Evening journal., 1911-08-21
BEGIN BATTLE
OVER CARFARE
Utilities Board VIII Begin
Inquiry Into Strip Ticket
Question Tomorrow
MAY DIVE INTO THE
WATERED STOCK PROBLEM

Members OF the Board OF Public
Utility Commissioners will meet to-
morrow morning to begin their in;
quiry into the question Of whether OF
not the Wilmington and Philadelphis
Traction Company shall be ordered
to restore six for quarter tickets "a
public SALE Oscar I. Crosby, presi.
dent of the Traction Company, will
appear In person in response to the
summons issued by the Utility Com
missioners upon the company 1t is
expected that Herbert n. Ward, coun-
sci for the company, also will be pres.
ent
Just how the Utility Commission
will proceed is to be determined to-
morrow morning at IL o'clock, when
the Board will meet. II is expected
that the session will be public. City
Solicitor Daniel o. Hastings is legal
adviser for the Board, and will be
present.
Whether Mr.. Hastings or the mem-
bers OF the Board themselves will con-
duct the examination is to be deter
mined tomorrow. One OF the COM
missioners today said he didn't know
exactly what procedure would be fol-
lowed.
City Solicitor Hastings today said
he did not know just what plan
would be followed, but he said he
would advise the board to examine
witnesses 10 show that strip tickets
had been sold at the rate of six-for-
a-Quarter for many years, and that the
sale of these tickets had been dis
continued This would cause the
company to show cause why il had
abolished the tickets.
Whether the commissioners tomor-
row will call upon the company to
produce a financial statement. set
ting forth the capitalization. the
amount of bonded Indebtedness. the
operating expenses. interest charges.
rentals. etc. of the Traction Company
is not known.
I The method Of ascertaining the ply
r. steal valuation Of the railway proper
D. ty and also finding what would be a
. reasonable return above operating
interest, upkeep. dividend and othel
10 essential. charges on the physlca
e. valuation basis Us a method that
10 being followed in other states y
III public utility commissioners fif-Srfe 81
= mining what are reasonable rates.
For instance 100000 worth c
lc bonds were issued on a railway ex
j. tension from Wilmington to Edg
= Moor which railway extension in al
probability could be constructed FOL
q $4,000. Yet interest has to be met or
j. 100000 OF bonds issued on this little
railway. and the public is asked to
g pay increased carfares to meet interest
charges on this big bond issue. This is
one of the many items that would
C figure if'the Utility Commissioners de-
t eide to put on bathing suits and plunge
into the watered stock pool of railway
flnanciering.
President Crosby. of the Traction
Company. was away today. General
n Manager Heindle said that a financial
statement showing bond issues, oper-
g ating expenses and all other finan-
d cial items would require considerable
! time to prepare He did not know
o whether the company would furnish
such a statement If called upon by the
u Commission to do so.
u II was said today that complaint
may be made TO the Interstate Com
merce Commission because Of the abo-
lition of strip tickets on the cars be-
tween Wilmington and Chester