The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 12, 1898, Page 1

(Q"sTATE) 2 —— . The Call y to be the Library.++++ taken from ( VOLUME LXXXV,-NO. 12, CITIZENS OF CHICAGO PROTEST AGAINST FRANCHISE EXTENSION SAN FRANCISCO, MONDAY. DECEMBER 12, DECLARE IN MASS MEETING FOR MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP OF THE STREET RAILWAYS Inflammatory Speeches Made on the Streets, and There Is Yet Danger of Violence 2% % 3 3 To-Night. RESOLVED, That inasmuch as the beginning and end of all political corruption in the City Council are the traction companies, the directors and stockholders of those companies should not be permitted to escape the odium now directed against venal public servants, but that they be exposed to condemnation as criminals and anarchists, in that they are organizing corruption and plotting against the peace and prosperity of Chicago and inviting consequences as disastrous to this community as any outrages ever devised by the sworn enemies of society : and RESOLVED, That the citizenship of Chicago stands strong at the back of our Mayor in his brave fight for the people’s rights; that it is the sense of this meeting that the time Ffor municipal ownership, if not right now, may be by the time the present franchise shall expire.—Resolutions ed at a mass-meeting at Chicago. HIC# will be GO, Dec. 11.—Curious scenes witnessed in Chicago to- w night. Arrangements have been made b the citi- of the various wards to ympany their Aldermen to the > 5 and t will wait the Council chamber until is over ana accompany home. Some of the citizens’ dele- will have brass bands. and Al- march behind them and An Alderman “gang” said n will keep step to the music. classed with the “I am hard up. My business is prac- | tically gone because I was fool enough to run for Alderman. I admit that I need $100,000, and would take it if I could get it. But I have a wife and two chilc Am T going to disgrace them and myself for nothing? Suppose this money that is to be paid is put in the “Johnny” (naming a Alderman), and suppose dies before he pays it over °re are we? Suppose that the ways refuse to give up the fter we have voted, where Sr ar My wife cries in the morn- ing, she cries at noon, she cries at night I cannot stand this any longer. 1 the way things are going now they are ing to wake the dead in the cemeteries before this is over. and they will all be stalking down here to look gy’ at t I'm sick of it. and I won't stanc t any longer.” Here is a million and a quarter of dollars hung high for votes of Alder- time when most of them are embarrassed; most of them upon their Aldermanic T gainst this bid for their honor are detectives dogging their heels, stealing after them in the shadow of the night, picl '~z them up at morning when they leave their homes, and trail- ing them relentlessly hour after hour. There looms the shadow of the Grand Jury, the inquisition of the State’s At- torney. Here is lurking the agonizing fear that some Aldermanic partner in bribery may confess; that another may glin away with the money: that a be- trayal is at hand any moment. The Federation of Labor and other labor organizations passed resolutions to-day standin= by the Mayor, and ap- plauding his action in the present situ- | ation. Fully 5000 people gathered in Central “Tusic Hall this afternoon to voice their disapproval of the fifty-year franchise ordinance and demand muni- cipal ownership of street railways. and after listening to speehes by Mayor Harrison, ex-Governor Altgeld others passed resolutions embodying the following sentiments and demands: TUnconditional repeal of the Allen law. No ordinances to pass the Council for franchise extensions until the Al- len law is repealed. No Council legislation for fran- chise extensions after the Allen law is repealed unless the same involves eventual municipal ownership of street railways. Remedial legislation at Springfield enabling the city of Chicago to ac- quire street railways. No Council legislativefranchise ex- tension ordinances any way until 1908. No compensation rates in any pos- sible future ordinances of less than 10 per cent. Reduction of street railway fare as well as compensation to city if any ordinance is passed after the Allen law is repealed. Personal appeal through commit- tees to the resident directors and stockholders for street railways to withdraw all boodle legislation now ‘before the Council. Joliet penitentiary for all boodle Aldermen. Indorsement