of any value to them expire at that time. 
 
 Now the Street Railway Commission appointed by 
 the Mayor of Chicago, October 18, 1897, investigated 
 this question very fully. It showed that the Chicago 
 City Railway company had paid in dividends in excess 
 of 6 per cent during the years 1890-1897, counting ac- 
 cumulations at 4 per cent compound interest, the sum 
 of $8,469,604.63, while the cost of duplication of the 
 entire plant, with overhead trolley system, was put at 
 $9,211,000; that is to say, in considerably less than half 
 the time for which the franchises ran the excess of 
 dividends of the stock above 6 per cent would have 
 almost completely duplicated the plant in better condi- 
 tion for profit earning that it was at the beginning. 
 
 The same authority states that the capitalized value 
 of the dividends in excess of 6 per cent paid by the 
 North Chicago City Railway company during the same 
 years 1890-1897 amounted to $4,762,948.39, and 
 that a similar sum of $1,105,707.13 was paid by the 
 North Chicago Street Railway company a total of 
 $5,868,655.52, while the outside cost of duplicating the 
 entire plant, with overhead electric trolley, would be 
 $5,005,000, or nearly a million dollars less than the 
 capitalized value of the dividends in excess of 6 per 
 cent during the period of eight years ! 
 
 The West Chicago Street Railway company system 
 paid in dividends in excess of 6 per cent during the 
 same years a sum whose capitalized value was $6,831,- 
 639.86, while the cost of duplication on the basis of the 
 overhead trolley was estimated at $10,135,000. 
 
 It is perfectly plain from the above statements that 
 if the companies had done as they should have done 
 viz., after setting aside a reasonable sum as profits, 
 had turned the rest of the net income into a reserve 
 
 17
 
 or sinking fund, they could have returned the original 
 investment twice over to the stockholders by the end 
 of the leases, and still have had large sums to spend 
 on improvements and lower fares or increased com- 
 pensation. 
 
 Surely there is no ground here for a claim that the 
 city, in insisting on its rights, is unduly exploiting the 
 street car companies or confiscating the hard-earned 
 savings of street railway stockholders. 
 
 According to the same reports, the above compan- 
 ies had issued in stock and bonds up to December 31, 
 1897, an amount whose market value on that date was 
 $91,612,445, while the total cost of duplication on the 
 basis of the overhead trolley system was $24,351,000. 
 This reveals the sum of $67,261,445 as the capital over 
 and above the cost of duplication upon which these 
 companies were paying interest. 
 
 If we disregard market value and simply take the 
 stocks and bonds at par value, the over-capitalization, 
 based on the cost of duplication, was $38,307,300, 
 which is what is commonly known in the narrowest 
 sense, as "water," or would be such if the business 
 were competitive. 
 
 The effort of the companies will be, of course, to 
 make all this "water" good at the expense of the citi- 
 zens of Chicago, while it should be the effort of the 
 city to keep this at as low a figure as possible, with 
 due regard to all interests concerned. 
 
 So much for the equitable rights, so far as the return 
 on capital invested is concerned. 
 
 Have the companies deserved well of the city in other 
 respects ? 
 
 The secretary of the present Street Railway Com- 
 mission, appointed by the Mayor more than a year 
 ago, has just returned from an extensive trip in the 
 East, made for the purpose of examining the street 
 car systems of those cities. He is reported to have 
 said that Chicago is now distinctly at the rear of the 
 
 is
 
 procession of the large American cities, so far as the 
 facilities for street car transportation are concerned; 
 local transit is dear, the system of transfers being ex- 
 tremely limited; it is slow, it is uncomfortable and 
 inconvenient. 
 
 This is a serious indictment against the surface 
 road companies of this city; but that it is true, no one 
 can doubt who has studied the situation carefully. 
 
 For some of this the city is itself undoubtedly to 
 blame. For much of it, however, the companies are 
 responsible, with little reason or justification on their 
 part, considering the enormous profits they have been 
 reaping. 
 
 It is a notorious fact that the companies have not 
 paid anything like a fair compensation to the city for 
 the possession of such valuable privileges, and it is 
 also a notorious fact that they have not paid a fair 
 rate of taxation on their undertakings, considered as 
 mere business enterprises. 
 
 All this, however, some one may say is ancient his- 
 tory, and so it is, or shortly will be; but ancient his- 
 tory of an extremely valuable kind for this community 
 to study and keep in mind, now that it is called upon 
 to investigate and decide anew this question of the 
 future relations of these or other companies to this 
 city. Let us hope such history shall not be made 
 again. 
 
 What was done twenty years ago, cannot be undone. 
 What our fathers did we are not responsible for. But 
 what is to be done within the next twenty years, and 
 the relation of this community to these undertakings 
 for a generation to come is to be decided by us here 
 and now. 
 
 Let us take great care that our successors of the 
 year 1923 have no cause to attribute to us cowardice, 
 ignorance or apathy, or to reflect upon the courage, 
 honesty and intelligence of our representatives in the 
 Mayor's chair or in the Council Chamber! 
 
 19
 
 III. 
 
 How a Similar City Solved a More 
 Difficult Problem. 
 
 The City of Berlin the capital of Germany resem- 
 bles in many respects the City of Chicago more closely 
 than perhaps any other large city of the world. The 
 population of the two cities is almost exactly the 
 same. The rate of growth in each case since 1870 has 
 been very nearly the same. The problems of local 
 transportation, education, sewerage, housing of 
 the people, etc., etc., have been very similar. A 
 study, therefore, by either city into the meth- 
 ods adopted by the other to solve these 
 problems cannot fail to be suggestive and helpful. Ber- 
 lin has recently been engaged in an attempt to revolu- 
 tionize its street car system and regulate the relations 
 between it and the city authorities. An examination of 
 the course of this struggle and its results may be of 
 use to us in Chicago today. 
 
 Berlin, like Chicago, was shortsighted enough to 
 grant long term franchises in the early eighties, with- 
 out reserving the right for the city to insist on a 
 progressive improvement of the system to keep it up to 
 date ; although it did secure a large return in the form 
 of remuneration to the city and for the public low fares 
 less than three cents on the average. The traction 
 system was horses. The franchises ran until 1912. 
 
