Sewickley Herald

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" Pear no man, and do justice to all men."
Vol. VII
SEWICKLEY,  PA., SATURDAY,  FEBRUARY 5, 1910.
No. 24
Prominent Citizens Express Themselves
On the Trolley Car Question.
After having lain for several
years in a comatose condition, the1
question of a street car franchise
has been revived. In fact, the issue
is agitating the people of the entire
"Valley. This is caused chiefly by!
the radical change in public sentiment in. favor of street cars, observ-',
able within the past two or three \
years, brought about by the recog-!
nized necessity for such a service.
In looking at this subject from
a broad view, several things must
be considered. There is the marvelous growth of population and
industrial development in the Valley below Sewickley; the need of
closer communication between the
several towns above and below this
place: the opening of a new territory with «the completion of the
new bridge; and the necessity for
transportation in the district on
the other side of the river; the
fact that street car lines invariably
aid in the growth of a community;
and the further fact that the large
number of automobiles skimming
their way over our streets and
roads render them well-nigh useless for the pleasures of driving,
make it imperative that a rapid,
convenient and inexpensive means
of transit be secured for traffic
along here, and that means an up-
to-date trolley service.
In the endeavor to show the
state of feeling on this subject, the
views of several representative citizens are here given:
Edward P. Coffin, cashier of the
First National Bank in this place,
presented the following line of argument :
"I am very much in favor of
street cars in Sewickley. You can
not state the case too strongly for
me. "We have too long been building a Chinese wall around Sewickley, and it is time that it was torn
clown. Some years ago a law was
passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature compelling people to keep
their hogs and cattle fenced in, and
a leading resident of this Valley
went down to Harrisburg and endeavored to have the law repealed.
The same kind of influence has
been at work here for years ob
structing public improvements;
and it is time to stop it.
"Street cars are a public neces-'
sity. They are as much so as our
schools, water works, police system,
fire department or any other form
of public improvement or utility.
What we need here is more public
spirit to grapple with this question
from the standpoint of the public
good, and not from mere selfishness
or personal considerations of ease
and comfort.
"1 have three planks to which
every candidate for public office
should subscribe. The general
principles of the first and second
apply to the aspirant for any public position; but the third applies
especially to candidates for the
borough council and school directors.    They are as follows:
"First. No one should aspire to
public office without having a set
of principles on which to stand,
plainly set forth. It has been the
custom here for years that candidates would announce themselves
on a platform of "good fellowship" and win out. The only
plank on which they rested their
feet was that they would '' do what
the people wanted,'' and after they
were elected the people could go
to grass. A frank, straightforward, declaration of their intentions in the matters at issue would
do more to establish themselves in
the public confidence and esteem
than a whole ream of post-election
promises or actions.
"Second. A candidate for public office should seek to do some real
good while he holds a public position, and not be subject to the
leading strings of some manipulator, who can twist him around his
little finger. He should seek the
office not for the honor alone, nor
for the sake of aggrandizement,
but on account of the good he can
do to the community. If we had
more public officials imbued with
this spirit we would have better
its in the administration of
pu lc affairs. This statement is
of general application.
'' Third. This plank is composed
of three parts, and is as follows:
"1. In granting a street car
franchise through Sewickley, care
should be taken to properly protect
the interests of the borough m
every respect. No burdensome exactions should be imposed upon
any legitimate company, but the
provisions of the franchise should
be such as to be just to the people
of this community.
"2. Eliminate all grade crossings. The safety of the public demands that this be done. Every
year thousands are killed or maimed on account of grade crossings
throughout the country, and with
the increased traffic in this place,
likely to result in the near future,
the demand is becoming more imperative that these crossings be
abolished.
"3. Make the millage for school
purposes at five mills and no more.
We have been paying altogether
too much for the maintenance of
our schools, and this should be
stopped. In addition to the other
forms of taxation to which we are
subject, it is getting to be too much
of a burden."
Jas. W. Grove, president of the
Sewickley Valley Trust Co., who
resides in Glen Osborne, stated that
he was not conversant with conditions of public sentiment in favor,
of street cars in that borough, as
he had not inquired into the matter. He believed, however, that it
is a question of but a short time
when the short link in the Valley
would be connected up, and that
the people should try to secure the
best terms possible within reason.
He thought a service of this land
might be a good thing in some ways
for the people of the Valley.
Chas. G. Woods, also a resident
of the same borough, said he was
heartily in favor of street cars m
the borough. He stated that there
had been a radical change m public sentiment in that borough within the past two or three years, and
that a majority of the residents
were in favor of the cars. The
cause of this he attributes largely
to the increase in the numebr of
automobiles. Mr. Woods stated
that since the "joy Avagons" had
become so numerous he had been
compelled to dispose of a fine team,
of driving horses, as this form of
pleasure had become too dangerous
to indulge in, and that street cars
could be no. worse.
W. A. Avey, of the real estate
firm of Avey & Irish, was very emphatic in favor of this question.
He said:
"Let them come. They will be
a grand thing for the town; will
help land values. The street cars
cannot come too soon to suit me
and I will do anything to hasten
their coming into the borough."
Dr. F. K. White believed the
cars will be a good thing for the
town. If they connected with the
railroad station it would be very
convenient for many who resided
in Beaver and adjoining streets- in
reaching their homes or in going
to the station. He believed the
town should receive a good revenue
from the company getting the franchise, and that its rights should be
conserved in the form of a bond
sufficiently large to protect it, as
other towns have done. He believed also that the terms required
from the company shall not be excessive, but should be just and
reasonable to both parties.
R. B. Boobyer expressed himself
thus:
"Let them come. They are better than automobiles for the general public. A street car line through
here will be a great convenience to
many along the Valley, especially
on Sundays. They will also help
business in this town and develop
the Valley generally."
Theodore "W. Nevin said he had
been somewhat; opposed to a trol-
j ley line here in years past, believ-
1 ing that it might result in the influx of an undesirable element in
this community. He thought, however, the time had nearly arrived
for the street cars to come, and
that they would eventually be a
good thing for the town.   He said