what is more difficult is this, there is no appeal to a higher court from our decision. [Laughter.] We have no courts of appellate jurisdiction in the newspaper fraternity where we may hope to see our trivial errors corrected. When we once say a thing we are obliged to stick to it, whether we have made a mistake or not. This course is absolutely necessary for the protection of our business, and our standing as oracles. Consequently, as I am frequently away from my office (as some have said, for the benefit of my subscribers), and my .newspaper comes out with two or three columns of a diatribe against bob-tail cars, which seriously injures the interests of my friend, Mr. Pearson (who has wrought a terrible revenge upon me to-night by appointing me to speak to this toast), and I return after it is all over, there is absolutely no help for it. It has got to stand, and the policy of the paper from that time on must be to denounce bob-tail cars. [Laughter.]

I have not been so soothed for a long while as I was when I heard the last speaker declare and almost prove that a corporation could do no harm. I acted wiser than I knew when I made a stock company of the newspaper which I publish. I hope my friend" spoke true," for if "The Post" should at any time be sued for slander or libel, such a plea would be very convenient. We should not have any enduring prejudices against corporations, for everybody loves them, I have noticed, who can make money out of them.

Newspapers will undoubtedly in time be better, for better men will, by the process of evolution and involution, get worked out of and into them. I do not know whether they can improve upon the present managers, or not; there are perhaps those that can be improved upon; but if you will consider for a moment what they have to do; what subjects they have to traverse; what encyclopædias of knowledge they have to be; what brief time is given them in which to form and put out opinions that will stand the criticism of all and every individual subscriber, you must admit that they have a pretty hard task, and that they perform it, everything considered, with as great an approach to perfection as could be expected. Still, we have no doubt, that with the improvement of other things there will also come further improvement in the press. I think you have made a great deal of improvement in the street-cars in the last few years; but all your lines-the very best of them could be improved somewhat. I do not believe that in time to come the people will be satisfied with anything short of a newspaper that maintains an efficient force in all of its departments; that will be so equipped and so appointed that it will express really able opinions upon all subjects; that it will be the people's defence against impositions of all kinds; that it will protect their interests; that it will set forth considerately all their wants and needs, and that in very many ways it will take the place, as it is rapidly taking the place, of lawyers (I suppose that will be considered objectionable by some), of preachers—because we can give you more religion in thirty pages of a Sunday journal than you can get in five years' study and steady attendance at church; of school teachers-for there is no educator so good as a newspaper; in fact, the newspaper will become in time the basic support, the very bulwark of a free government. [Applause.] This is its mission! There is no doubt that there are very many men who employ it for the purposes of individual gain and preferment, or for illegitimate

objects, and at the expense of the interests of the public; but if you will think for a moment of the great power that is lodged in the hands of the conductor of a great metropolitan newspaper, for weal or woe, and if you will closely examine and carefully discern the restraints that are put upon it; how willing it is to repair any injury it may have inadvertently done, I believe you will agree that the newspaper press of this country, take it all in all, is more powerfully, more carefully, and more guardedly restrained for the purpose of preventing injury to any interest or any individual, than any other institution. There is no more conservative class, as a whole, than the men who cater to the reading wants of the great masses of the people, as obtained through the channels of the newspaper press. I thank you very kindly for your attention. [Applause.]

66

"STREET-RAILWAYS." RESPONDED TO BY MR. THOMAS LOWRY.

The President: We will now hear from Mr. Thomas Lowry on Street-Railways—their past and their future. Reflections, criticisms and suggestions thereon"

Mr. Lowry: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen-" Honesty is the best policy;" a man told me that once who said that he had tried both. I will be honest with you to-night. I had intended to attempt a suitable response to the toast assigned to me; but after listening to the eloquent speeches of Mr. Holmes and those who succeeded him, I have come to the conclusion that I had better do like the old man who wrote the epitaph for himself and wife, supposing that they were both on their death-beds: He said:

'Beneath this stone my wife and I.

Back to back, together lie,

More blessed than when in life's short space,
We lied like others, face to face;

Now free from trouble, free from fear,

If she should scold, I could not hear.

When the last trump the air shall fill,

If she gets up, then I'll lie still." [Laughter.]

