Perth Amboy evening news., 1911-05-26

most, the trOlley company or the
people who wanted to get some
where, but couldn't.
They, too, had that method of
fighting been continued very long
it would Don begin to have its eff
feet on business here. Hundreds OF
people come to Perth Amboy from
n%eighboring towns every day to do
their shopping. They have no in
terest in our fight with the Public
Service. All they want is to get
into the city as quickly as possible,
do their errands and get home again.
The annoyances of being held up on
switches is bad enough without
taking any deliberate steps to tie up
traffic.
But with a halt called In the hos
t%ilities, the city's interests must be
protected. The franchise which the
trolley company holds to use our
streets is a valuable one and is in
creasing in value every year. The
concessions offered by the company
in exchange are small enough at best
and If a law has been passed by
the legislature relieving the trolley
company Of some Of these obliga-
tons, another law should be passed
relieving the city of some of its OBJ
legations, such as granting the troll
ley the exclusive use of the streets,
for Instances.
These things will be all straight
ened out in due time. The new
public utilities law has been in OPP
erationf but a month or two and If
every city has presented as formid-
able a list of matters for the mem
bers to consider as has Perth Amboy
1t is evident that all cannot receive
attention at once. The commission
will doubtless see that justice is
done to all concerned. To ascertain
the facts will require investigation
into each individual case.
There is reason to believe that
the Public Service Corporation is
doing everything in its power to en-
the public utility commits
.sioners and will discredit both the
omission and the new law In the
eyes of the people If it can. 1t has
already started such tactics. COM
menting on which the Newark
Evening News says:
1.-THE certiorari proceedings In the
Supreme Court to review the ac-
LlOu Vi IlC L uDtlC OjIllIltS bOdTu III
the matter of school %children's
fares will be of the utmost value,
If, as is anticipated, they uphold
the right of the board to determine
the reasonableness of fares on the
basis of the facts.
This right is enjoyed by other
effective public utility commissions
and by the Interstate Commerce
Commission. Once assured Of it,
the New Jersey board would have all
the power necessary to carry out the
purposes for which 1t was created.
This would leave only legal
points subject to court decision,
namely, questions involving the con-
stitutionallty of the law and ques-
tons involving the boards jurisdic-
ton. The jurisdiction of the board
is clearly defined and amply broad.
Constitutional points would be OF
rather are occurrence.
THE nubbin of the whole matter,
from the point of view of effective
regulation, is that the board should
have the power to determine the
reasonableness Of rates and fares in
the light of the evidence before 1t.
ACCORDING TO the law, the court
cannot upset an order of the board
except on the ground that the board
had no jurisdiction or that the evil
dence before 1t when the order was
issued was insufficient to Justify the
order.
''The Public Service Corporation
has started in to tie up the board by
going to court on technicalities, In
apparently, of making the
public utilities law appear fneffec-
tive and the board appear either
powerIess or incompetent to the
people, and by this strategy, to en-
compass the repeal OF the law. It's
pretext is, of course, that legal con-
siderations require 1t to do so.
For the present, these tactics
have brought about delay and have
embarrassed both the board and the
public. The Public Service Corpo-
ration has not yet reconciied itself
to the fact, plain as this fact is,
that the new law and the new board
will go ahead and do the regulating
fairly but vigorously, and that pub
lie utilities IN this State are going
to heed the regulation.
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