Poems (Barbara White)/Six Cents, Please

by Barbara White

Six Cents, Please

 

——

We have got two new bridges in Johnstown.
  If you don't believe it's true,
Just watch the Traction Company
  And see what it's going to do.
They are going to add an extra cent
  To every street car fare,
To help to pay for the bridges
  They are building for us there

So have your six cents ready
  When you enter a tramway car;
It don't matter what your distance is—
  Let it be near or far;
They will charge the same from one and all.
  So we might as well just grin
And pay our extra cent to them
  When a street car we enter in

But now they're handing you rebate slips,
  And you might get back your extra cent:
But mark my words, it will be the same
  As when they raised the rents.
They have put it on and it won't come off,
  So it's up to us this way—
You can hire a Ford, or walk to town,
  If you don't want that extra cent to pay