Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1910-05-06
Henderson Law Now In Force.

The Washington and Rockville Railway
Company has filed bill in the United
States Court at Baltimore against the
States Attorney and Sheriff of this county
to restrain the enforcement of the Hender-
son law, which recently passed the General
Assembly, and last Friday was set by the
court for hearing the application for pre-
liminary restraining order on the ground
that the new rates would be confiscatory.
The time was too short for the Attorney
General to be designated to make answer
for the defendants and the attorney for
the utilities commission had not yet been
appointed. Under the circumstances, Sem
ator Blair Lee and Mr.. George H. Lamar
consented to appear in these preliminary
proceedings, The answer submitted shows
that the substitution of two for three fare
zones north of keiser's required by the law,
simply grants to the residents in the north
ern section of the road an equal ride for
five cents that has been charged in the
Pdoe ny liiio iOdu CNCI tllC IOlS liedTtSt llle
District of Columbia that the charge of
fifteen instead of twenty cents between
Rockville and the District is reasonable
according to the cOmpanys own standard
of charges as fixed on the first fare zone
in the lower section of the road. Atten-
ton was also called to the fact that under
the laws governing common carriers, in
Guiding the Public Utilities Law. discrimi-
nations could not be made either between
persons Or places; and that the refusal of
the company to grant Communication rates
to Rockville. while it made the grant to
Washington. was such discrimination
In the complaint the company claimed
to have an Understanding debt of $272,-
079, besides a noninterest- bearing debt of
$55,075.53, or an outstanding basis on
which earnings should be calculated of
1927 ,154.53. The response of the defen-
dants gave a history of the company,
showing that, according to the estimates
made by the company, all of its assets
amounted only to about $137. 900 that
it pays taxes to the county on an assess
ment of only $68.000 that all of the
stock, bonds and so-called floating debt is
shown by the public records to belong to
the Washington Railway and Electric Com
pany, as also those Of the Potomac Power
Company, which supplies the current, and
the Georgetown and Tennallytown Rail
way, over whose tracks passengers are
transported from the District line into
managed by the same officials and in the in
terest of the Washington Railway and
Electric Company. The indications of
the answer are that much of the so-called
basis for earnings is water; and il is
claimed that the amount, more than $685.
900, received by the company last year
is an amply sufficient income to justify a
reduction in rates. Attention also was
called to the Maryland law, under which
the corporation was organized, as a basis
for the argument that the law prohibits
debts on the credit of the company in ex-
cess of the capital stock. which is $4,000.
The court refused to grant the temporary
order, but allowed the company
to amend its bill and submit more detailed
prior to another hearing, which
is set for May 10. In the meantime the
law has gone into force and the company
has increased its Communication rates as
much as il can under the law.