 With the advent of electricity in the latter part of 
 the eighties the demand of the public for improved 
 facilities became ever more imperative. But the city, 
 owing to the form of contract with the companies, 
 could not compel them to convert horse traction into 
 electric traction. The popular discontent increased, 
 however, to such a pitch, and Berlin was dropping so 
 rapidly behind other cities in the matter of local trans- 
 
 30
 
 portation that the city authorities in the year 1895 
 finally took up the matter in earnest. 
 
 They first of all appointed a carefully constituted 
 commission to make an expert examination of the-- 
 whole question. This commission, after investigating 
 the experience of other cities in Germany and other 
 countries, reported in favor of a plan involving the 
 conversion of all the lines from horse into electric 
 traction ; the great extension of the system ; a reduction 
 in fares and an increase in the remuneration paid to the 
 city. The city, as said above, was not in a position to 
 force any action on the part of the companies, since 
 their charters ran still for sixteen years ; and as their 
 stockholders were receiving twelve to fifteen per cent 
 dividends, they saw little reason to change the situation 
 unless they could make some substantial gain by it. 
 And, indeed, they said at first, that they did not care to 
 change at all, and in any event only in return for 
 very decided concessions on the part of the city. 
 
 But the city authorities knew that the companies 
 would like to change from horse to electric traction on 
 many different accounts, and especially because they 
 could make larger profits. The question then was to 
 get some system of division of these larger profits 
 between the city and the companies in such a way as 
 to secure the largest possible returns to the city, and 
 still persuade the companies to accept it. The city was 
 in a position, moreover, to exert some pressure on the 
 companies through its power to give concessions to 
 competing companies. 
 
 it is not necessary here to go into the details of this 
 development. It is sufficient to say that after nearly 
 three years' negotiations a contract drawn by the 
 city authorities, it must be remembered, to protect the 
 city's interests was proposed to the companies, which 
 they accepted, and which now forms the basis of the 
 relations between the city and the companies. 
 
 In examining this agreement, it must not be for- 
 
 21
 
 gotten that the city was in a far less favorable position 
 than is Chicago today ; for while the Chicago fran- 
 chises expire in 1903, those of Berlin had still sixteen 
 years to run when that city took up the question in 
 1895. We must be prepared, therefore, to see that Ber- 
 lin was obliged to make concessions which we need not 
 make. 
 
 The city granted, first of all, an extension of the 
 franchises for eight years from 1912 to 1920. 
 
 But in return for this, the entire street plant tracks, 
 wires, poles, waiting rooms, etc., passes into the posses- 
 sion of the city at the end of that time free of all 
 charges whatsoever. The companies must keep every 
 portion of the conceded lines in efficient condition until 
 the expiration of the lease, and in case of their failure 
 to do so the city authorities may take possession of the 
 line or lines and equip and operate them at the expense 
 of the companies. This insures that the companies 
 shall not abandon lines which they may find unprofit- 
 able, and also protects the city against the natural 
 tendency to allow the lines to fall into decay toward 
 the end of the period of the franchise, as some of our 
 Chicago companies have done. 
 
 Moreover, in close connection with this is the further 
 provision that when the companies ask for and obtain 
 permission to use a street they shall, within a reason- 
 able time, construct and operate the line, or the city 
 may do so at their expense. This prevents the com- 
 panies from getting the right to use streets merely for 
 the purpose of keeping other parties out. As soon 
 as they cease to use the street for any reason whatever, 
 the city has the option of requiring them to remove 
 the tracks or of itself operating at their expense. In 
 the latter case, the companies are required to permit the 
 use of their other lines to whatever extent may be 
 necessary to enable the city to operate these abandoned 
 lines efficiently. 
 
 It will be seen that this provision effectually pre-
 
 vents "dead tracks," "dummy tracks," or tracks over 
 which a car a day or a car a week is run in order to 
 hold possession and keep out competitors. Such non- 
 sense as American cities put up with in these matters 
 no self-respecting European community would permit 
 for an instant. 
 
 Furthermore, not only must the company which 
 obtains permission to use a street actually use it, but 
 the city reserves for itself the right to require more 
 frequent trips, if in its judgment the public interests 
 require it. In general, the time table of the companies 
 must be approved by the city authorities and additional 
 cars or more frequent trips may be required over any 
 and all lines at the discretion of the city. 
 
 In addition the city may require the companies to 
 construct and operate an additional one hundred miles 
 of double track in order to supplement and round out 
 the existing system. For any portion of the extra 
 mileage demanded by the city after 1902 it shall con- 
 tribute a certain portion of the cost of construction, 
 increasing in amount as the lease approaches its ter- 
 mination. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the city protects itself against 
 being at the mercy of the sloth, whims or self-interest 
 of the companies. In addition the city reserves to itself 
 the right to grant franchises to any other companies 
 it chooses or to build lines itself when and where it 
 desires in order to develop properly the system of local 
 transportation. Nay, more, it reserves the right to use 
 the tracks of the existing companies, or to grant the 
 ri.n-ht to use them to other companies up to a certain 
 maximum distance wherever it may be necessary in 
 order to enable competing companies to get into the 
 heart of the city. 
 
 In this way, it has tried to protect the community 
 against the evil effect of monopoly and to ensure the 
 possibility of developing the facilities for local trans- 
 portation to any extent desired. 
 
 23
 
 It has also in this contract secured substantial con- 
 cessions in the matter of fares. Under the old system 
 a scheme of graduated fares from one and a quarter 
 to six cents per trip was in force. Under the new- 
 system a uniform fare of ten pfennigs (2.38 cents) for 
 a single trip has been adopted less than one-half of 
 the Chicago rate. In addition commutation and school 
 tickets at reduced rates are also sold on all lines, and 
 the city authorities may require the running of work- 
 men's cars morning and evening at reduced rates on 
 all lines where, in their judgment, there is need for 
 such facilities. The system" of transfers, however, is 
 not developed as it should be for public convenience. 
 But even so, the saving, as compared with Chicago, 
 of over fifty per cent in transportation on the single 
 trip through line tickets is very great. 
 
 In addition to all the concessions indicated above, 
 the companies pay a remuneration to the city which 
 seems of itself enormous according to American ideas. 
 
 First: The companies must pay eight per cent of 
 their gross income from passenger and freight traffic 
 into the city treasury. 
 
