The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-01-28
story OF this sort is tiresome; thisais in-
:terjected for the large and Innocent ma


story Of this sort is tiresome; thisais in-s
terjected for the large and innocent m -
8jority.
The next fact to which Z desire to call
attention In this remarkable statement
lis the claim that the road has been Dur
sdened with the obligation to haul Dor
$ers, mechanics and school children, az
certain specified hours of the day. at half
price. It is enumerated among the bur
dens OF the company. remember very
distinctly that when Mr.. Bemiss, with
pathos In his voice, called the attention
5 of the Street Committee to this fearful
burden, practical member OF the com
mittee rose to his fest and said Mr.
L;emiss in rearrangins our terms With
your company, we shall be glad 10 strike
out of your charter the provisions which
impose this burden upon your company.
Mr. Bemiss blushed, stammered. gagged.
struggled with hirnelf for a moment, and
finally managed to say: II would prefer
to be relieved in some other direction.
rho view which a friend of the city
government and the peoples advocate on
this occasion takes of this labor and
school ticket statement is simply this:
That the company collected, during tle
period mentioned, from 1896 to 1898, 53s, 1876
labor fares and 1o7,414 school clildren's
fares The collection OF this enormous
re, cnue from a limited class Of the COM
1nunity during a few specified hours OF
the early morning and late afternoon Is
what the Representative OF this COM
pany describe pathetica]ly as an unbear-3
able burden, so bitter and SO oppressive
that a generous member of the committee
voluntarily offered to relieve them OF 1t,
ara Nj. Bemiss as promptly and patheti-
cal1V declined to be relieved.
.sMECHANICS' rides"
totc ;,, wonderful
petition is to the effect that between Sep
TENDER. 1896, and October. 1899, three
Years, this corporation paid into the city
treasury the enormous sum of S23. 06l So.
But the statement goes on to show that
this is not all. and it reminds the Council
that the company's books show that
from June. 1896. to 1899. they furnished
to the mechanics of this city $50. 1876 rides,
and that, therefore, there has been SAY
ing to the people who paid these fares
of S13.49i.90. It is q, statement child
like and bland, but the writer is at a loss
to see how money expended in railway
travel can. be classed as a saving. Dur
ing the same period they say truly that
they carried 10I.47i school children, and
that the children saved by that means
s., 6S6.S5 AS i'll the other case, SO in this,
the writer fails to see or appreciate the
pathos of the statement.
The next statement deserves close at
tention, and l will quote it in full. while
the city did not receive that amount into
her treasury, neither did this company,
for it remained in the pockets of the
workngmen and parents of school chill
dren. Surely this fact ought to be con-
sidered in determining what burden of
taxation should be imposed The truth
is that neither the money saved to the
workingman nor the fare paid by the
workingman went into the city treasury
Neither the money paid by the school
children nor the money saved by the
school children went into the city treas
ury. So that there is no Offset, SO far as
the interests of the city are concerned,
against taxation. It is true, however.
that if you add together the sl3.49t 80 saved
to the workingmen and the S2,6S6.S5 saved
to the school children. you have the
amount of money which did so directly
into the treasury of the railway COM
pany because the half fares which were
saved to these two classes are exactly
equal to the half fares which went into
the till of the company. And the amount
which they collected in half fares from
these two classes, by their own confess
sion and statement is SIG. Isl. 75-an amount
and a class of receipts absolutely forced
on them by the strict requirements of the
charter under which they operated-
THREE I1ILLION FARES.
The next remarkable statement is that
during the year 1S9S-99 the company re-
ceived three million fares. Multiplying
the fares by five, you have receipts
amounting to $4,000 which is five per
cent. on IS. 100000. Now, then, the total
capitalization of the road, according to
the last statements made, is s1,100,00o;
that is to say, $4,000 in bonds and 100000
in stock. Read these figures and weep at
the distressing condition of the Sratui-
tous stockholders. N1r. BemiSs letter
now makes the stock account Sl,ooo00O.
Another interesting statement follows,
which shows that this company has spent
the enormous sum in original construction
for paving of s25,10S What right has the
city, as corporation, to weep over that
matter2 Did not the bondholders pay it?
Next we learn that since the original
construction they have spent s7.76172 in
paving. What has the city to do with
the cons truction account of the company,
and how does the expenditure of the COM
pany's money for paving serve to I'LL the
Golfers of the city?
At this point allow me to interject the
undeniable fact that in Philadelphia every
street railway line is compelled by law
to pave, and does pave, every foot of
every street it occupies. from curb to
curb, in the best possible manner. keep
the roadhed in absolute repair and act
ually by mandamus of the courts, has
been also required, as a. part of the con-
tract, not only to pave and keep IN re
pair but absolutely to keep the streets
clean The street railways of Philadel-
phia have, as an actual fact, expended
on street paving alone s12,o0o, COO: ana
philadelphia, once noted as being the
worst paved city in the United States.
is now acknowledged to be the best paved
city5in the United States.
"DEAD HEAD FARES
It would be interesting to the public