he vote of the electors upon the question of
municipal ownership, the Rapid Transit Commissioners adopted routes
and plans which they had been studying and perfecting since the
failure to find bidders for the franchise under the original Act of
1891. The local authorities approved them, and again the property
owners refused their consent, making an application to the Supreme
Court necessary. The Court refused its approval upon the ground that
the city, owing to a provision of the constitution of the State
limiting the city's power to incur debt, would be unable to raise the
necessary money. This decision appeared to nullify all the efforts of
the public spirited citizens composing the Board of Rapid Transit
Commissioners and to practically prohibit further attempts on their
part. They persevered, however, and in January, 1897, adopted new
general routes and plans. The consolidation of a large territory into
the Greater New York, and increased land values, warranted the hope
that the city's debt limit would no longer be an objection, especially
as the new route changed the line so as to reduce the estimated cost.
The demands for rapid transit had become more and more imperative as
the years went by, and it was fair to assume that neither the courts
nor the municipal authorities would be overzealous to find a narrow
construction of the laws. Incidentally, the constitutionality of the
rapid transit legislation, in its fundamental features, had been
upheld in the Supreme Court in a decision which was affirmed by the
highest court of the State a few weeks after the Board had adopted its
new plans. The local authorities gave their consent to the new route;
the property owners, as on the two previous occasions, refused their
consent; the Supreme Court gave its approval in lieu thereof; and the
Board was prepared to undertake the preliminaries for letting a
contract. These successive steps and the preparation of the terms of
the contract all took time; but, finally, on November 15, 1899, a form
of contract was adopted and an invitation issued by the Board to
contractors to bid for the construction and operation of the railroad.
There were two bidders, one of whom was John B. McDonald, whose terms
submitted under the invitation were accepted on January 15, 1900; and,
for the first time, it seemed as if a beginning might be made in the
actual construction of the rapid transit road. The letter of
invitation to contractors required