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Show ROOM FOR AN AMENDMENT. The other day, when the cadets returned from San Francisco and were marching through Main street, we saw a sight that struck us as being entirely out of place. At the intersection of Second South and Main street two freight, trains were on the tracks of the Utah Light & Railway Co. ; the one train was headed north on Main Street and consisted of a propelling car and seven empty flat cars, while going east on Second South was a train of six heavily gravel-laden flat cars. At that hour of the day, about four o'clock, the streets were crowded with pedestrians, many of whom were, of course, out to witness the return of the cadets, others again were pursuing their regular pursuits and the fact remains that traffic became somewhat congested 'because of this disagreeable freight traffic on the railroad line that, ostensibly, ostensi-bly, is to be used for passenger traffic. As we saw this condition we could not refrain from thinking what a calamity might occur were the fire department making a hurried dash for some fire threatened district, to be obstructed in its course by a string of heavily laden, slowly moving freight cars at the intersection of one of our main thoroughfares. We do not know exactly what rights this railroad company has, in this direction, but we feel quite certain that if any silly city council allowed a franchise to be granted to this corporation that permits them to haul freight in unlimited quantities and at all hours on all streets, then that council clearly did something contrary to the usual usages of organized society in an intelligent and progressive community com-munity and there must be some recourse. If this company has such a liberal franchise they should not abuse it because after all, a railway corporation is under some obligations to the public in return for the valuable concessions granted and we repeat, that if there is nothing in the franchise of this corporation to prevent it from doing such an altogether stupid, annoying and dangerous thing, then the I city council should pass a city ordinance regulating the hours when this corporation can monopolize the main streets with its freight trains, and it should also place a limit on the number of freight cars allowed in each of these freight trains. But, in our judgment, the company itself should exercise some little sense; because after all the people have some rights, and we have observed, that the people are very good-natured and stand for almost anything but when they do become aroused they sometimes make up in drastic measures for their past passiveness. |