New-York tribune., 1907-12-09
NEW P. S. LAWS LIKELY.
WIDER SCOPE SOUGHT.
WIDER
Subscoy Bonds Not a Debt Of the
Citu. 1t Is ArgUed.

Many suggestions for legislation to facilitate the
work of the Public Service Commission ana IoE
amendments TO some Of the existing laws eo'elh
ing transit conditions in this city VIII be contained
in the report the commission 10 the Leelsiatuie
,cor5,np to present indications Prominent among
the relief measures discussed viii be without oouO'
one 10 exempt bonds for the construction OF iutuie
subuavs from the debt limit; perhaps amendments
- -ba rsbere law to permit a longer term OF lease
of sllbways than the twenty year term no" a
Iovaad and perhaps new legislation relating TO the
removal Of the New York CentraIs tracks from
Eleventh avenue
Whether or not the discussion Of these changes
1u take the form of recommendations by the com
,,5Sson has moi beeu decided yet II seems likely
that most of them. at least will not be presented
as recommendations by the commission aI'hous"
some of them are Of such immediate conhecuon
with the daily work Of that body as to make such
p step entirely proper. The probabe course VII
p. for the report to detail the suggestions sWhlch
The commissioners and others have discussed pre-
scntins them for the consideration OF the Legs
lature. -
The renor4 Of the Public Service Commission for
the first six months Of its work must be presented
"a +l,e legislature early in January. Work on illls
rcport is now under way The experience OF the
first six months has shown that, vast as are me
mowers granted to the commission by the rage
Merritt law which created it to replace the Ola
Railroad Commission and the State Lighting Com
mission many things must be changed, and per-
haps more power grantee in certain cases before
the commission can furnish the relief for which IL
WIS organized.
Primarily while relief from the present
transit evils can afforded, and is being Afforded
bv the commission in compelling the companies
to operate their equipment to the maximum OF
their service capacity, the commission mas fouho
4 great crying need for further transit facAiueS-
slIbvavs naturally, since the public wants RAPID
transit s subway loop TO connect the Williams
burg Bridge with the present subway Is unoer
way now. and contracts for tie Coney Island SUD-
way will let in a short time But these harolZ
scratch the surface Of the situation, and the COM
mission finds itself confronted with the declaration
hv the city authorities that the debt limit pTactl-
calIy has been reached, that city finances are III
had condition and that appropriation of money for
further subways is not TO be thought Of
This situation has been discussed much "ithil
Tho commission and by individual members with
outsiders in many fields Of work Arguments
have been advanced 10 the commissioners that thls
is nlanifestly unjust. harmful to the citys pros
pects and great hardship TO the citizens II HAS
been pointed in private 20 the COMMISSIONERS
and publicly at d recent hearing, that the present
subway bonds are costing the city nothing for III
terest and will cost the city nothing TO retire since
4 sinking fund being set aside for that purpose
Really, then they do not constitute DEBT on the
ndrt Of the city, and should not be considered
Is 4 bar TO further expenditure for the benefit Of
citizens.
subway bonds these arguments run should be
treated as are the bonds for the clty5 water sup
n
limit. The Water Department pays its expenses
and actually yields a margin Of profit. SO also a
proht is obtained from the Dock Department Be
cause the bonds for water supply work and DOCK
work arc not counted in the debt limit being really
no expense TO the city, improvements in these de-
pertrnents can be undertaken without harmful
delay.
1t is entirely probable that the commissions re-
port will discuss in way the amendment Of
the present rapid transit act with special view
-l,. Ic-aer e1fr of
lease of new subways- At present the law pro-
v1des for twenty-year lease, with privilege OF
renewal for twenty years, at an entirely new
valuation. 10 be arrived at in the last two years
the original term. Many people have main
tanned that the twenty-year lease is so short a
term that there would be little no inducement
for capitalists to undertake the operation OF new
subvIays en- such terms. This. of course, has a
direct and important bearing on the future Work
of the commission
Recent experience in connection with prepara-
ton for a general investigation of lighting COM
panies in this city has shown plainly the need for
amendment of the Public Service Commissions law
:tself to the sections relating TO lighting com
panies. The commissioners and the legal staff
lave found some Of these provisions ambiguous
scme which impose restrictions on the work which
the commission has desired TO undertake Practi-
cally all Of the sections relating to lighting COM
ranies the jurisdiction Of the commission over
them were taken from the old law under which
the State Commission of Gas and Electricity had
taken without the changing OF q word. This re-
suited in a condition where the commission mas
much less power over lighting companies than il
has over railroad and express coInpanies-not the
authority, in fact, TO take up promptly some
phases of complaints price and service.
The death avenue situation, although il is
nearly two wears since the Saxe-Stanley law was
passed ordering the New York Central to remove
its tracks from Eleventh avenue still remains un-
changed and deaths continue with startling fire.
auency. The Public Service Commission has pre-
pared the way for condemnation proceedings
against the West Side tracks. but many of the
members feel that this Will not solve the problem
there II the tracks ever are to be torn up. some
substitute must be provided Much study has
been given TO this problem. and discussion Of it
probably will occupy an important place in the
commissions report.
recommends such action. legislation In plenty will
be presented providing that the telephone and
telegraph companies be placed under the jurisdic-
ton OF the commission. Senator Page. who faith
cred the Public Service Commissions bill has an
nounced that he would present such legislation,
and ii seems likely to meet general favor. There
considerable clamor last year the part CT
opponents 10 the present law because the tele-
graph and telephone companies omitted.
This done because of q desire overload
that measure and complicate the situation. Such
precautions Will not be necessary at the coming
legislative session.
COMPLAINT AGAINST N. Y. C. SERVICE.