 Second : After paying a twelve per cent dividend 
 on existing capital and a six per cent dividend on any 
 capital actually invested in the future for the purpose 
 of converting horse into electric traction, for exten- 
 sions, etc., the companies shall pay one-half of the 
 -f remaining income into the city treasury. Owing to 
 the strictness of German corporation laws "existing 
 capital" means practically the "original actual invest- 
 ment" less "water" and future "capital invested" 
 means, in the same way, capital which is actually paid 
 in by stockholders for the purpose of increasing the 
 plant of the road. 
 
 What this signifies may be seen from the fact that 
 if Chicago had had such an arrangement since 1890 
 it might have reconstructed the whole present mileage
 
 of the leading companies out of its income and owned 
 a modern plant free of all charge. 
 
 Third : The companies are furthermore required to 
 pay the cost of paving and keeping in repair the street 
 pavement for a distance of thirty centimeters (one 
 foot) on each side of each rail the pavement to be 
 such as the city authorities have prescribed for the 
 given street. The city lays and repairs the pavement 
 and renders a bill to the companies for the work. 
 
 In order to make sure that the companies deal fairly 
 with the city in the matter of division of net income the 
 authorities do not rely merely upon the provisions of 
 the general corporation laws ; though these are far 
 stricter than our laws, and are generally considered to 
 be well enforced. The companies agree in the contract 
 to give the city authorities all the information which 
 they may demand as to the conversion of the traction 
 power and as to the cost of construction and opera- 
 tion ; and, in order to make assurance doubly sure, they 
 agree to permit the inspection of their books at any 
 time by a duly authorized and sworn auditor appointed 
 by the city. In this way the city proposes, moreover, 
 to obtain the information necessary to enable it to take 
 over the entire street car system into its own manage- 
 ment at the expiration of the leases in 1920. 
 
 The contract gives the city ample means of enforcing 
 its provisions without resort to the heavy-gaited process 
 of courts of justice, and in all those cases where the 
 city and companies have to come to a common agree- 
 ment, provision is made for the establishment of a 
 ~ourt of arbitration, to which the point in dispute shall 
 be submitted and by the decision of which each party 
 is bound. 
 
 The companies agree, moreover, to take their electric 
 power from such sources as the city shall indicate 
 and not to establish their own power plants, except 
 with the consent of the city. This provision was in- 
 serted for two reasons : In the first place, the city 
 
 25
 
 desires to limit as far as possible the number of such 
 power plants inside the city, owing to the general ob- 
 jections to their multiplication; in the second place, the 
 city itself is interested largely in one particular plant 
 and desires that the companies shall avail themselves 
 of its facilities. This they have done, thus enabling the 
 city to receive a large annual return as profits on the 
 business of furnishing the companies with power. 
 This item might, therefore, properly enough be inserted 
 also under the head of remuneration. 
 
 A last point should not be omitted as having an 
 important bearing in the remuneration which the com- 
 panies could offer the city. The system of operation 
 adopted was that known as the overhead trolley sys- 
 tem the cheapest of all existing systems. But the 
 companies agreed to use the storage battery system in 
 the underground trolley in certain definite streets or 
 portions of streets, and in addition agreed to extend 
 the storage battery system to their lines upon the de- 
 mand of the city authorities. This compelled them to 
 adopt practically the mixed system of storage battery 
 and trolley, feeding the batteries directly from the trol- 
 ley while running over the portion of the lines equipped 
 with a trolley, so as to make the trip over the portions 
 from which the trolley was excluded. This meant a 
 large additional expense, and yet the companies agreed 
 to it as a part of the contract and did not insist on a 
 reduction of the compensation paid to the city on ac- 
 count of the provision. 
 
 An examination ol this contract shows, it seems, that 
 the city, considering the conditions and the vantage 
 ground of the companies, etc., made a very good bar- 
 gain. 
 
 But no sooner had the bargain been closed than a 
 general outcry was raised that the city had been over- 
 reached and outwitted in the negotiations. However 
 this may be, certain facts soon came to light showing 
 that the companies, even under these conditions, which 
 
 26
 
 they claim to be very onerous, had made a very good 
 thing out of it. 
 
 No sooner had this contract been closed than a num- 
 ber of companies began to bid for additional contracts. 
 The offers which the companies made proved a great 
 eye-opener as to the profits which the trolley business 
 can pay in modern cities. 
 
 The city transportation commission drafted a plan 
 for the construction of a complex system of surface 
 roads supplementary to the existing system and called 
 for bids. It must be remembered that these new lines 
 were, generally speaking, far less desirable than those 
 in possession of the existing companies, since the latter 
 had obtained possession of the most profitable routes 
 years before. They were mostly short lines, incapable 
 of reaching the best termini in the center of the city, 
 and likely, therefore, to be far less profitable than the 
 older lines. The general conditions were to be the same 
 as those prescribed above in the contract with the 
 older companies. That is to say, the franchises were 
 to terminate with the beginning of the year 1920. The 
 street plant of the road was then to pass into the hands 
 of the city free of charge. The lessees were to assume 
 similar obligations as to paving anH keeping in repair 
 the streets occupied by the respective lines. The fare 
 was to be the uniform fare of 10 pfennigs (2.38 cents). 
 The city was to have the right to prescribe frequency of 
 trips, etc., etc. The only point left open was the 
 further remuneration which the companies were willing 
 to offer to the city for the franchises i. e., the propor- 
 tion of the gross receipts and of the net revenue after 
 paying six per cent dividend on all capital actually 
 invested. A large number of competitors appeared. 
 After rejecting the bids of all those who were not able 
 to offer reasonable security that they could carry out 
 their agreements, bids were again called for from six 
 reliable parties. 
 
 The lowest bid made was fifteen per cent of the 
 
 27
 
 gross income ! One company offered from fifteen to 
 twenty-five per cent of the gross income, according as 
 the income might range from 30 pfennigs to 60 pfen- 
 nigs per car kilometer, or from 10 to 20 cents per car 
 mile ; and in addition it offered fifty per cent of the net 
 revenue, after paying a six per cent dividend ; sixty 
 per cent after paying a seven per cent dividend and 
 seventy-five per cent after paying an eight per cent 
 dividend. 
 
 The existing companies which had obtained a re- 
 newal of the contract and an extension of the franchise 
 for eight years, as previously stated, and had repeatedly 
 declared during the negotiations that they could not 
 under any circumstances offer more than eight per 
 cent of the gross receipts, now came forward and 
 offered fifteen per cent for the new lines ! 
 
