The Washington times., 1911-10-12
TONIGHT'S MEETING OF CITI
ZENS' COMMITTEES.

A conference will be held tonight oi
chairmen of railway committees of the
various citizens associations, primarily
for the purpose of taking steps to i'm
press Congress with the universally
and reasonableness of the demand fol
free street car transfers.
If this conference shall conduct its
business at once with moderation ant
also with the guidance which can only
be afforded by a keen vision of the
great set of public utility problems be
fore the city, it may easily be the
starting Of an epochal movement.
The question of getting universal
transfers is important, but it is only
one phase of the big problem which
cannot much longer be denied con
sideration in a fashion which its big
ness and seriousness demand.
The whole tangled fabric of relations
between the public and the public serv,
ice corporations needs attention. And
the point which tonight's meeting needs
to keep in mind is, that there is a bet
ter chance right now of getting Con-
gress seriously to look into these af-
fairs than there has ever been before.
Congress is getting somewhat into
touch and step and sympathy with
modern thought concerning these ques-
tions of municipal management. 1t is
sitting up and taking notice. The old
fashioned notion that public regulation
was assault on vested right is not so
dominant in Congress or in the District
Committees as it was a few years ago.
Therefore the time is ripe for a
sane, clear, effective presentation to
Congress of the needs of Washington
This is not to suggest that the uni
versal transfer issue should be mini
mized. 1t is a good thing to have a
certain, clear, specific issue on which
to center attention and around which
to organize forces. But it will be un-
fortunate if advantage is not taken of
the present arousal of public opinion
to press for bigger things.
At the very outset there is need for
broad survey of the whole field of
public service. That survey is not to
be made by a casual conference of
citizens, however intelligent and pat
riotic. 1t needs to consider the rela-
tions of all the utility plants to each
other and to the people. 1t needs to
know their financial status, their pres
ent needs, and their present abilities
to give service. 1t needs to consider
especially the probable demands which
the future will impose upon them, and
to recognize the necessity of making
provision for meeting those demands
when that future shall become a press
ing present.
Universal transfers need to be con-
sidered in connection with demands for
better cars and more of them; for bet
ter suburban service; for the opening
of the downtown car lines SO that
cars from the outlying regions may
have direct access to the central Sec
tions of the city; for cheaper gas; for
telephone service at reasonable rates
and on fair terms.
In the long run these things cannot
be satisfactorily settled one at time.
The whole situation needs to be con-
sidered with reference to all phases of
the problem. The necessities of the
city should be balanced off against the
abilities and capacities of the COM
panies to meet the demands.
Such a sweeping survey of con-
ditions on both sides as is required
should be made by a strongly or.
ganized public utilities commission
That has been the dream of progressive
Washingtonians for years. The chance
OF getting It has increased year by
year until now there is every JUST.
fication for the hope that another
session of Congress will do something
for the town in this direction.
This is the time for initiating a
movement to secure from Congress the
long-delayed recognition of the peoples
concern about management of the pub.
lie utilities. For many, many years
the people have had little thought on
Capitol Hill; the companies have been
easily dominant there. Times and con.
ditions are changing. No more i'm.
portant work could be accomplished
by the meeting tonight than to give
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