Evening star., 1900-12-17
The u. and O. Bill in the House.

Thc House District committee has failed
t. meet the hopes of the people OF Wash
ireton iy deciding today to report favor
ably to the House the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad bill. with its iuiouitous million
and half bonus. The expectation Is that
this bill Will be called up IN the House to-
morrow. if time permits. and passed with
the scant consideration possible when only
cne afternoon Is to he devoted to both the
great grade crossing measures. Each of these
bills should have more than perfunctory
examination in the House, for the interests
involved are too weighty to be adjudicated
hastily. The Baltimore and Ohio bill, es-
pectally under the peculiar circumstances
OF the case. demands detailed scrutiny and
explanation. 1t should be materially
amended to meet the public wish and the
requirements of justice.
This is the more true because Of the tardy
pre- seutation for public examination of the
railroads reasons for the estimates which
have come under such sharp criticism of
late. only today was there promulgated
Il statement defending the calculations upon
which the proposed bonus was based. The
brief filed before the House committee this
morning is virtually all that has appeared
thus far on this side, save the bare figures,
appended to the Commissioners report to
the Senate on this bill.
The public objections to these estimates
are not shaken in the least by the rail-
reads brief. The facts as 10 the Montelio
cutoff remain as before. that the railroad
crmpany is now charging the District and
the government with half the cost of
curing for it right Of way to replace its
OLD Washington branch line south from
Monticello To Florida avenue The value of
tf.. l., l..
estimated by it at S36."'t0. The value of the
Lands to be taken and the cost OF the cut
"T to replace this right of way is now
placed at 1911 $50, of which $500, 600 is for
the lands alone. half Of which entire sum
* charged against the public as attrib-
utable to the elevation OF tn lines. The
absurdity of the proposition is obvious
Even We're the grade crossings on the
line Of this cutoff from Montello TO Eek
iLetoH eliminated. which they are not the
only reasonable basis for estimating the
pubiicS share of the cost of the new line
""Ud be to charge it with the damages
resulting from this new occupation of the
land, in accordance with the rigft-of-way
rule which prevails IN general elsewhere
than in Washington and which here pre-
walls in the Pennsylvania bill The rail-
roads brief shows that the estimate Is high
because 1t has been decided by the cor
Ioratfon that it is wiser to buy large
area or land than mere sufficiency in
order that there should be no future dam
ages. The District would greatly prefer to
assume those damages and let the railroad
company merely replace its old right of
way with a new Understanding that these
damages were incurred in the eiimina ton of
the grade crossings along this line, which
l. not the case.
The only proposition now advanced to ex-
cuse the inclusion of the cost of eeyatiug
the terminal station in the charges at
tr:buted to the elimination of the grade
crossings is the mere dictum Of the road
that this Is a necessary change, and. there
fore. is thus to be classified The public
Stll holds that the railroad alone should
bear the cost of it's new terminals stations
roundhouses and permanent plant in gen
erai, and hopes for opportunity to be hea rd
through its champions on the floor of the
House.
The whole bill as 1t stands is unsatis-
factory to the people. They want the
grade crossings abolished, but they protest
against being robbed in the performance
The House should tomorrow act for the de-
fense of the local and the public interests
by either radically amending the bill in
these obnoxious particulars OF requiring
pCstponement until a later date when more
deliberate consideration can be given to
the entire measure than is to be afforded
in TIE tag end of single District day.