 The city authorities, which had had in the meantime 
 much difficulty in holding the old companies to the 
 terms of the new contracts, resolved that they would 
 under no circumstances let the new lines to them. 
 After careful investigation they made up their minds 
 that, no matter who got the new franchises, the existing 
 companies would buy them out and thus establish an 
 absolute monopoly. In order to prevent this, the 
 transportation commission recommended that the city 
 give no more concessions to private corporations, but 
 that it itself should undertake the construction and 
 operation of all future lines within the city limits. 
 This policy was accepted by the city council October 
 18, 1900, by the overwhelming vote of 113 to 9. 
 
 This is especially significant of a radical change in 
 sentiment on the subject of municipal ownership and 
 management. For when the proposition was made in 
 the council three years ago to declare in favor of such 
 a policy hardly a baker's dozen could be marshaled 
 in its support. 
 
 The city immediately proceeded to act in accordance 
 with this resolution. A permanent street railway board 
 
 28
 
 was appointed to administer this department of city 
 affairs. It had no sooner been constituted than two 
 of the few street railway lines not yet in possession of 
 the old companies were offered to the city. After a 
 lively but detailed discussion the city decided January 
 24, 1901, to purchase the entire stock of the company 
 owning both lines at the price of 166 2-3 per cent, and 
 thus had the pleasure of buying back at an advance 
 of 66 2-3 per cent a franchise which it had granted 
 less than five years before. It was practically com- 
 pelled to do this, as these two lines were of strategic 
 importance to its scheme of new roads, and they were 
 about to be sold to the old companies. 
 
 The final vote on this question stood 93 to 12 in favor 
 of the proposition. And thus the City of Berlin, much 
 against its will, has embarked on the policy of munici- 
 pal ownership and operation of at least a portion of its 
 system of surface roads driven to it, as it appears, by 
 the difficulties of enforcing contracts with private cor- 
 porations. Will Chicago be compelled by similar cir- 
 cumstances to travel the same road ? This will depend 
 largely on the attitude of the present companies in the 
 negotiations for a renewal of the franchises.
 
 IV. 
 
 What Should Be the Street Car Policy 
 
 of Chicago for the Immediate 
 
 Future? 
 
 In view of our own experience and that of other 
 cities, at home and abroad, and in view of the existing 
 conditions in this community, what should be the 
 policy of Chicago in regard to its street railway lines 
 for the immediate future? It will be noted that this is 
 a very concrete and, in a certain sense, a narrow and 
 temporary question. It is, however, the very question 
 now before the citizens of this community to be de- 
 cided in its broad outlines, at any rate, at the election 
 on next Tuesday. I am aware that certain of our 
 politicians and certain of our newspapers have been 
 saying that this question is not involved at the ap- 
 proaching election, since all parties are agreed as to 
 the main features of the solution. This, however, is 
 very far from being the case. If certain men now 
 candidates for the City Council are chosen at the 
 next election, the policy of the city will be very simple 
 viz., let the companies have the franchises on their 
 own terms, provided that they will make sufficiently 
 large contributions to the campaign funds of certain 
 party leaders or sufficiently large contributions to the 
 private pockets of these leaders, or provided that they 
 exert a sufficiently strong influence over their em- 
 ployes" in the political interests of these same leaders. 
 It is certainly the duty of every patriotic citizen to see 
 that his influence is thrown against such candidates 
 from start to finish. The Municipal Voters' League 
 will assist him in distinguishing between good and 
 bad candidates. 
 
 But even after the better candidates are chosen it 
 will still be a difficult question to decide what policy 
 
 30
 
 should be adopted. The actual details of any policy 
 can certainly only be worked out by a properly consti- 
 tuted commission, with adequate time and means to 
 consider all aspects of the case. 
 
 But it may be possible to indicate even now cer- 
 tain broad features which should be incorporated into 
 any plan to be adopted by the city in regard to this 
 matter. 
 
 In the first place, except as a very last resort, munic- 
 ipal ownership and management is excluded, at least 
 for the present, from the list of debatable expedients. 
 Time spent in discussing this method of solving the 
 problem is, therefore, time wasted and time, too, which 
 is needed for the consideration of means which are 
 feasible. Entirely aside from the usual objections to 
 municipal ownership and management (and there are 
 many cogent reasons to be urged against such a policy 
 as a general solution of this problem), the present finan- 
 cial condition of the City of Chicago makes it im- 
 possible for the city to assume any such large pecun- 
 iary burdens. The laws as to taxation and indebted- 
 ness laws which could not be easily changed 
 prevent us from considering this as a practical policy. 
 It is a serious question, moreover, whether the legis- 
 lature would grant the city permission to undertake 
 such functions, even if a large majority of its citizens 
 desired such permission. And in any case is it cer- 
 tain that very strong opposition would be made by 
 many citizens to any such a proposition opposition 
 which would certainly be strong enough to delay ac- 
 tion far beyond the time when this question should 
 be settled. The city is, for another strong reason, not 
 in a position to undertake this function at present, 
 since its civil service would be entirely unequal to 
 mastering such a problem. We must acquire exper- 
 ience on a small scale if we wish to enter upon this 
 policy. We must build and operate a few experi- 
 mental lines before undertaking the management of a 
 
 31
 
 metropolitan system like that of Chicago and its 
 suburbs. 
 
 In the second place, we should grant short-term 
 franchises to the present companies if they are willing 
 to offer reasonable terms ; and if they will not offer 
 such terms, we should offer the franchises to compa- 
 nies which will do so. 
 
 I am aware that much may be said against short- 
 term franchises, and if the question were an entirely 
 open one, I should be inclined to favor indefinite 
 franchises, revocable at the will of the city on tendering 
 a proper compensation. 
 
 But the question is not an open one. The law pro- 
 vides for twenty-year franchises, and any attempt to 
 change this law might give us a worse one. The pub- 
 lic is accustomed to the idea of short-term franchises. 
 They can understand the main points of discussion 
 as to the details of such a system. And any attempt 
 to persuade them of the merits of another system in 
 the short time at our disposal would only lead to con- 
 fusion. 
 
