Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-05-06
CH|LDREN'S FARE
FIGHT GOES To
SUPREME COURT
Judge Gummere Grants Certlo:.
rari Writ to Public Sery-
ice Railway.
REFUSES TO SUSPEND
COMMISSIONS ORDER
Three-cent Fare Stands n1ring
Final Disnosition of
the Case.
Chief Justice william S. Gummere to-

Chief Justice William S. Gummere to-
day granted a writ of certiorari to the
Public Service Railway Company CIV
ing the company the right to have the
Supreme Court review the action Of
the Public Utilities Commission yester-
. day In ordering a hearing as to whether
or not the company should restore the
three-cent fare for school children
which had been cut off on May 1.
At the same time the chief justice re-
fused to allow the writ to act as stay
of the order issued by the commits
sion that the three-cent fare should be
resumed pending the hearing, and the
school children will still be carried at
the three-cent rate during the pending
Of the writ, which is returnable In ten
days. or at the opening of the new term
OF court.
Fought for Stay.
The issuance Of the writ without
any stay was fought against by
Frank Bergen, general counsel for the
railway company, who insisted that
neither the utilities commission nor
Chief Justice Gummere had the right
to order the Public Service Railway
Company or it's agents to "wilfully'
violate q law. And that is exactly
what we are doing when we sell tick
cts to school children at three cents
r<o .4- of q
present time" said Mr.. Bergen.
Frank H. Sommer, former member
of the utility commission, and who
has now been retained as counsel for
the board, argued that in. a proceeding
OF this kind the company or Its agents
would not l.. wilfully violating the law.
This view was also accepted by Chief
Justice Gl1mmere, who pointed out that
as the viewpoints of the counsel. for
the company and utility commission
differed as to what the real scope OF
the utility act was, there could be no
wilful violation.
Order Given Yesterday.
The order of the Public Utility Conn
mission, which vas delivered to the
street railway company late Friday
afternoon, ordered the company to re-
store the rate for the period of one
month and also arranged for hearing
on the matter on May II. The com
many at once announced that writ
of certiorari would be asked for, as 1t
did not believe the commission had the
right to order it to violate the law
For that reason it was decided to
carry the matter to the higher court
lo YtfilifW .
mission could force the company to
obey the ruling.
In asking for the writ, Mr. Bergen
first called attention 10 the fact that
the public utility act makes II unlaW-
full for the Public Service Corporation
to make or give an undue or unreason-
able advantage to any person or 10
ealty or to give special advantage to
anyone OF to >exact an unjust mileage
or rate.
Replying on these clauses of the act
MIR. Berl n explained that the COM
pany had discontinued the sale OF
school tickets on May l. on the ground
that it was discriminatory and, there
fore, against the provisions of the law
The board, contended Mr.. Bergen,
issued its order of Friday under the
impression [. railway company had
increased the rate of its own Volitlon.
He explained that this was not true
but said that the company had apol-
ished what was called discrimatofy
,.ate in severe terms by the utilities
act. He then called attention to the
penalties provided for violation of the
act and pointed out that the company
could be fined $100 day for every day
the violation existed.
Objects to Writ.
Robert Williams briefly addressed
the court, telling of the action of the
board on Friday, and then said that
Mr.. Sommer would argue the matter
for the utility board. Mr.. Sommer
said that the board objected strongly
to any writ of certiorari superseding
the OF -ers Of the board, and then went
into a lengthy defense of the action
of the board in ordering the renewal
of the sale of tickets after apparently
making the sale of such tickets illegal.
.The statute by it's own effect did
not render the sale of tickets at re-
dueed rate Illegal said Mr.. Sommer.
..The action of the company in abol-
ishing them established change in
classification of fare that was against
the terms Of the act, and for that rea-
son the board had the right to order
the resumption of the sale of tickets
ChiIdrcn's Rate especial"
Mr.. Sommer tnen called attention to
the fact that in two sections of the
utility act the term special is used
in connection with rates, and con-
tended strongly that the school chill
dren rate came under this designation,
and therefore could not be abolished
by the company arbitrarily.
In granting the writ Chief Justice
Gummere said in part 1.-THE Legisla-
ture intended to change the manner
of utility bodies carrying on their
business and the Legislature left it to
itself to say what the company was
to do and what it was not to do, and
then authorizes the utility board to
see that the orders were carried out.
II was intended by the Legislature
that discrimination should cease.