Street Railway Bylaw (Part 1) - 1892

“Editor Herald – The proprietors of the Hamilton Street Railway Company have observed with much progress the rapid progress of electricity as a motive power for street railway purposes, as instanced by the fact that in the United States in 1888, there were only 20 roads, 80 miles, and 20 cars operated with electricity, whereas three years later, namely, in September last, the number had been increased to 412 roads, 3000 miles and 6732 electric cars.

          “Realizing that the time is rapidly approaching when the public will demand a change from the present slow transit by horse cars, and that it will be greatly to the interest of the city, particularly the outlying portions, and, furthermore, necessary in order to keep Hamilton abreast of the times in the matter of quick transit, the company has decided to apply to the City Council, very shortly, for an extension of the present franchise, on the understanding that electric cars will be promptly introduced, and the city receive forthwith a certain mileage rental for the tracks, as well as a portion of the earnings.”¹

¹ “Planned Quite a Coup : The Street Railway Co. Springs a Proposition on the Council”  Hamilton Herald. January 14, 1892

          With a little less than two years to run on the franchise it received from the City of Hamilton on December 22, 1873, the Hamilton Street Railway applied to renew its agreement for twenty more years on the condition that it convert its rolling stock to electricity, and that it increase the revenues it paid to the city for the right to operate on the city’s streets.

          In an interview with the Spectator, T. B. Griffith, Manager of the Hamilton Street Railway, explained the nature of his company’s offer as follows:

          “Our proposal means that the company’s franchise shall be renewed now instead of two years’ hence, and that the city shall gain in the two years’ percentage of profits, which we offer. If our proposition is accepted, we shall go to work at once to carry out the work of thoroughly equipping the road on the model of the most modern street railway systems. All our cars will be lighted as well as run by electricity. Our facilities will be so much improved by the introduction of electricity as the motive power, and by the additional double tracking, that a five-minute service will be introduced throughout the whole system. Cars will be run to Bartonville from the corner of King and James in fifteen minutes, and to the new race track in about the same time, and from Locke street to the corner of King and James in about eight minutes. There will be vast improvement in the service all around, and all the improvements will be made by next June.”²

² “Street Railway Franchise : A Proposition from the Street Railway Company” Hamilton Spectator. January 14, 1892.

          The first public announcement of the Hamilton Street Railway Company’s intention to convert its system to electricity, in return for a renewal of its franchise agreement, caught most citizens by surprise.

The company, however, had been contemplating such a course for some time and had been quietly discussing it with some of the city’s elected officials:

“In other words, the company has been lobbying in advance of its formal offer, and some of the members of the Council have been interviewed several times by the enterprising street railway people. This is all right, so long as the aldermen do not allow themselves to be beguiled into jumping at a bargain, which may be less profitable to the city than the company would have them believe”³

³ “Eyed With Distrust : People Wondering Where the Nigger in the Fence Is” Hamilton Herald. January 15, 1892.

The complexity of the issues surrounding the renewal of the street railway franchise were so complex, that on January 16, 1892, the Hamilton Herald proposed the formation of a special committee to investigate all aspects of the matter:

“Such a committee, when appointed, should set to work at once on the legal and financial aspects of the problem presented, and should be able to discover the probable value of the franchise will be to the capitalists who own the road now.”³

That same day, the Hamilton Spectator was granted another interview with Manager Griffith of the Hamilton Street Railway in order to discover the concessions the company was willing to make in order to secure a renewal of the franchise.

The interview began with the reporter informing Manager Griffith that the Trades and Labor Council had, during the previous evening, passed a resolution in favor of seizing the present opportunity to have the hours of labor imposed on the company’s employees reduced as part of any new agreement between the city and the street railway company.

“On street railways in the cities of the United States and Canada, it is the general custom that the drivers work fourteen hours a day. These are long hours, I know; but under the present system, it is not an easy matter to shorten them. However, we will be able to introduce an improvement in that respect under the new system. The company is willing to bind itself to an agreement with the city that its employees shall not be required to work longer than eleven hours a day, with an hour for meals – which means ten hours of actual work. That stipulation can be embodied in the contract.

“Would as many men be employed under the new system as under the present system?” the reporter asked.

“Yes,” replied Mr. Griffith, “we will employ more men. It will be necessary to have men on each car when single cars are used. Sometimes, of course, trailers would be used – that is, two or three cars together – and in that case, it would not be necessary to have two men for each car; but’ for ordinary use, two men would have to be employed. But the system will be so greatly extended, and the service so much improved, that our working staff will have to be increased.”⁴

⁴ “The Company’s Concession : What the Street Railway Will Offer” Hamilton Spectator. January 16, 1892.

At the city council meeting of January 18, 1892, two communications were received relating to the street railway franchise.

