The Great Seattle Streetcar Heist

When all the facts are taken into consideration, it appears little less than outrageous that the city council should even consider the present application for a franchise to build and operate a cable road on Front Street. Front Street in a large sense belongs to the people of the entire city. It should be remembered that the proposition now before the council is to give away this franchise without the city receiving in return any benefit whatsoever. It will be worth many thousand dollars to those who receive it, and, if it is granted at all, should not be granted for less than fifty thousand dollars. Strange as it may seem, there is real danger of the council granting this franchise. In spite of the resolute opposition of the Front Street property owners, a portion, perhaps a majority, of the members of the council are prepared to vote for the franchise. Private interest unquestionably has more to do with the course of many councilmen than a regard for the public welfare. There are a thousand ways of persuading a councilman to cast aside the public interest without throwing an open purse squarely against his conscience. Only the bunglers in jobbery turn to bribery as anything but a last resort.