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Page 9
* * * * *
There were grave murmurs against the city government the other day.
One morning the papers appeared, telling in indignant words the story
of how the aldermen of the city of New York were about to give away the
right to build a railroad on the Kingsbridge Road.
Now the people who know most about city government think that the
companies who desire the franchise which gives them the right to lay
tracks and run cars through certain streets, should be made to pay a
yearly sum to the city for the privilege.
There has been a good deal of trouble over this Kingsbridge Road
franchise. Two companies have been anxious to secure it, but neither has
offered to pay its real value for it.
The granting of the franchise is done by the vote of the Board of
Aldermen, who pass the resolution much in the same way that Congress
passes a bill, and send their resolution to the Mayor for his signature,
in the same manner that bills are sent to the President.
In the matter of the Kingsbridge Road franchise neither of the companies
made much headway.
Both companies were extremely anxious to get possession of the line, but
the aldermen were equally divided in their favor.
At last a rumor got abroad that in their desire to get a decision the
companies were trying to influence the aldermen.
A few days after this report was spread abroad, people were startled to
learn that the aldermen had reached a decision, and that the franchise
was to be given to the Third Avenue road, for a sum that was nothing
like its real value.
There was a great outcry at once.
The memory of the "Broadway Steal" in 1886 was too fresh in people's
minds for them to be willing that it should be repeated.
The newspapers started the cry, the law was invoked, and the aldermen
were forbidden to pass the franchise for the Kingsbridge Road until the
matter had been looked into.
The aldermen were a good deal startled when these papers were served on
them. They remembered the Broadway trouble, and how three of a former
board of aldermen had been sent to prison, six had had to leave the
country, and four had only saved themselves from punishment by telling
the story of their crimes, and helping the authorities to punish their
fellow-sinners.
The recollection of this worried the aldermen, but they determined to
meet the accusations against them, and asked their lawyer, Mr. Scott, to
go to court, and ask the judge to allow them to grant the franchise.
Mr. Scott, however, refused. He told them that in his opinion they had
not the slightest right to pass that franchise, and he would not go into
court and plead for a thing which he knew to be wrong.
The aldermen, much disturbed at this, decided to let the matter of the
franchise alone, and though there is some talk of looking more closely
into the matter, and finding if any bribery has been attempted by the
railroads, the chances are that now the danger is past the matter will
be allowed to rest.
G.H. ROSENFELD.
BOOK REVIEWS.
WILD NEIGHBORS, OUT-DOOR STUDIES IN THE UNITED STATES, by Ernest
Ingersoll, is a most interesting addition to the new books of the year.
It treats in a charming way of some of the better-known animals of this
country, and will be especially appreciated by those of our boys who
love out-door sport. It will prove instructive, as well. (The publishers
are Macmillan & Co., New York, and the price, $1.50.)
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