The New York Subway | Page 4

the traveling public. As
the city grew rapidly, the congestion spreading northward, to and
beyond the Harlem River, the service of surface roads became entirely
inadequate. As early as 1868, forty-two well known business men of
the city became, by special legislative Act, incorporators of the New
York City Central Underground Railway Company, to build a line from
the City Hall to the Harlem River. The names of the incorporators
evidenced the seriousness of the attempt, but nothing came of it. In
1872, also by special Act, Cornelius Vanderbilt and others were
incorporated as The New York City Rapid Transit Company, to build
an underground road from the City Hall to connect with the New York
& Harlem Road at 59th Street, with a branch to the tracks of the New
York Central Road. The enterprise was soon abandoned. Numerous
companies were incorporated in the succeeding years under the general
railroad laws, to build underground roads, but without results; among
them the Central Tunnel Railway Company in 1881, The New York &
New Jersey Tunnel Railway Company in 1883, The Terminal
Underground Railway Company in 1886, The Underground Railroad
Company of the City of New York (a consolidation of the last two

companies) in 1896, and The Rapid Transit Underground Railroad
Company in 1897.
All attempts to build a road under the early special charter and later
under the general laws having failed, the city secured in 1891 the
passage of the Rapid Transit Act under which, as amended, the subway
has been built. As originally passed it did not provide for municipal
ownership. It provided that a board of five rapid transit railroad
commissioners might adopt routes and general plans for a railroad,
obtain the consents of the local authorities and abutting property
owners, or in lieu of the consents of the property owners the approval
of the Supreme Court; and then, having adopted detail plans for the
construction and operation, might sell at public sale the right to build
and operate the road to a corporation, whose powers and duties were
defined in the Act, for such period of time and on such terms as they
could. The Commissioners prepared plans and obtained the consents of
the local authorities. The property owners refused their consent; the
Supreme Court gave its approval in lieu thereof, but upon inviting bids
the Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners found no
responsible bidder.
The late Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, as early as 1884, when legislation for
underground roads was under discussion, had urged municipal
ownership. Speaking in 1901, he said of his efforts in 1884:
"It was evident to me that underground rapid transit could not be
secured by the investment of private capital, but in some way or other
its construction was dependent upon the use of the credit of the City of
New York. It was also apparent to me that if such credit were used, the
property must belong to the city. Inasmuch as it would not be safe for
the city to undertake the construction itself, the intervention of a
contracting company appeared indispensable. To secure the city against
loss, this company must necessarily be required to give a sufficient
bond for the completion of the work and be willing to enter into a
contract for its continued operation under a rental which would pay the
interest upon the bonds issued by the city for the construction, and
provide a sinking fund sufficient for the payment of the bonds at or

before maturity. It also seemed to be indispensable that the leasing
company should invest in the rolling stock and in the real estate
required for its power houses and other buildings an amount of money
sufficiently large to indemnify the city against loss in case the lessees
should fail in their undertaking to build and operate the railroad."
Mr. Hewitt became Mayor of the city in 1887, and his views were
presented in the form of a Bill to the Legislature in the following year.
The measure found practically no support. Six years later, after the
Rapid Transit Commissioners had failed under the Act of 1891, as
originally drawn, to obtain bidders for the franchise, the New York
Chamber of Commerce undertook to solve the problem by reverting to
Mr. Hewitt's idea of municipal ownership. Whether or not municipal
ownership would meet the approval of the citizens of New York could
not be determined; therefore, as a preliminary step, it was decided to
submit the question to a popular vote. An amendment to the Act of
1891 was drawn (Chapter 752 of the Laws of 1894) which provided
that the qualified electors of the city were to decide at an annual
election, by ballot, whether the rapid transit railway or railways should
be constructed by the city and at