The first letter was from the legal firm of Osler, Teetzel, Harrison and McBrayne asking council to grant its consent to the incorporation of a new company called the Hamilton Electric Street Railway Company. The projectors of this new company hoped to be able to bid for the rights to use electric street cars on the streets of Hamilton when the present franchise was up.

The other letter was from B. E. Charlton, president of the Hamilton Street Railway Company, who requested that council grant his company the right to renew its franchise for another twenty years.

At this point, Aldermen Morden rose to move, seconded by Alderman Dunn, that the communications be referred to a special committee to be appointed to investigate the street railway question.

Alderman A. D. Stewart immediately rose to object to the formation of a special committee:

“When the mossback element of the Council had been able to carry a resolution shutting out the press and the public from meetings of special committees, he would oppose the reference of all matters, and especially such important questions as this, to a star chamber committee”⁵

⁵ “No Crack in the Slate : The Conservatives Have It All Their Own Way” Hamilton Herald. January 19, 1892.

Alderman Carscallen was also outraged, and inno uncertain terms, he stated that he opposed the formation of a special committee to deal with the street railway question:

“ ‘Hear ! Hear!’ said Ald. Stewart.

“ ‘ If the alderman will allow me to proceed without ‘hear, hear’ and interruptions, I shall be obliged,’ said Ald. Carscallen, casting a frigid glare at Ald. Stewart, while the crowd caught on and laughed. Continuing, he said that if the council took these matters out of the hands of the finance committee, he would resign.

“ ‘ Whoever heard of such a monstrous thing as referring this to a special committee of fourteen?’ said he, ‘and it looks as if this thing had been deliberately planned and considered beforehand.’

“ ‘I don’t think it has,’ said the mayor.

“ ‘I don’t care what you think,’ said Ald. Carscallen hotly, ‘I’m telling you what I think. And I may say that I will give the chair as much courtesy as I get. It is proposed to deliberate in secret on these important subjects, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars! I tell you the public won’t stand for it. They will stone these windows. It is an outrage on public decency’ ”⁶

⁶ “Ald. Carscallen’s Wrath : He Is Not on the Street Railway Franchise Committee” Hamilton Spectator. January 19, 1892.

Despite the heated arguments of Aldermen Stewart and Carscallen, the resolution to create a special committee to investigate the street railway franchise question was passed.

The first meeting of the Special Street Railway Committee was held on Monday, January 25, 1892. It was decided that the meeting would be open to both the press and the public.

The first order of business was to read a letter from the promoters of the Hamilton, Grimsby and Beamsville electric railway requesting a charter and right-of-way through the east to the corner of Stuart and Caroline streets.

Next, there was a flurry of excitement as typewritten copies of the street railway company’s proposition were distributed to committee members.. The company offered to pay $400 per year for single tracks and $800 per year for double tracks, plus 5 per cent of the company’s gross receipts up to $100,000 in return for a 20 year extension of the franchise. If the gross receipts exceeded $100,000, the city’s share would increase by a sliding scale. The company also stated its intention to convert to electric motive power.

The proposition also referred to the application of the Hamilton, Grimsby and Beamsville electric railway company for a charter and right-of-way.:

“Although we have not been formally asked to consider this question, we have no objection to explain our attitude on that matter as follows : We believe that if the proposed road can be successfully operated, it will be of great advantage to Hamilton, and we intend no factious opposition; but we must protect our interest. We will be perfectly willing that their cars shall come in from Grimsby to the center of the city over our lines, using our tracks and wires for that purpose, and paying us such remuneration for their use as may be agreed upon, or may be determined by arbitration. If that company agrees to run through trains only, and to do no business locally, nothing further need be said. But if they take up passengers, say at James street, and drop them at Wentworth street, we may feel that such would be taking business, for which we are fully equipped, and it would seem to us reasonable that such earnings, or a major part of them, should be handed to us.” ⁷

⁷ “The Company’s Proposition : What the Street Railway People Offer the City” Hamilton Spectator. January 26, 1892.

At a meeting of the Street Railway committee on February 1, 1892, it was decided that the Hamilton Street Railway Company’s proposal was worthy of consideration, and that a sub-committee should be empowered to examine the company’s books in preparation for an agreement.

The Hamilton Herald, which felt that the franchise should be put up for public tender, was of the opinion that the committee was far too favorable to the current holder of the franchise:

“Not so much what was done, as the manner in which it was done, furnished the ground for suspicion that sinister influences had been at work. The chairman’s recommendations had been prepared in conjunction with the city solicitor, and so far there could be no objection to them or to the chairman making them. But the unanimity with which they went through, almost without discussion, and opposed by only three of the fourteen members of the committee, smacked too much of cut-and-dried decisions of a caucus or the work of a clever lobbyist. The street railway deal will be a great thing for the public to watch.”⁸

⁸ “It will Bear Watching : The Special Street Railway Committee Gets to Work” Hamilton Herald. February 2, 1892.

