The Washington herald., 1908-01-17
DISCUSS CAR Lines
Continued from Page

Continued from Page
said the Washington Railway and Elec-
| trio Company does not want a cross
town line. for they have monopoly Of
the service as II stands, and need spend
no more money for construction.
James i. Feeney, ex-president of the
Bookblnders' Union. and chairman Of the
| legislative committee OF the Central
Trades Onion, advocated the immediate
passage Of the Union Station trackage
bill. He said, Every COW town in the
West has a way to get to the railroad
station, and We should have. It's an out
rage. and would be shame to a country
town"
| +. G. COldren, OF the East Washing
ton Citizens. said that II Congress could
| not compel the construction Of a line
after the station trackage bill was
passed, il was Imperative that the cross
town provisions be included in the bin the
company wants, and that the companies
would be benefited as much as the public
/ by the construction Of the lines 20 the
/ Union Station.
GaIiaudet Makes Plea.
President GalIaudet. Of the Deaf and
Dumb institution, said he has lived at
Kendall Green for fifty years, and has
seen the city grow where 1t has been
/ open country lie made an urgent plea
| for the construction OF the cross-town
| line.
II .-..-z A. U~ftkte oLsecffov bt-
referring to the Slbley Hospital which
was built on North Capitol street. after
the construction OF the traction line. Mr.
Keith had a petition bearing the names
of about 200 persons. Directing to the
construction Of the lines on Eighth street.
and il was signed by. among others,
Capt oyster, president OF the school
board, pastors of churches along the pro-
posed route, and schOoi-teachers employed
ia the schools on the line His objection,
based on the Inconvenience to the pa
tents in the Casualty Hospital, on
Seventh and Eighth streets and Massa-
chusetts avenue. was answered by Mr.,
Smith, who is president of the governing
board Of that hospital
All the citizens were we'll pleased with
the hearing and there were a score
| present who did not speak
At the session Of the committee this
morning Gen. Harries will be called upon
to answer some questions arising from
! consideration Of his statements yester-
day.
At the Morning session.
At the morning session OF the committee.
Vice President Harries. OF the Washington
Railway and Electric Company, was pres
eut. and made a strong appeal to the
committee to DO nothing with the Madden
universal transfer amendment He made
the point that in the old days of sepa-
rate companies here. there was no sug-
gestion that one company should carry
a passenger who had paid his fare 10 the
other corporation.
Concerning the operating expenses Of
the present companies. ne said that the
requirements Of Congress had been such
that the companies had been put 10 enor-
nous expense, and that the further add
ton Of the universal transfer proposition
would only further burden them.
He made the statement that with all
the improvements that have been made,
the electric cars make the trip from East
Capitol and Fifteenth streets 10 George
town IN only ten minutes less time than
! il took the old horse cars.
In no other city in the country is the
operation 80 expensive or the original
cost Of installation so expensive as in
Washington" said the general New
York is the only city TO which Il can be
compared at al.
Underground Trolley.
Congress heard something about the
underground trolley system. and In some
way made the local companies install ii
| here. / do not know how. But do know
that the companies have been extremely
liberal in the matter Of transfers. As We
give them now, q passenger may ride for
fourteen miles for 4l-6 cents. although the
system cost three and a half times as
much as other overhead systems. That.
then. is the equivalent Of a ride Of forty
miles on a system with an overhead
I trolley
Concerning other burdens which he
claims are borne by the companies, he re
ferred TO the taxes paid. This includes
a franchise tax Of per cent. tax Of
$3.50 on real estate. and, in addition.
crossing policeman tax. This latter, he
said. was unjust to the companies, and
that so far as they are concerned, they
would prefer to have regular officers en-
ployed in the work.
Referring again TO the universal trans
/ fers. he said that his company has AS
miles Of road and that the Capital Trac-
ton Company has but forty-four miles.
That would Indicate. he said, that the
other company would get the money and
his company would do the hauling. He
said. further. there Is grave question as
To the legality Of such universal trans
fer bill
All through the hearing, Representative
Sims. Of Tennessee, questioned Gen. Har-
ries closely and made it evident that he
believes the traction companies have had
the best Of # for some time, and that
there is every reason TO believe that they
have made as much or more money on
their investments as other companies in
other cities.