Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-01-12
MAYOR IN FAVOR
OF SUBWAYS TO
Be OWNED BY CITY
In Letter to Head of Railway
Company Proposition Is
Discussed.
PLAN is TO LEASE TUBES
TO OPERATING CORPORATION
Does Not Believe That Market
Site Is Involved in Scheme
Under Consideration.

Mayor Haussling today sent letter
to Thomas N. McCarter, president of
the Public Service Railway Company,
| in reply TO the letters with regard to
the Improvement of trolley service and
/ the relief of the present congestion at
central points, through the construc
ton Of subways.
! The mayor says that he does not
/ speak In behalf of his colleagues in dis
cussing the proposed Improvement. but
feels that the knows the views of his
colleagues on the subject and believes
that the city and the company can
come to some agreement
Believes subways Feasible.
In reference to the subway that Mr..
McCarter mentioned In his letter, the
mayor says that he has long felt the
plan to be feasible and suggested II in
his annual message. He says, however,
that If subways are built they will be
built by the city and owned by the
city and leased TO the company for
a limited time He states that II
the city should construct subways In
a street all lines running on that street
should be operated in the subways and
not on the surface. The city should
also have the right to extend the sub-
| way SySIeIl IIOIil llihN W AhA'C VI PN-~-
new subways. As to the abandonment
of the Morris canal the mayor says
that the city could not with propriety
take the lead In the fight for canal
| abandonment.
He further says that Mr.. McC8rter-s
suggestion regarding the removal of
! the market is not necessarily involved
| in this proposition and for that reason
! refrains from commenting on II.
The following Is the text Of tho
mayors letter TO Mr.. McCarter:
January IL. 191l
''Hon Thomas n. McCarter, President
Public Service Railway Company.
Newark, N. j.:
saDear sir-Pressure of public business
| incident 10 the new year, and the re-
organization of the several departments
OF the city government. together with
other events related thereto, has pro-
vented heretofore an extended reply to
your favor dated December 20, in which
you submitted, on behalf Of your cor
poration, certain propositions for the
| Improvement of the trolley service and
the relief OF congestion at central
points In the city through the construc-
ton of subways, etc. In discussing the
propositions with you do not attempt
leagues In official life, who will like
wise have to pass upon the questions
involved, but simply to put forward
my own IDEAS. AS, however. l am not
unacuuainted with the feelings of
some Of my colleagues on this subject.
I think l am warranted in expressing
the belief that the city and your COM
pany will be able to evolve some plan
that will be mutually advantageous and
satisfactory.
subways Arc Feasible,
"It seems scarcely necessary for me
to say that ! have long regarded the
construction of some form of subway
OF subways as affording the most
feasible plan to relieve the congestion of
traffic, for. as you note in your letter,
I have dwelt upon this idea in each of
my annual messages. Certainly the
subway system would afford relief
OF congestion which might be termed
radical In comparison with other
schemes, and would insure, most thor
oughly, facility Of operation OF cars
and safety Of passengers In the crowded
sections under all conditions, TAX
ing it for granted. therefore, that the
situation demands the construction of
subways, 1t is proper for me to state
what / regard as fundamental con-
siderations OF stipulations from the
city's point of view, as follows:
Il. The subways should be built and
owned by the city and leased TO the
company at rental to be readjusted
at reasonable intervals II the bonds
necessary for the construction of the
work should be issued so as to mature
| in a relatively short period of time,
say twenty-five or thirty years then
the rental charge might be based upon
interest and amortization charges. If,
however, the city should find It con-
venient TO issue bonds running for a
longer period Of time. say forty or nifty
years, the rental charge should be
more than sffiucient to pay the interest
and establish the sinking fund for the |
retirement Of the securities when they |
become due.
Must Abandon surface Limos.
20. 1t should be understood and |
agreed that when the city has con-
structed a subway in street all the /
lines at present running along that |
street should be operated through the |
subway, so that the cars would be en-
tirely removed from the surface 1t !
can be readily appreciated that even 1
one VI tWp iihoS oAiy ppSf atmb Ou tHe
surface would with the enormous and
inevitable increase Of ordinary vehicu-
lar traffic produce within few years
as great a congestion as that from
which we now suffer.
49, The city should have the right to
extend the subway system from time
to time, or to build new subways as
II may deem necessary, and to require
the company to operate its cars
through these extensions or new sub
WAYS. upon terms similar to those gov
erning the use of the original under
surface routes. II need never be an
ticipated that this power would be un-
reasonably used, 1t Is certain. how
ever, that new centres of congestion
will be created from time to time by
the growth Of the community. The city