The committee’s recommendation that the Hamilton Street Railway’s books be examined as a preliminary step to full negotiations about franchise renewal, was brought before City Council on February 8, 1892. As expected, there were heated objections,.

Alderman Carscallen moved, seconded by Alderman Tilden, that the street railway company’s offer be rejected, and that the city itself eventually own and control all street railway operations:

“In support of his amendment, Ald. Carscallen delivered the ablest argument that has been heard in the Council Chamber since his memorable effort on the license question three months ago. In a few sentences, he showed how much of a gold mine the city is being asked to surrender for twenty years to the first company making an offer for it. Speaking of the possibilities of an increased revenue from the road, he referred to the future of Hamilton as assured, and the probability of its population doubled for the period for which the franchise is asked.

“When he sat down, after having spoken an hour and a half, and held during that time the attention of his colleagues and the citizens who crowded into the chamber, the applause the latter had accorded generously to the many good points he made, was renewed and continued for some.”⁹

⁹ “It Wins the First Fall : The Street Railway Company Ahead of the Vote” Hamilton Herald. February 9, 1892.

Despite Alderman Carscallen’s forceful oratory, the council voted to accept the committee’s recommendation that the books of the street railway company be examined.

During the month of February 1892, while the books of the Hamilton Street Railway were being examined by the Special Street Railway Committee, the clauses of the bylaw under which the company secured its current franchise were also closely examined. It had been assumed that the company had exclusive rights to construct and operate street railways on all streets in the city.

However, it was discovered that the Hamilton Street Railway had exclusive rights only on certain streets, and the proposed Hamilton, Grimsby and Beamsville Electric Railway could be built without the permission of the franchise holder, if it did not use the streets mentioned in the bylaw.

Early in March, 1892, rumors of secret negotiations between the Hamilton Street Railway Company and the city culminated in a front page story in the March 5, 1892 issue of the Hamilton Herald.

In the story, full details of a tentative agreement between the two parties were made public. The deal had supposedly been struck at a secret meeting held in the City Solicitor’s office:

“The publication, exclusively in this journal, of the proceedings of that private meeting, was a surprise to all who took part in it, but they accepted the situation with all the best grace possible, and defended their action as being strictly within their rights, on the ground that tere is nothing to prevent any number of aldermen meeting together for consultation when they desire to do so.” ¹⁰

¹⁰ “”Went Without a Kick : the Street Railway Deal and the Special Committee” Hamilton Herald. March 7, 1892

The Herald was concerned that the deal negotiated with the Hamilton Street Railway company was not necessarily in the best interests of the city, and that a better deal could be struck if the franchise were allowed to expire and a competition were held for the new franchise:

“Unless public opinion can be brought to bear very strongly on the members of Council to compel them to insist on securing competition, the agreement adopted on Saturday evening will go through with very slight modification. It is possible, though not very probable, that vigorous opposition expressed by the Board of Trade and by the citizens in mass meeting may cause some of the aldermen to alter their views.”¹⁰

On March 7, 1892, President B. E. Charlton appeared before the Hamilton Board of Trade to argue in favor of the settlement which had been reached between his company and the Special Street Railway Committee.

President Charlton said that his company wanted the charter renewed immediately because of the progress that had been made in using electricity as a motive power. The introduction of the cheap rate for workingmen had yet to be a success because it was felt that the cars were too slow and that one could walk as fast as the speed the horse-drawn cars usually attained. The new electric cars would give quicker service and would build up the suburbs, since connections with the downtown and factory districts would be so much faster.

President Charlton also used his appearance before the Hamilton Board of Trade to deal with the rumors that there had been dishonest negotiations between the company and the aldermen:

“You have heard mean insinuations, gentlemen, that aldermen have been fixed. I feel almost like apologizing the matter here, but I wish to say that no money has been paid, promised or offered to any alderman of this city to use his influence in favor of this company, and while I’m president of it, there never will be. (Applause). The only alderman who receives any advantage from the street railway company is our horse doctor, and I believe he is going to vote against it. (Laughter).”¹¹

¹¹ “The Settlement Endorsed : the Board of Trade Supports the Special Committee” Hamilton Spectator.  March 8, 1892.

In the end, the vote in favor of the deal with the Hamilton Street Railway Company was strongly endorsed by the Board of Trade. The application of the Hamilton Electric Street Railway Company was not seriously considered.

On the day following the Board of Trade meeting, the Toronto World contained the following observation on the street railway question in Hamilton :

“In the desire for reform in motive power, which is sweeping over the continent, Hamilton is no laggard. The conventional must go. The citizens are decided upon that point, but anxious as they are for the change, they believe in making haste slowly. The selling of a street railway franchise is not an annual affair, and they believe in getting as good a quid pro quo as possible.”¹²

¹² “Don’t : The World’s Advice to the Hamilton Citizens” Toronto World. March 8, 1892.

(Part 1 of 1892- Street Railway By-Law. The rest is in proves and will consist of at least two more parts of this length)