of stand taken by and | | Mayor Harrison and the Council minority. The speakers were Mayor Harrison, | former Governor Altgeld, former Alder- man John M. Harlan, George E. Col president of the Municipal Voters' League, and Rev. Father Hodnett, and their utterances were in | the main calm and arsumentative. All | classes of people were represented in | the audience. Mayor Harrison’s posi- tion on the municipal ownership gues- tion is simply this, as expressed -this afternoon: ‘ “These street car people are the | shrewdest In the world. The present 1‘ ordinance before the Council is no more | or less than a ‘stall,’ and is only used | to draw out the people’s anger and dis- approval. They expect that the peopie will cool off. I don’t believe it is pos- | sible to put the ordinance through the Council until legislation has been given a chance to repeal the Allen law. Should any be put through before then | I will use my veto, and afterward they | must be for twenty years or less and | allow compensation to the city of not less than 10 per cent. At the expiration of twenty years I am in favor of mu- nicipal ownership of the street car sys- tem. To get a perfectly harmonious scheme it would not be advisable to own | them until then. | “The streets are ours and we must |not grant a franchise unless given a | fair, adequate and complete compensa- | tion. The street car companies are making an enormous profit. They get | | 81,900,000 annually above good interest. | This money should be put in the pock- | ets of the citizens of Chicago and not |into those of some high-class dude of New York. While Yerkes does not | make his home in New York at present he owns a fine residence there, and as John Pope | NARRUUINVIRINIIZN CHICAGO ALDERMEN UNDER THE NOOSE At the meeting of the Com- mittee on Franchises of the Chicago Common Council 1898. PRICE FIVE CENTS. Saturday a man wearing good clothes and a silk hat was conspicuous, particularly be- cause of the fact that he had around his shoulders twenty feet of rope with a hang- |man’s noosé at the end, which, from time to time as a friend of the ordinance would speak, he would un- wind and allow to drop till over the speaker. not molested. He was | through Yerkes will leave Chicago. This city dces not exist to him any more than to help him float bonds.” Indications now are that the Chicago City Railway Company will be inclined | to withdraw from the present fight, pro- vided it can find a non-humiliating way out of the matter. From pulpit and platform - the op- ponents of fifty-year franchises hurled their denunciations of the now cele- brated Lyman ordinance and its friends in and out of the Council. A score or more preachers took it for the text for at leact one and in many cases two sermons, handling bribers and boodlers without gloves, while the number of speakers addressing public mass meetings ran well into the hun- dreds. In very few cases were speeches delivered in a conciliatory tone, but rather calculated to further inflame | soon as the street car franchise is put | the public mind, though it is true that the great mass of orators refrained from advising their hearers to carry ropes for Yerkes and the Aldermen who might vote for the traction or- dinance should it come up for passage Monday night. But while to that ex- tent more temperate than has been the vogue for several days past, the speeches were none the less effective in the matter of working those who heard them up to a fever heat, and it was in a thousand and one smaller mass meet- ings in saloons and on street corners after the hall meetings had adjourned that mischief was done which may yet result in the storming of the City Hall by a mob. Opponents of the traction companies profess to believe the ordinance will not be introduced. Mayor Harrison said to-night he believed Yerkes and his henchmen were playing for delay, hop- ing when the excitement died out to have the measure quietly passed. Yerkes maintains a sphynxlike silence, refusing to discuss the matter at all, except to say the case is in the hands of the Aldermen. The danger in this attitude is that unless it becomes defi- nitely known early to-morrow after- noon that the ordinance will not be in- troduced a mob may gather in the downtown districts and trouble ensue whether the measure comes up or not. Chief Kipley said this evening that the police were ready to handle any crowd that might surround the City Hall, and was confident there would be no serious fracture of the peace. This morning the Chronicle, which has been a thick-and-thin supporter of Harrison in the anti-franchise crusade, and which is owned by John R. ‘Walsh, a leading banker of the city, under the Continued on Second Page. the noose hung suspended |; AT Independence ASHINGTON, Dec. 11.