Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-06-11

1
chairman. and A r. Server, secretary.
| Mr. Hume's Argument.
| Mr.. Hume then addressed the board on
| the subject under consideration.
THE members Of your railroad commit
tee." he said. after many meetings and
careful consideration. desire again to place
themselves on record for the elimination OF
| grade crossings and the building OF a union
| depot, with a big enough door and wide
| enough open. which shall for the future ac-
| commodate any and all railroads desiring
to enter the capital city of this great. grow
| ing country. With a depleted municipal
| treasury, and the two important questions
| OF water and sewerage to be solved. the
| contributing of millions of dollars to a rail.
road Tor the purpose of building a monu-
| mental depot on residence avenue in this
| beautiful city seems to your committee
| hardly the thing to do. Congress is now
| considering an onerous personal tax bill.
! One of the purposes to be served is the pro-
posed contribution to the union depot. I
venture the assertion that could the tax
payers of the District have been heard,
| there would not have been a single voice
| raised against the position long taken by
this board to have all railroads and manu-
| factories placed south of Pennsylvania ave-
| nue.. 1t is the natural and proper place
for this class of business. and they should
not be allowed north of that street. as the
property owners in South Washington have
anticipated such a course for many years
and values there have adjusted themselves
| accordingly.
Result of Investigation.
when your committee began its investi-
cation Of the railroad legislation proposed
for this session of Congress not single
member vas In favor of the proposition we
now recommend. AS the examination Of
| the question in all It's bearings continued
1t became more and more apparent that
| the interests of the District of Columbia
| would not be best Subserved by the plan
| contained in the Senate bill. although that
| for the first time proposed a union station.
| which this board has long striven for. This
plan, however, required the giving of over
| S5.0o0.OoO from the revenues of the Dis
| trict of Columbia and the general govern
ment to aid the railroad in making the i'm
provements in addition to giving them the
| use of lands owned by the government to
the value of about S1.J0O,0e0, not to men
| ton the question of the wisdom Of Congress
| in permitting the construction of tunnel
between the two most beautiful and impos-
| ing buildings in Washington and probably
| in The world. This means the paying of
| about 81 10000 to secure a union station
and to remove grade crossings in this city.
| Considering the matter from the point of
view of the taxpayer, this amount seemed
| absolute eXorbitant.
| I'm endeavoring to find some plan to Sc
| cure the same benefits without too heavily
| burdening the taxpayer attention was
| called 10 the action or Governor Crane on
| the Boston railroad subway and several
| other similar cases. Further investigation
! induced the committee to believe that If the
! government itself had to pay the entire cost
| of the monumental union station, and a
| large percentage of the cost of the balance
| OF the desired improvements 1t should be
| entitled to some share of the revenue de-
| rived from the railroad franchises in the
| District. The committee also believes that
any railroad now existing or hereafter to
| be constructed, on reaching the District
| line should have the right to the joint use
| OF the union station and other terminal IA
! cillties here under equitable conditions. The
| whole question thus resolved itself into one
| of purely business nature. 1t means either
| to burden the District with the payment
| OF its share of the S.000.OoO and to delay
| other desired Improvements for years to
| come or to relieve the taxpayers of all ex-
| pense for this purpose and to permit the
| water sewer. street and park improvements
TO go forward promptly without increasing
| the taxation of our citizens.
| THE committee believe that a railroad
| commission should be appointed at once for
| the District of Columbia to which should
be referred for settlement all questions re-
and management of the proposed railroad
terminals in this District. and the bills
passed last year should be repealed"
The Boston Subway.
Mr. S. Herbert Giesy spoke on the ex-
perfence in Boston in constructing a sub
way by the city, to be rented to the rail-
| roads using 1t. The subway there was SO
great success that the elevated railroad
| company of that city came forward and
asked that another subway be built and
| they offered 5000 OGO to the city of Boston
| 20 ou.ia II, IN order that they might have
1t for forty years. Gov. Crane vetoed a
| Dill for that purpose because he did not
| regard the offer as sufficiently liberal to the
city The offer. he said, sufficient to
N 10 fLA
but thirty-two to thirty-five years, and if
the oner was accepted IL would result in
giving the railroad free use of the proposed
subway for from five to eight years. Mr.
GieSy wanted to see this principle appled
to the railroad situation here According
to the bill passed by the Senate and now
before the House of Representatives the
proposition is the reverse of the Boston
plan. The District of Columbia is to put up
money for this union station and it is
never to get the money back. Speaking of
the cost Of grading and improving the
plaza in front of the proposed union sta
ton on Massachusetts, avenue Mr.. Giesy
said he could not find that the pending
bill provides that the United States should
pay half of the cost of this work. The COM
| mittee's report placed the cost of this work
at $.DO,U0. and he said that figure by
mistake was $300,O00 in excess of what
should have been given. He also said the
expense of the general government and the
District would be nearer 100000 than
81. 100000.
Municipal ownership of the kind l hav.
suggested" said Mr.. Giesy lis not a new
thing. We, in this city. behind the
times. That is the trouble
He spoke of the subway now being con-
structed in New York an evidence of
what can be done in the way Of municipal
ownership. and also of the experience of
Berlin, Germany. in the construction and
operation Of public works of this nature
Several members of the board suggested
that they desired to speak on this subject
and hoped that Mr.. Giesy would be brief,
so that they might have a chance to ad-
DIR ess the board. Mr. Hume said they would
all have an opportunity to speak. The pre-
siding officer said Mr.. Giesy was presenting
the case for the committee
Mr.. Warner Wants Question Answered
Il have asked a question In good faith"
said Mr.. Warner "and L think 1t should be
answered. l want to know how many men,
bers of this committee have signed this re-
port. There are thirty members of the
committee"
There has been a good deal of hocus
pocus about that committee" responded Mr.
II.rr..4 k%- l1l