As. a rule, the closer a man sticks to his toast, and the sooner he disposes of it the better his audience is pleased. Street-railways have had a past; and will, undoubtedly, have a future. Their past and future I might graphically describe in the manner of a friend of mine who wrote an elaborate essay on babies. He said, "Babies are of two kinds : male and female; and they are found in allin almost all-parts of the inhabited world." I would say that street-railways are just a little ahead of the babies; they are of three kinds: good, bad and indifferent. All of them are bad enough; and I do not know that I can better describe their past than by telling a true incident. A gentleman who takes a prominent part in the affairs of this Association, runs a street-railway not a thousand miles from here. He has a good many miles of road and they extend out into the suburbs quite a distance. One evening a car was slowly nearing its destination, after many tedious delays, and there was only one passenger on board. When it was coming to about the place where it had to "pull in," the driver asked the passenger for his fare. The passenger said he had paid his fare; the driver said "No you didn't; when I started to bring this car in there

was only one small boy on the car." The passenger said, “That is right; that was me." In the future, we do not expect that a boy will grow to be a man on one trip on a street-car. We expect in the future to have rapid transit ; and we expect to run our cars by, I suppose I had better say, electricity, because that has not been practically introduced yet; and as to the cable, our friend Mr. Holmes has told you all about that.

Mr. President, there have been a good many pleasant things said to-night about street-railways; and, therefore, I am rather inclined to take the side of finding fault with them. I know that a great many people find fault with streetcars who ought to know better. I had an experience myself once. An old gentleman took me out a little way one day to see a farm on the west side of the river from Minneapolis; and on returning he stopped his horse and said: "Tom, there comes a car and you can ride across the river on it and I will go to lunch!" I said "all right," and boarded the car, but soon found I hadn't a cent of money in my pocket. It was very embarrassing, but I undertook to explain to the conductor that I would give him a little slip to get the money at the office. I told him I wanted to go over the river. It was hot and dusty. I told him that I was the president of the road. He said: "You don't mean to say that you are Tom Lowry? Why, Tom Lowry is old enough to be your father; no one ever saw him ride on a street-car." The result was I had to get off the car and walk. As I was crossing the bridge, feeling pretty tired, I was in no very good humor. I then remembered a story that was told to me by an old ferryman who runs a ferry with a rope. A man came up to him one day, and said: "Well, Mr. Ferryman, I have no money; but I want to go on the other side of the river." "My friend," said the ferryman, “if you haven't any money, it makes mighty little difference to you which side of the river you are on." [Laughter.]

I am certainly very glad indeed to meet you all here to-night. The next Convention that assembles, I understand, is going to be in Minneapolis. We will extend to you as hearty a welcome as we know how to give. In Washington I feel very much at home; I find here so many men in the same condition as myself; so many men who want to borrow money; and I think there are a good many in Washington, also, in the same category with Parson Brown who came to Washington, and who said he had not been here fifteen minutes when a disposition came over him that he wanted to steal something. I feel especially glad to be here to-night in Willard's Hotel. I think one can truly say of Willard's, as was said by someone years ago:

'Whoe'er has traveled life's dull round,
Where'er his stages may have been,
May sigh to think he still has found

The warmest welcome at an inn." [Applause.]

INTRODUCTION OF THE PRESIDENT-ELECT, MR. GEORGE B. Kerper.

The President: Ladies and Gentlemen--I have the pleasure and the privilege now of introducing to this audience our Presi

dent-elect; a gentlemen who has not only been a great success as a street-railway operator, but a man who has a tremendous big heart, Mr. Kerper, of Cincinnati :

MR. KERPER: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen-Mr. Holmes has the advantage of me. Last year when he was elected, he was not present. I am now called upon to address an audience, and I cannot do it. I have been here this evening listening to the speeches of gentlemen who have been six months, and even twelve months preparing them. [Laughter.] I have been told that when we go to the far West, there will be nobody there, because we are going so far; and I am going to reserve my speech for that occasion. I have an elegant speech, but I will present it there. [Applause.]

"THE COMMONWEALTH." RESPONDED TO BY MR. CHARLES B. PRATT. The President: We have now the pleasure of listening to the toast"The Commonwealth," responded to by Mr. Charles B. Pratt, of Worcester, Mass.