 In the third place, we should frame these new fran- 
 chises so that, if the city desires to adopt public own- 
 ership and management at the end of this twenty- 
 year period, it can 'do so with a minimum of trouble 
 and expense. While city construction and operation 
 is now practically out of the question, it may be that 
 in twenty years it will be the only reasonable and sen- 
 sible plan, and, if so, the city should be in a position 
 to adopt and pursue a corresponding policy. 
 
 This feature calls for two important provisions in 
 the new franchises : One, waiving expressly all rights 
 or privileges claimed by the companies under the so- 
 called Ninety-nine Year Act, referred to in a pre- 
 ceding article and all rights and privileges under any 
 other act which would interfere with the city's absolute 
 and unhampered control of all its own streets in the 
 year 1923 and thereafter; the second, providing that 
 
 33
 
 the entire street plant of the companies shall pass into 
 the hands of the city free of all cost at the expiration 
 of the franchises, and that the right be reserved to the 
 city of purchasing at an assessed value the stables, 
 power plants, rolling stock, etc. There must naturally 
 be associated with this some means in the hands of 
 the city of compelling the companies to keep the street 
 plant, etc., in an efficient condition, up to the very 
 end of the lease. 
 
 There is another alternative viz., that the city shall 
 waive this right of taking over free of charge the street 
 plant at the end of the period and agree to pay the 
 actual value of the plant for operating purposes at 
 the time (making no allowances for franchises, of 
 course). This plan has some decided advantages, but, 
 if adopted, the city should secure additional and cor- 
 responding compensation, either in the form of re- 
 duced fares or higher returns to the city treasury. 
 
 In the fourth place the city should have the right to 
 insist on more frequent trips and to make requisite 
 police regulations relating to the heating of cars, 
 refunding of fares, and other reasonable regulations, 
 including the fixing of maximum hours of labor for 
 all employes, on whose faithfulness and ability the 
 safety of the public depends. What other, if any, con- 
 ditions relating to the treatment of employes by the 
 companies should be introduced into the contract can 
 only be wisely determined after a careful investiga- 
 tion into the desires of the employers and employes. 
 But the city certainly has the moral right to dictate 
 the fundamental conditions affecting the life and safety 
 of the public. In fact, it is a fair question, whether 
 the power of regulation to this extent is not already 
 vested in the city authorities as a part of the police 
 power. 
 
 In the fifth place the companies should be required 
 to "get together" on some common basis, so that a 
 single fare would, as far as possible, take the traveler 
 
 33
 
 from any point on any street car line within the city 
 limits to any other point on any other line in the city. 
 And, in general, they should be held to work together 
 in such a way as to constitute all the lines within the 
 city into a real complex or single system with the 
 fullest possible transfer privileges. 
 
 From this point of view the suggestion made by 
 Mr. George E. Hooker, one of the ablest students of 
 local transportation, is extremely valuable. He calls 
 attention to the absurd policy of the companies making 
 all lines terminate in the middle of the city instead 
 of operating them dfrectly through from north to 
 south and south to west and north to west and vice 
 versa. The present plan is a mere device to exact a 
 double fare and it operates most prejudicially on the 
 interests of the city from every aspect. 
 
 The city should in all its dealings with the compa- 
 nies keep in mind the desirability of extending and 
 improving the facilities offered by its surface road 
 system. And although this cannot be the only point 
 considered.it certainly should never be lost sight of. 
 It should also reserve absolutely the right to grant 
 new franchises or to build its own lines, without prej- 
 udice to the right it now possesses to permit two or 
 more companies to occupy the same street or use 
 the same tracks. 
 
 In the sixth place the fares should be regulated 
 with due regard to the interests of all classes com- 
 panies, passengers and taxpayers. This is, in some 
 .respects, the most difficult of all the matters in dis- 
 pute. We must not forget that it is impossible for 
 the city to get the maximum amount of benefit at 
 every possible point. If it desires the lowest possible 
 fare, it cannot get the highest possible remuneration 
 for the city treasury ; or the greatest extension of the 
 transfer system, or the most frequent and rapid trans- 
 portation for the public. Some people claim that it is 
 possible to carry passengers for a straight two-cent 
 
 34
 
 fare in such a city as Chicago. But this means, of 
 course, on condition you do not ask any special re- 
 muneration from the companies, and that you demand 
 no transfers, and that you will be content with a mod- 
 erate rate of speed and inferior cars, and that you are 
 willing that only a few main streets shall have car 
 lines, and that routes shall be short, etc. On such 
 terms it might be possible to get even a cent and a 
 half fare. 
 
 But, of course, these conditions do not represent 
 our desires. We want comfortable cars, rapid trans- 
 portation, long routes, universal transfers and a com- 
 prehensive system of lines, so as to obtain a maximum 
 of convenience, and under such conditions, we can 
 hardly expect the absolutely minimum fare. 
 
 It would certainly seem as if we should have much 
 lower fares in the City of Chicago. If a German com- 
 pany can offer to the City of Berlin for the franchise 
 of an inferior line 25 per cent of the gross income 
 and 75 per cent of the net income beyond an 8 per 
 cent dividend, besides handing over the entire street 
 plant at the end of twenty years, free of cost, to the 
 city, and all on a fare of less than two and a half 
 cents, surely we have good reason to expect far more 
 in all these respects from our Chicago companies 
 than we have thus far secured. On the other hand, 
 we must remember that what we take in lower fares, 
 we cannot have in other things. On no one point in 
 this whole question is the sentiment of the public 
 so important as in the matter of fares. My own feel- 
 ing is that, on the whole, the city has more to gain 
 in the near future from the advantages of remunera- 
 tion to the city treasury, of increased facilities, of more 
 comprehensive transfers, etc., etc., than it has from 
 lower fares. But this is a question which calls for 
 much more careful examination than it has thus far 
 received, and such a commission as is proposed could 
 do this. If the mass of the people, who patronize 
 
 35
 
 the street cars really desire a four-cent fare, we should 
 give it to them and should be willing to sacrifice some 
 of the other advantages which might be gained on the 
 basis of the higher fare. There is, however, little evi- 
 dence at present that there is any such demand for a 
 lower rate. 
 
