The Washington herald., 1912-06-09
APPLIES RULES OF REASON AND JUSTICE
IN GOVERNING BIG OHIO MUNICIPALITY
Under Mayor Bakers Regime City BOoms
with Life and Is Semi-SOcialiSt
Experiment Station

! opponent 50 dscisively or thoroughly
and took his once In January, this year.
Rich men and poor men voted for him.
Preachers supported his cause at the
polls. Sporting men said he was just the
] person who would please the boys. He
follows the light OF Tom Johnson" again
TO quote words The experiment station
is in fun operation II Baker persuades
Cleveland with his works. he may per-
suade the whole Of Ohio and be chosen
Governor of the State
THE salient points OF the Tayler plan. s.
Mayor Baker said to me, were, FIRST.
reasonable valuation Of the street rail-
road property, The company had about
S23 O0o, 900 Of stock and 81, ,000, 900 OF bonds
outstanding. Under the plan OF Judge
Tagler the stocks were cut TO SIS, 900 900.
The rum Of the bonds. OF course, remain
ed the same. They were mortgages, and
there was no intention to distufb gen
uine values The second point In the
plan provided that the interest on the
bonds and n per cent dividend on the
stock shoull e paid ont of the net re-
ceipts of tine company. Eleven and one
half cents per car mile was allowed for
operation and five cents for maintenance.
Operation includes electric current and
the wages Of workmen. The word main
tenance refers TO tracks, cars, and so on.
when Fares May Go Up.
"a theoretical surplus fund Of $4,000
was created. It was to become, indeed, a
standard by which the fare for carrying
passengers was to be regulated. When
the fund-kept alive, you understand. by
the excess Of receipts over interest. divi-
dends, operation. and maintenance
fell below $4,000, the fare was automat-
icaily to be increased. The fare was
fixed at 3 cents. Transfers were to cost
/ cent additional When the fund rose
TO $780, 900 the fare was automatically TO
be decreased. The fund, after the plan
was put to a practical demonstration, did
increase. and hence there was a fare re-
duction- Transfers, consequently, were
given without charge 10 all passengers
who asked for them. The fare to-day Is
3 cents. Transfers are free TO everybody.
The Mayor, under the Tayler plan,
appoints a street railroad commissioner,
the salary Of whom cannot exceed 81, 900
year. We are now getting the services
Of a capable man for $3.50. His salary
is paid by the railroad company, though
he Is appointed by the Mayor. as I have
said, and can be deprived Of his once at
the Mayors pleasure. He Is the active
representative OF the city IN all matters
pertaining TO the operation Of the street
railroads. The City Council, however, in
structs him as to the work II wants
done. A spike cannot be driven, q dol.
lar cannot be spent by the railroad COM
pany unless by the authority Of the City
Council, which also controls the running
time Of cars and the kind Of cars that
are purchased.
Such, in a rough way, is the Tayler
plan. While the city does not actually
guarantee the interest on the bonds nor
the dividends on the stock Of the street
railway, the working out Of the arrange
men practically makes the city RESPONSE
BILE for their payment in that IL the sur
plus fund falls on, the charge for carry
ing passengers goes up and thus the re-
ceipts are always more than enough TO
meet the interest and dividends. Let me
add that when the laws OF the State
make IL permissible, the city can take
over all the property OF the company II
the people think It is wisdom to do So"
An Unanswered Question.
Are dividends being earned at the
present rate Of fare?' I asked.
Your question cannot be answered as
yet. Three-cent fare is an experiment.
We believe, however, that 1t will. work
out exactly as we have predicted It Is
large enough for q level city like Cleve-
land, and the test being made viii math-
ematically prove, think, that We were
right when We said that passengers can
be carried for three cents and a profit
earned on the capital invested. Each city
has its own local conditions. While three
cents Is sufficient here, am unwilling to
say that 1t is enough in PittsbUrg, for
example, which is a hiIly locality"
rs your service as good as before?''
1T is better than the service Of any
city in the country except Washington.
which is residential and rot an Industrial
or commercial center. And our plan Of
street railroad control is the best in the
United States. Municipal ownership,
however, would be better The street
railroads in Cleveland are stiIl the prop
erty Of a private corporation with power
to issue bonds and stock, but as a fixed
amount Of money is now allowed for
interest and dividends, there is no as
surance that interest and dividends
would be paid were there any increase
Of capitalization. Thus indirectly, and
by the check I have mentioned, the city
also regulates the finances Of the COM
pany.
But all cities, think. should own their
public utflities-street railroads, water
works, lighting plants, and telephone
lines. The comfort and prosperity Of the
people depend on such agencies Of mod
ern living, and I would not put these
vital matters into the hands OF outside
persons. Better service, too. would be
obtained under municipal operation.
Furthermore, the public utilities would
be taken out Of politics. I go further
and say that the national government
should own the railways and telegraph
lines of the country. Ny philosophy
has not been extended as yet to lake,
river and coastline steamships"
VIII Light the City.
Does Cleveland operate an electric
lighting plant?''
along with villages that were annexed
to the city. Though small, being worth
only about s4OO, 200. they caused the price
of street lights to fall from So a year
to 81. The private corporation that Is
doing business with the city at once
reduced its charges. Not long ago the
people, by more than a two-thirds vote,
authorized a $2,0o0,OOO bond issue for a
large municipal lighting station. We
purpose to light the streets and supply
firms and individuals with electric cur
rent. The personally owned lighting
company claims to have 0OO0, 900 invest
ed We cannot compete with 1t every
where, but we expect TO prove our case,
after which I favor the purchase Of the
property Of the present company at a
fair price. ! am opposed to the duplica-
tlon of property, thus making some Of
It useless That is unscientifc. II the
old company, however, refuses TO sell on
q just valuation, 1 would favor the
building OF plant with sufficient capaci-
ty to light the entire city. After we
have shown what can be done. money
viii be supplied by the people.
The voters Of Cleveland" Mayor