MR. PRATT: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen —I did not come from Massachusetts to Washington to make a speech. I came here to meet with this Association, and to get some information, and I have been well paid for coming. I am glad to come to the city of Washington always; and I was glad to hear the gentleman speak so eloquently of his city, and of Washington, whom we all love. But I cannot help speaking of how I used to feel when I was a boy about that truthful Washington. It was said, you know, that he could not tell a lie. I used to think it was because there was not another boy within a hundred miles that he could lay any mischief to. This is the worst toast to speak to anywhere; and in calling upon me to speak to it, it has brought to my mind a story, which most of you have doubtless heard. It is about a certain judge in one of our Western cities. It was said that the old judge was in the habit of getting drunk, and when he was drunk, he was religiously inclined and would go to church. He went to church one day in this condition, and the minister was preaching upon the evils of intemperance, and he said. "A drunkard is the worst man on earth; I would like to see a drunkard stand up before me." The old judge immmediately stood up, and said: "Here I am;" and the minister was set back a little. The minister then said: "The next worst man is the hypocrite; next to the drunkard, he is the worst man. I would like to see a hypocrite stand up before me." The old judge reached over with his cane and punched the deacon in the back, and said: "Deacon, why in thunder don't you get up when you are called upon." I confess I am a sort of deacon on this occasion. [Laughter.]

I will tell you another story that goes back in the history of Massachusetts. You will all recall the name of Governor Garey. In Lowell lived a minister, who was a friend of his. The Governor was fond of salmon, and the old minister was out fishing and caught a very nice salmon. He took it in to his wife, and said, "There is a fine salmon, and if you will put it up nicely, I will take it to Governor Garey." There were no railroads in that day, and his wife put

up the salmon in fine shape, boxed it up, and the minister harnessed up his horse and started for Boston. He got half-way; stopped for dinner, and told the people at the inn what he was going to do—that he had a fine salmon to take to Governor Garey. While he was eating dinner some of the boys unboxed the salmon and put a codfish in its place, and he went to Boston, and said to the Governor: "I know you are very fond of salmon, and I have brought one down for you." They went out and unboxed the fish, and the Governor said: "You call that salmon?" The minister said, "That was a salmon when I started." "Well," said the Governor, "I call it a miserable codfish." The old man boxed up his codfish and started back; he stopped at the same house for his supper, and the boys replaced the salmon. The minister got home and said to his wife: "That was no salmon; the Governor called it a miserable codfish." She said, "I tell you it is a salmon." They went out and unboxed the fish, and sure enough there was the salmon. "Well," said the minister, "when you are up here you are pretty good salmon; but when you get to Boston you are nothing but a miserable codfish." When I am up at home I feel as if I was a salmon; but when I get down here amongst all of these horse railroad men I feel as if I am only a miserable codfish. [Laughter]. I came into this hall, and seated myself, and intended to be humble and enjoy all that was going on.

Massachusetts is a

Mr. President, I live in Massachusetts, when I can. subject a man can talk upon; its hills and its valleys, its cities; its public buildings, and its institutions for education on every hill and in almost every valley; its people; these all speak in words more potent than any I can utter. It really is not necessary for me to say another word; you all know about Massachusetts; and down here in Washington you will hear from her quite often, I have no doubt. [Applause.]

"SAND ON THE TRACK."

RESPONDED TO BY MR. WINFIELD SMITH.

The President: On all well-regulated street-railways, when a car gets under full motion, and it is necessary to come to a stop, some devices have to be adopted to accomplish that end. closing toast of the evening is

"Sand on the Track."

It will be responded to by Hon. Winfield Smith.

The

MR. SMITH: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen-I would like to know if that was my name that was spoken just now. I have not seen my name to any such toast as that on this card; and I have eaten my supper in peace because my name was not there. I really think it is not quite fair to call upon me to talk about something all the rest of you know just as much about as I do— sand on the tracks. Well, sand on the tracks is, doubtless, at times a very good thing; and, by the way, if a man is to be a street-railroad man, he wants sand, sure enough, not on the tracks, however-he needs it in his crop. Sand is just that kind of a thing that, if a man has not got it, he would better keep out of the street-railway business, sure. If a man cannot stand up and be abused by every class of people, by every man in every class of people, to be told what his duty is, to be told how to do it, to be told how to manage every