 It is said with much force that to permit the com- 
 panies to charge a five-cent fare when they could do 
 the business for four cents, merely to turn this one 
 cent into the city treasury, is a form of taxation, and 
 one of the most odious of all ; because it taxes people, 
 not according to what they possess or enjoy, but ac- 
 cording to what they must do or have. Such a tax 
 represents a levy of $6.00 per year on the wages of 
 a shop girl, equal to an income tax of more than two 
 per cent, and a tax which is progressive in weight, as 
 the income decreases, the most objectionable of ail 
 income taxes. It is difficult to answer this objection 
 on any ground but convenience. Most taxes unfor- 
 tunately rest more heavily on the poor than on the 
 rich on those who have not, than on those who have. 
 But no tax is fruitful which does not reach some ar- 
 ticle of common consumption, and that means some 
 article which people of moderate incomes use in larger 
 relative proportions than those of larger incomes. The 
 way out of this is to see that the better situated classes 
 are held to stricter payment of the taxes levied spe- 
 cifically on them. It must not be forgotten, moreover, 
 that this extra money may and should be used for 
 the purpose of making the city a pleasanter place for 
 the mass of the people to live in that mass which 
 must pay this tax. It would mean better paving, bet- 
 ter water supply, better lighting, cleaner streets, more 
 numerous and more convenient parks, etc., etc. This 
 difficulty may also be met to some extent by a sort of 
 compromise, i. e., by providing for a cheaper fare in 
 the early morning and late afternoon hours. 
 
 In the seventh place the city treasury should receive 
 
 36
 
 a cash remuneration from the companies. This is on 
 the whole, as said above, a function of the fare and 
 varies not only with it but also with the other condi- 
 tions which the city may make as to transfers, and 
 other forms of increased facilities or greater comfort 
 and convenience. Allowing that the five-cent fare is 
 to remain it would seem from all the evidence now 
 offered by American and foreign cities that the 'com- 
 panies should be able to pay a straight 20 per cent 
 of their gross income into the city treasury provided 
 other conditions be not made too onerous. 
 
 This question of amount of compensation is a local 
 one to be decided finally by local conditions. Even 
 the experience of other American cities, to say noth- 
 ing of the European cities, cannot be decisive in this 
 matter. Our local companies have not been willing to 
 give us the facts necessary to an absolutely final con- 
 clusion on this point. But the Street Railway Com- 
 mission of 1897, before referred to, stated as a result 
 of its very detailed and conservative investigation 
 that the three leading systems then in operation in the 
 city could have paid 20.57 P er cen ^ of their gross re- 
 ceipts for the years 1890-1897 into the city treasury 
 and still have declared 6 per cent dividends, and there 
 is little doubt that they could do much more now. It 
 is stated that the average fare collected in Buffalo is 
 3.6 cents. A company recently asking for a franchise 
 in that city offered to sell tickets at the rate of three 
 for ten cents, good for the hours of working people's 
 travel and for school children. 
 
 But whether 20 per cent be the rate charged or 25 
 per cent, or 15 per cent, or 10 per cent and that is a 
 matter calling for careful investigation a certain per- 
 centage of gross receipts should be required first of 
 all. 
 
 I am aware that many objections may be urged to 
 such a system. It is not-by any means ideal. In fact, 
 it is from many points of view quite the opposite. 
 
 37
 
 It acts under certain circumstances to discourage ex- 
 tensions and the development of new territory. Thus 
 if a company can barely get a return on a certain 
 stretch of line without paying any such tax it must 
 wait until the probable return is sufficient to pay this 
 tax also before it can build and operate. 
 
 On the other hand, this is almost the only form of 
 compensation which is simple and easily ascertainable. 
 No juggling of accounts short of absolute dishonesty, 
 such as would send a man to the penitentiary, can con- 
 ceal or cover up the item of gross receipts. It is, 
 moreover, a tolerably good system as applied to lines 
 already profitable, or certain to be profitable, and of 
 this character are all the leading lines in Chicago. 
 
 Of course there are other forms of compensation 
 which might be properly enough adopted either in 
 lieu of, or in combination with, either or all of the 
 foregoing methods. Thus the companies might be 
 required to pave or, better, pay the cost of paving, 
 the space between the tracks or between the curbs of 
 the streets occupied by the respective lines. They 
 might be required in addition to clean the streets 
 from curb to curb. Or a percentage of the net income 
 might be demanded instead of, or in addition to, a 
 certain percentage of gross receipts, etc., etc. 
 
 In this latter case it would be absolutely necessary 
 to insist on full reports of income and expenditure, 
 and to reserve to the city the right to prescribe methods 
 of bookkeeping, and to examine at any time through 
 a properly authorized auditor all books and accounts 
 of the companies. It would also be necessary to de- 
 fine exactly the term "net revenue." Publicity of ac- 
 counts is, indeed, a fundamental requirement to any 
 thoroughly good scheme of co-operation between the 
 city and public service corporations. One other right 
 should probably be reserved to the city, and that is the 
 right to require the companies to introduce improve- 
 as
 
 ments into the operation of the roads as rapidly as 
 they are fully developed. 
 
 Thus, if the city grants the right to use the over- 
 head trolley and experience proves the feasibility and 
 desirability of the underground trolley or storage bat- 
 tery systems, there should be some means of requiring 
 the companies to go over to these new methods with- 
 out having to wait for fifteen or ten years or even five 
 years. 
 
 It goes without the saying that the city should insist 
 upon the bona fide operation of all lines constructed 
 on penalty of losing the concession and being required 
 to remove the tracks ; and also on the construction 
 and operation within a reasonable time of all conceded 
 lines. Obtaining franchises merely for the sake of 
 keeping other parties out should be made such an ex- 
 pensive matter that no company would care to indulge 
 in the amusement. 
 
 It is plain from the foregoing considerations and 
 from the considerations presented in the preceding 
 papers of this series that the question is a very com- 
 plicated one which must be settled with due regard to 
 the interests of all parties after the most careful in- 
 vestigation by an expert commission. But the only au- 
 thorities to provide and select such a commission and 
 make its report effective are the next Mayor and Coun- 
 cil of Chicago to be chosen by the people of this city 
 on Tuesday, April 2. Let every voter do his duty and 
 let no one be misled by the cries of demagogues or 
 the protestations of traction counsel into believing that 
 it makes no difference who is chosen at the next elec- 
 tion to these important positions. 
 
 And finally we should remember that the class of 
 men able to solve this street car problem satisfactorily 
 are also just the men who can most efficiently deal 
 with the other important questions of city policy now 
 pressing on this community for solution. 
 
