Show FRANChISES I Councilman JAMES had not been very earnest and very serious the other evening when he presented his resolution that tho holders of city franchises he required to pay a portion of their revenue into the municipal mu-nicipal treasury the matter would have been very funny But the councilman was not alone for his ridiculous proposition was actually adopted but one member voting vot-ing against i I was hardly be expected that men nominated and elected as were the members of the present council would blossom out as statesmen or great constitutional consti-tutional lawyers but nobody thought the gentlemen would make themselves the laughing stock of even the tyros i law I Mr JAMES docs not know it it is high time that he read the federal constitution and learned of ad learea from i that the Congress the United States itself cannot do what he and his associates thought they did when they adopted the resolution in question The franchises granted and accepted cannot can-not bo disturbed changed or amended except by the consent of the grantees and the council is powerless to impose now conditions I an attempt were male to compel the gas company the telephone tele-phone telegraph railway and other companies com-panies holding franchises to pay a certain percentage of their revenues into tho treasury the council would very soon lear something that it manifestly does not know And this brings up again the question ofl municipal franchises AtTuesdays session of the council there was adopted a resolution resolu-tion declaring that hereafter no franchise shall be granted except upon condition that a portion of the gross earnings of the grantee person or corporation shall be paid into the city treasury On its face this has a proper enough appearance but respectfully suggest that it might occur that tho granting of a franchise without the proposed condition would be a very wise thing r do It is not always well to be severe and strict in these matters There is such a thing as driving capital away and preventing the investment of money that will be of far greater benefit to I tho city than the annual revenue that might be derived from the taxation of an enterprise The street railway company has 200000 within expended perhaps 0000 the past year or so and that expenditure has added a million or more 0 real estate values val-ues along the lines of the improved road the corporation having got the benefit from this increase of value in the form of local taxation I a company were to come with an offer to spend vast sum of money for something that would greatly help tile city in return for a franchise would the council say no unless the company would pay handsomely for the privilege of aiding the community We hope not I the city councils of the past have charged nothing for franchises i has not been through a desire to give something of great value to favorites but with the view to do the best for the city |