—Gen- eral Calixto Garcia, the dis- tinguished Cuban warrior 1 and leader, and the head | of the commission elected: by . the | Cuban Assembly to visit this country, died here this morning shortly after | 10 o’'clock at the Hotel Raleigh, \\'here‘ the commission has its headquarters. The sudden change from the warm cli mate of Cuba, with the hardships he GENERAL GARCIA, CUBAN PATRIOT AND FOE TO SPAIN, CALLED TO REST SUDDEN DEATH OF GALLANT WARRIOR WASHINGTON Loss of the Leader for the Island’s After Victory Had Been Woa. had there endured, to the wintry weather of New York and Washington, is responsible for the pneumonia which resulted in his demise. He contracted a slight cold in New York, which did ot assume an alarming stage until the early part of last week. On Tuesday night General Garcia, in company with the-other members of the commission, attended a dinner given in his honor by General Miles, and it was a result THE LATE GENERAL CALIXTO GARCIA. | T EESEREHim A mmug:,- ‘.Iiflfliflflfl_v l‘fl[fl WTITERYTYViTv IERIIN( i il 7 I AT AN\ ) |/ S—| The supervising architect has informed The Call's correspondent at Washington that there will be no further changes in either the exterior or interior plans. reason of the fact that Judge Morrow and other Federal officials at San Francisco have lately suggested certain modifications in the arrangement of courtrooms, chambers, etc. The plans of both exterifor and interfor have been repeatedly changed to meet the suggestions of these offi- clals, Delay in construction of the superstructure has been the consequence. Both the Treasury This statement was made by ings in Washingto: ¢ 77— 72 W/ e\ By i Il [l FRONT ELEVATIONS OF SAN FRANCISCO’S NEW POSTOFFICE BUILDING. Department and the contractor for iron and steel work have been ‘unjustly held responsible for this delay, according to Chief Executive Officer-Kemper. He believes the San Francisco people will be satisfled with the exterior of the building. 2 . The removal of the unsightly towers is a great improvement. The biuilding, as shown above, is of classic architecture like the Treasury, Interior, Postoffice and many other of the public build- of the exposure there that culminated in his death. During the twelve hours or more pre- ceding dissolution General Garcia was unconscious most of the time. At in- tervals he recognized one or more of those about him. In his dying mo- ments, as all through his busy and active life, his thoughts were for his beloved country and its people, and among his last words were irrational mutterings, in which he gave orders to his son, who is on his staff, for the bat- tle which he supposed was to occur to- morrow, and 1% which he understood there were only 400 Spaniards to com- bat. Just before he died he embraced his son. Rev. Father Magee of St. Patrick’s | Church was called in during the day, {and was with General Garcia until the | end, administering the last rites of | the Catholic church. Other members | of the commission and Mr. Rubens, their counsel in this country, were also in the bed chamber when the end came. | The remains were immediately pre- pared for burial, and were placed on a bier in the room in which he died. A large Cuban flag served as a cover- ing, and the head rested on one of smaller dimensions. The face and bust were left exposed to public view. The features had a remarkably lifelike ap- pearance, and gave no indication of! the suffering which the deceased had borne. Just above the head rested a magnificent floral plece of red and white roses and cross palms tied with a pure white ribbon. By direction of| Major General Miles a detachment of! soldiers from Battery E, Sixth Artil- lery, at the barracks here, under com- mand of Lieutenant Cox, was dstalled as a body guard for the remains. After General Garcia’s death steps were taken to notify the Government and also the committee of the Cuban Assembly, which has its headquarters at Marianao, Cuba. Secretary Jose Vil- laon of the commission sent & telegram. of notification to Mendez Capote, the “| President of the Cuban Assembly, who is now in Havana. As soon as the death became known a number of vis-- i