 39
 
 Synopsis of Chicago Street 
 way Franchises Which 
 Expire in 1903. 
 
 The franchises granted to fifty-three lines by the city 
 of Chicago at various times and now operated by the 
 Union Traction Company expire in 1903. The list 
 includes all the leading and crosstown lines on the 
 north and west sides. The act of 1865 is in force with 
 those lines marked with an asterisk. Secretary George 
 C. Sikes of the Street Railway Commission is the au- 
 thority quoted : 
 
 State street, from Lake to Clark streets, by Division 
 street. 
 
 *Clark street, from Washington street to Fullerton avenue. 
 
 Clark street, from Fullerton avenue to Diversey boulevard. 
 
 Wells street and Fifth avenue, from Randolph to Clark 
 streets. 
 
 Center street Clark street to Lincoln avenue. 
 
 Lincoln avenue Center street to Belmont avenue. 
 
 Ashland avenue Belmont to Graceland avenue. 
 
 Belmont avenue Lincoln avenue to Robey street. 
 
 Robey street Belmont avenue to Roscoe boulevard. 
 
 Roscoe boulevard Robey street to Western avenue. 
 
 Division street Wells street to Clybourn avenue. 
 
 *Clybourn avenue line Division street to Fullerton ave- 
 nue. 
 
 Sedgwick street Chicago avenue to Division street. 
 
 *Sedg\vick street Division street to Lincoln avenue. 
 
 Garfield avenue Lincoln avenue to Racine avenue. 
 
 Racine avenue Webster avenue to Center street. 
 
 Center street Racine avenue to Lincoln avenue. 
 
 *Larrabee street Chicago to Lincoln avenues. 
 
 Webster avenue Racine to Lincoln avenues. 
 
 Sheffield avenue Lincoln avenue to Clark street. 
 
 *Chicago avenue Clark street to Larrabee street. 
 
 Division street State to Clark streets. 
 
 ^Division street Clark street to Clybourn avenue.
 
 Graceland avenue Evanston avenue to Ashland avenue. 
 Evanston avenue Diversey street to Graceland avenue. 
 Wrightwood avenue Short stretch from Lincoln avenue. 
 Alley Between Lill and Wrightwood avenues, and be- 
 tween Sheffield and Seminary avenues. 
 
 Lines on the West Side. 
 
 *Madison street State street to Western avenue. 
 Madison street Between Western and Hamlin and Ham- 
 lin and Crawford avenues. 
 
 *Madison street loop-^-Fifth avenue side. 
 
 Milwaukee avenue line Between Lake and Halsted 
 
 streets, *Halsted street and North avenue, North avenue 
 and Armitage avenue. 
 
 *Halsted street line Halsted street loop, Van Buren 
 side; in Clinton street from tunnel to Van Buren street; in 
 Van Buren street between Clinton and Halsted streets. 
 
 Halsted street *Van Buren street to Blue Island ave- 
 nue, and from Blue Island avenue to O'Neill street, and the 
 switch tracks on O'Neill street. 
 
 Blue Island avenue *Halsted street to Fifteenth place, 
 ^nd Fifteenth place to Western avenue. 
 
 East and West Lines. 
 
 Armitage avenue Milwaukee avenue to Washtenaw ave- 
 nue, expired 1898. 
 
 North avenue Milwaukee avenue to California avenue. 
 
 Chicago avenue Milwaukee avenue to Leavitt street, and 
 Leavitt street to California avenue; Kedzie avenue to For- 
 tieth avenue. 
 
 Grand avenu.e Milwaukee to Western avenues. 
 
 Lake street Wabash avenue to Union Park court, 
 *thence to Western avenue, thence to Rockwell street, thence 
 to Homan avenue. 
 
 *Lake street loop Randolph street side and State street 
 side. 
 
 *Randolph street State street to Union park. 
 
 *Bryan place Randolph street to Lake street. 
 
 Ogden avenue Madison street to Fortieth avenue. 
 
 Van Buren street *State street to Ogden avenue, Ogden 
 a\ enue to Western avenue. 
 
 *Polk street Fifth avenue to Canal street. 
 
 Twelfth street *State street to Canal street, Canal street 
 to Ogden avenue, Ogden avenue to Western avenue. 
 
 Fifteenth place Dead tracks between Jefferson and Canal 
 streets. 
 
 North and South Lines. 
 
 Fifth avenue *Randolph to Polk streets, Polk street to 
 Twelfth street viaduct, Randolph street to Lake street. 
 
 Clinton street *Randolph street to Madison street;
 
 *Madison street to Twelfth street; Milwaukee avenue to 
 Randolph street. 
 
 Canal street Harrison street to Canalport avenue. 
 
 Canalport avenue Canal street to Halsted street. 
 
 *Jefferson street Van Buren street to Fifteenth place. 
 
 Halsted street *Milwaukee avenue to Blue Island ave- 
 nue, Harrison street to O'Neill street. 
 
 Leavitt street Chicago avenue to Grand avenue. 
 
 Western avenue Lake street to Madison street, Madison 
 street to Van Buren street. 
 
 California avenue-^-Armitage avenue to North avenue, 
 Division street to Chicago avenue. 
 
 4V>
 
 Expressions of Opinions 
 
 Chicago Tribune: 
 
 "THE WORLD REVIEW, the new weekly re- 
 cently started in Chicago under the editorship 
 of Horace M. Rebok, Professor Isaac A. Loos of 
 Iowa State University, and Professor John Henry 
 Gray of Northwestern University, gives promise 
 of being a periodical of high dignity and worth. 
 The first two numbers have been edited with 
 skill and have contained articles of a grade 
 equal to that of the best monthly reviews. The 
 articles of Professor Edmund J. James on 'The 
 Opportunity of Chicago to Become a Great 
 City' are especially worthy of notice." 
 
 Chicago Journal: 
 
 We have nothing but words of commendation 
 and encouragement for the new Chicago paper, 
 THE WORLD ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY REVIEW , 
 which made its first appearance March 9 last 
 and has now reached its third number. 
 
 It is extremely gratifying that the courage 
 and capital can be found to establish so high- 
 class a journal as this is intended to be, and 
 which it already shows itself to be, in the west. 
 It is world-wide in its scope, and discusses ques- 
 tions of interest to readers everywhere. 
 
