THE STATE REVIEW 



35 



The Forest Fires 



In the present number of The State Re- 

 view is printed the second of the forest war- 

 den't articles on the great forest fires of last 

 May. But lest the subject may seem a trifle 

 old to some readers whose interest in the 

 past usually extends no farther than the pro- 

 verbial nine days, we would call their atten- 

 tion to the fact that forest fires of varying 

 extent have been burning pretty continu- 

 ously ever since, some in the Lower Penin- 

 sula, some in the Upper, and that those near 

 Marquette have endangered a number o'i 

 lives. Just what the financial injury they 

 have done the state may be we have no 

 means at present of knowing, but we may 

 rest assured that it is heavy. 



Codd and the D. U. R. 



On July 31 it became known that Mayor 

 Codd of Detroit had reached an agreement 

 with the management of the Detroit United 

 Railway. As is well known, there has been a 

 persistent agitation in the metropolis for 

 several years to force the street car com- 

 pany to accept three-cent fares. On some 

 of the lines the demand had been granted, 

 but the company refused to lower the rate 

 on the principal streets. Many of its most 

 important franchises were nearing the time 

 of expiration, one had already expired. What 

 could be done to placate the public by giv- 

 ing good service and good cars had been 

 done, but without effect. In 1909 it would 

 be necessary to get new franchises to run 

 the lines on Jefferson, Woodworth, Gratiot 

 and Michigan avenues, and on many other 

 streets almost as important. In 1910 it 

 would be necessary to secure still other 

 franchises. And though the right to use 

 some streets will not end until 1928, this is 

 of small value to a company which can not 

 reach them through the main thorough- 

 fares. Moreover, the city officials have 

 ostensibly been negotiating with New York 

 financiers who, it is stated, are ready to do 

 anything from building competing surface 

 roads to digging tunnels. 



All this undoubtedly made the D. U. R. 

 management nervous and inclined it to a 

 compromise. Accordingy the compromise 

 was worked out in this form: All existing 

 franchises are to be wiped out and super- 

 ceded by a blanket franchise which will 

 expire on December 4, 1924; rates of fare 

 are to be 10 tickets for 25 cents, good from 

 5 to 8 o'clock in the morning and from 4:30 

 to 6:30 in the afternoon; at other times 6 

 tickets for a quarter; the system is to 

 be that of overhead trolleys; the D. U. R. 

 is to pave and repave when necessary be- 

 tween tracks, and 12 inches outside, under 

 the supervision of the department of public 

 works, and to keep its tracks free from 

 snow and ice; the D. U. R. must pay the 

 regular tax on real estate, and in addition 

 pay a tax of two per cent on its gross earn- 

 ings; the city is to have the right to buy the 

 entire property in 1924 if it gives a year's 

 notice of intention, but the value of tho 

 franchise is not to be taken into considera- 

 tion. Beside these there are a number of 

 minor provisions in the agreement. It will 



THE LATE JUDGE GEORGE P. WANTY 



first bo submitted to the common council 

 and then to the people of the city. 



On the whole this agreement is a great 

 advance and if accepted will put Detroit in 

 the lead among American cities. The lim- 

 itd time during which the new blanket fran- 

 chise is to run, while long enough to make 

 evident any bad errors, will do away with 

 the fear that the city may be committed to 

 a wrong policy. Fifteen years from the 

 time that the first of the present franchises 

 expire Detroit may again decide what it 

 will do in the mater of traction. 



But there Is one provision which to The 

 State Review seems fundamentally wrong, 

 that by which a different rate of fare will 

 be charged at certain hours than at others. 

 The hours mentioned are often called 

 "workingmen's hours," and the lower rate 

 of fare is supposed to be for the benefit of 

 workingmen who are then going to or re- 

 turning from work. To give them the same 

 service for a lower price than is exacted of 

 men in other callings who use the cars at 

 other hours is class legislation. If the city 

 provides for them in this way why should 

 it not by setting aside certain blocks and 

 reducing the taxes there, secure for them 

 homes at lower rental than others would 

 have to pay? Once begun such a policy 

 could lead to endless lengths. What seems 

 to The State Review the correct principle 

 is to compel the traction company to charge 

 a uniform fare that is as low as possible 

 and yet leaves the investors a legitimate 

 return upon their investment. To allow 

 the laboring man to ride for two and a half 

 cents and then take it out of the clerk or 

 the lawyer by charging him five, is not just. 

 If the traction company really can not afford 

 straight three-cent fares, then make it 

 straight four-cent fares. 



The State Conventions 



The two great parties have held their 

 state conventions and girded up their loins 

 lor the fall campaign. The Republicans met 

 in the Light Guard Armory in Detroit on 

 July 31 and nominated, that part of the 



ticket which the party had not already 

 filled at the June primary. The ticket in 

 full is: 



Governor Fred M. Warner of Farming- 

 ton; Lieutenant-Governor, Patrick H. Kelly 

 of Lansing; Secretary of State, George A. 

 Prescoti of Tawas City; State Treasurer, 

 Frank P. Glazier of Chelsea; Auditor Gen- 

 eral, James B. Bradley of Eaton Rapids; 

 Land Commissioner, William H. Rose of 

 Bath; Attorney General, John E. Bird of 

 Adrian; Superintendent of Public Instruc- 

 tion, Luther L. Wright of Ironwood; Mem- 

 ber of State Board of Education, Dexter M. 

 Ferry, Jr., of Detroit. 



The only signs of conflict were for the 

 office of Superintendent of Education, which 

 Mr. McClure of Oceana county desired, and 

 the position of Chairman of the State Cen- 

 tral Committee. But Mr. McClure did not 

 press his claims, and what opposition there 

 was to Mr. Diekema vanished into thin air 

 before nominations were in order. In fact, 

 the convention was little more than a love 

 feast and perhaps the only thing it did that 

 was occasion for surprise was its resolution 

 favoring the election of United States Sen- 

 ators by direct vote of the people. The reso- 

 lutions were brief: 



\Vhat Republicans Say 

 "We, the representative Republicans of 

 Michigan, in convention assembled, unre- 

 servedly and cordially indorse the patriotic, 

 courageous, aggressive administration of 

 President Roosevelt. We admire him as the 

 embodiment of the high ideals of the Re- 

 publican parly, for his insistence upon ade- 

 quate and efficient railroad legislation and 

 for his demands that the welfare and inter- 

 ests of the people shall be first considered, 

 regardless of selfish promptings and of the 

 organized protests of the greed and power. 

 Under his administration the enforcement 

 of law has been prompt and impartial, recog- 

 nizing neither position nor station in deal- 

 ing with violators and in urging the require- 

 menets of justice. 



'"We are glad to give voice to the high 

 appreciation on the part of the Republicans 

 of Michigan for the splendid work of the 

 Fifty-ninth congress and to the Michigan 

 members of that body for their influential 

 part in the enactment of the important and 

 praiseworthy legislation of the last session. 

 In our judgment the declarations of Presi- 

 dent Roosevelt that no congress during the 

 past quarter of a century has accomplished 

 so much good for the whole people of the 

 United States is a just tribute to the wis- 

 dom and patriotism of the Republican 

 majority of that body. 



"The prosperity of our country at the 

 present time and through recent years sur- 

 passes all former records made by our or 

 any other nation since civilization began. 

 This prosperity has been and is being 

 shared by the workingmen and the farmer, 

 by the merechant and the manufacturer, and 

 by all men and women who make up the 

 great body of the American producers and 

 consumers. These conditions illustrate 

 again, as they have so happily in other per- 

 iods of American history, the practical value 

 of Republican policies and Republican prin- 



