The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-07
cost of maintenance, depreciation and

cost of maintenance, depreciation and operation.
 It appears, therefore, that the fixed in
 vestment in the two Ensley lines is large ly more than in the East Lake line; but greater contrast Is apparent in consid-
 ering the cost of operation, for we oper- ate our cars over a total mileage of N0o miles on the two Ensley lines as against 13 miles on the East Lake line. The East Lake line is solidly built up from Birmingham to East Lake, through Avondale and Woodlawn, and the popula-
 tion is strictly suburban. The over
 whelming majority of the people living
 along the line are engaged in business in Birmingham, so that they make daily use of the cars, and the center of popula-
 tion is near halfway between Birming-
 ham and East Lake, so that the average
 haul of each passenger does not exceed 3a or four miles. On the other hand
 both the North and South Ensley lines
 are comparatively unsettled and both
 Ensley and Pratt City are complete com munities in themselves, the great ma5ori- ty of the residents in both places finding employment where they live. The travel on these lines is, therefore, largely through travel from Pratt City or Ensley to Birmingham. These lines are, there fJ'e, in reality inter-urban lines, serving a population whose center is much kfarther away from Birmingham than IS the center of population on the East Lake
 line, and resulting in longer average haul per passenger.
 Moreover, we are obligated by con- tract made with the East Lake Land company, long prior to our contract with the city, to maintain a fare of cents on the East Lake line; a contract as invio- lable as Is your contract with us. That line, you will recall was built by tho
 East Lake Land company in promotion of the sale of its lots, was operated for
 many years at an enormous loss, and, in
 the deliberate opinion of the president
 and vice president of this company. after
 the most careful consideration, 1t Is not
 today yielding reasonable profit, under a fair apportionment of investment, inter- est charges, depreciation and operating expenses. We have nevertheless ob-
 served our contract obligations regarding
 the East Lake line faithfully and have
 borne our losses patiently.
 |, Proposition
 Notwithstanding our contract rights
 and notwithstanding the equities of the
 situation in our favor we hereby propose | that we will sell to the public at con venient places in Ensley, Pratt City and Birmingham, communication tickets with out limit as to the time of use and with
 out transfer privileges. good for a trip by the purchaser between Birmingham and EnSley, over eltner llHe, dS loiioWS tickets for 20 cents.
 | 8 tickets for 50 cents.
 | IT tickets for $1.
 | 50 tickets for $2.S0.
 | Our proposition is conditioned upon It's | acceptance in entire settlement of the | controversy.
 We have been heretofore selling such tickets in books of 50 for $2.S0. but they have not been used to a great extent. This proposition is such as to place the | tickets in the hands of all. This is an | enormous concession on our part and will, if accepted. as we estimate, entail a loss | to us of between $45,O00 and s5O,0OO per ar-
 mum on the two Ensley lines. The fare will thereby be reduced to approximately
 6 cents between Ensley and Birmingham We make the proposition, notwithstand- | ing our belief that the fare now charged
 our fixed legal rights. and notwithstand- | ing ou rbelief- that the fare now charged
 is reasonable. because we earnestly de.
 sire the good will of the people of the
 district, and we stand ready to enter into
 a contract with the city in accordance ! with our proposition. Of course, we wil l insist that the contract with the city vii
 protect the company against any waiver | of It's rights in the contract with the city
 except as implied by the foregoing propo' sition, If accepted. Respectfully yours.
 BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY. LIGHT ANI | POWER co.
 By A. IL. FORD. President.