 The managing editor is Horace M. Rebok 
 and the associate editors, Isaac Althaus Loos 
 and Prof. John Henry Gray of the Northwestern 
 university. There is a Woman's club depart- 
 ment edited by Mrs. Katherine Prindiville, and 
 an educational department edited by Prof. M. 
 Vincent O'Shea of the University of Wisconsin. 
 
 Current events of importance are discussed 
 editorially in a clear and impartial manner, while 
 the contributions thus far are of the highest 
 literary merit as well as of great public interest. 
 
 43
 
 A very notable and extremely suggestive 
 series of articles running through the three num- 
 bers is entitled 'The Opportunity of Chicago to 
 Become a Great City,' by Prof. Edmund J. 
 James of the University of Chicago. 
 
 THE WORLD REVIEW is a credit to Chicago, 
 and the citizens of Chicago will do themselves 
 credit by giving it their heartiest support. 
 
 It is published by the World Review Com- 
 pany, Fine Arts building, Chicago. 
 
 Chicago American: 
 
 "Its first numbers are excellent. The table 
 of contents is a broad one, the articles contri- 
 buted by staff writers are decidedly of interest 
 and well written. THE WORLD REVIEW is a 
 distinct success, so far as its initial bow to the 
 public is concerned, and it deserves a hearty 
 support." Ernest McGaffey. 
 
 Chicago RecorcUHerald: 
 
 "The initial numbers of the THE WORLD RE- 
 VIEW, Chicago's new high-class weekly, are 
 rich in promise and fulfillment. It is admirably 
 edited in such a way as to cover briefly the chief 
 matters of current interest, and its leading arti- 
 cles are ably written, the series by Professor 
 Edmund J. James on 'The Opportunities of Chi- 
 cago to Become a Great City' being worthy of 
 especial commendation. Among the depart- 
 ments are those devoted to women's clubs (con- 
 ducted by Mrs. Katherine Prindiville), to educa- 
 tion, to science and life and to athletics. Doubt- 
 less, as the periodical grows, more space will be 
 given to new books." 
 
 ILx-Governor John P. Altgeld: 
 
 ' 'The copies of THE WORLD REVIEW sent me 
 are among the best and brightest things in all 
 periodical literature. If you can maintain that 
 high standard you well deserve and I have no 
 doubt will achieve the greatest success." 
 
 44
 
 Professor Charles R. Henderson, 
 University of Chicago: 
 
 "The teachers of schools, intelligent parents 
 of aspiring youth will find in this magazine the 
 essential matter of the current news, free from 
 the sensational and demoralizing elements 
 which lower the value of daily newspapers." * 
 
 Chicago Evening Post: 
 
 ' 'Such a quantity of good material is present 
 that it looks as if THE WORLD [REVIEW would 
 find the readers it well deserves and be able to 
 hold its own so long as it maintains its high 
 standard." 
 
 Chicago Times=Herald: 
 
 "The magazine is to be issued weekly, and its 
 aim is to give in compact form leading events of 
 the world. The illustrations of the journal are 
 especially fine, the best one in this number 
 being the portrait of General Harrison." 
 
 Boone, Iowa, Daily News: 
 
 "Every department of human progress is 
 represented in such a way that the constant 
 reader of such a periodical will look for infor- 
 mation on every live subject while it is yet new. 
 Such a magazine deserves success." 
 
 Judge Marcus Kavanaugh, of the 
 Superior Court of Cook County, 
 says: 
 
 "Permit me to congratulate you upon the 
 appearance of your magazine and upon the 
 high character of its contents. 
 
 "There can be little question about the suc- 
 cess of your undertaking when it is in such effi- 
 cient hands and offers to the public so excellent 
 a magazine." 
 
 45
 
 Mrs. Clara M. J. Parson, E,x>Presi- 
 dent of the State Federation of 
 Women's Clubs, says: 
 
 ' 'I am much pleased with THE WORXD RE- 
 VIEW received. The entire magazine is inter- 
 esting to the club women, in fact to all women. 
 I believe the club department will prove par- 
 ticularly valuable. There is an evident under- 
 standing of the aim of club work and an in- 
 tention to treat it with dignity and fairness. 
 
 "I hope you will succeed and believe you 
 will. 
 
 "You have my most cordial good wishes." 
 
 President Chas. F. Thwing, 
 Adelbert College: 
 
 "I have read the numbers with much interest. 
 I am sure that any paper which numbers among 
 its regular editors such men as Professor Gray 
 and Professor O'Shea is certain to be a useful 
 agent in the community. ' ' 
 
 Bishop J. S. Mills, D. D., Denver: 
 
 "Its wide scope, able articles, literary char- 
 acter, beautiful appearance, and the well known 
 ability, culture and energy of its editors, guar- 
 antee its usefulness and future. May it be- 
 come a great factor in Western progress. ' ' 
 
 Muncie, Ind., Daily Herald: 
 
 "THE WORLD REVIEW has a place in the 
 economy of journalism and will no doubt 
 fill it."
 
 The World Review 
 
 Is an illustrated weekly review of the current events 
 .of the world. It is not a newspaper, but a journal of 
 progress and civilization, high grade in character, com- 
 prehensive in scope, and catholic in spirit just such a 
 journal as is desired at the end of the week by every 
 one disposed to keep informed of the march of events. 
 
 Editorial reviews will be devoted to leading events 
 current in both American and Foreign affairs. THE 
 'WORLD REVIEW will give a clear and comprehensive 
 -statement of the facts of current history, in politics, 
 economics, religion, education, literature, science and 
 iart, and fair and unbiased comments thereon. Every 
 issue will contain a special feature contributed by a 
 scholar, publicist or statesman of national repute and 
 popular favor. 
 
 Believing in its mission THE WORLD REVIEW solicits 
 .jcordial cooperation and support. 
 
 Subscription price four dollars a year ; ten cents a 
 copy. 
 
 Introductory Offer. 
 
 We make an introductory rate, good until May 1, 
 as follows : 
 
 One year's subscription, prepaid, - - $2.00 
 
 Three months' .50 
 
 These offers will be withdrawn May 1 and the sub- 
 scription advanced to list price. The first number 
 appeared March 9, and a limited number of each of 
 the former issues are on hand. 
 
 THE WORLD REVIEW COMPANY. 
 Chicago. 
 
 47