The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-06

1 .iS odSh So IIIo I\eW f1dNeIl, DeCduS0
 1t is operated by the N. Y., N. H. & 1 H.
 So, of the total single track railroad
 mileage of 4.957.74 miles within the
 state, the New Haven owns and oper-
 ates or controls 4,SO1.74 miles. ! Of the capital stock reported for
 all Connecticut railroads, all but $1,-
 5OO,OOO is issued on New Haven road Or
 that of New Haven allies. l Of the funded debt of these roads $231, ,371 .200-all but s1,5OO.OO0 is the New l HaVen's, directly or indirectly.
 these companies ,223, ,491. .53-all but
 $68, 947.15 is the New Haven's, directly
 Or indirectly
 Of the gross operating revenues of
 the Connecticut roads for the year | ended June 30, 1911, revenues which
 totaled s66, 495. .683.S9, all but s16O, ,133. IF l poured into the coffers of the New 1 Haven and the New Haven's allies. l Of the total operating expenses of
 s43, 731, ,697.23 that year, all but $91O,250.- l 32 was paid out by the New Haven and it's allies
 Of the net operating revenues earn ] ed by the Connecticut railroads, all but $192, ,026.93 of $22, 763, ,9S6.e6 was made 1 by the New Haven and it's aff1Iiates. | Of $3,787, ,334.24 taxes paid by the roads operating in Connecticut, the 1 New Haven and it's allies paid all but SIS, ,83O.91.
 Of the $12,e1s,7e2 dividends declared by Connecticut roads, all but $135, 900 l was paid by the New Haven and it's allies.
 Of S4,678, 500 passengers carried that l year by the Connecticut railroads. the l New Haven and it's allies carried all but 491.37s
 Such is the magnitude of the New Haven's steam railroad operations in | this state of 5000 square miles area. Here Are Trolley Holdings. And still we are confronted by the New Ravens trolley holdings: The New York, New Haven & Hartford railroads principal street railway com pan1es-the Connecticut company and the Connecticut Railway & Lighting Co.-own and operate 93 miles of the total street railway mileage of 988 mics in the entire state
 They are consolidated in the Con- sOlidated Railways Co.,, and do an urban street railway and inter urban electric railway business in all the principal cities and over almost all the state of Connecticut
 The independent lines in the state have a mileage of 295 miles out of a total of 98S.
 The franchise under which all of them, consolidated and independent, exist is an indeterminate one. It is
 
 islature. The secretary of the public utilities commission, Henry F. Bil- lings, told me that he supposed the state could revoke the franchise at will since the state created it. But beyond this opinion there Is nothing definite. for the good and simple req son that the state has not yet made any effort to revoke franchise, and probably never will, at least for a good long time to come.
 The fares are regulated by the pub Lie utilities commission, and so is the service. In the cities, Hartford, for instance, there is one fare charged cents-and transfer privileges are lib- eral The lnterurban routes are meas ured off in zones, and a fare collect ed in each zone, so that in g mile ride passenger may be called upon times for nickels or pennies. The av- craze rate is one and one-quarter cents a mile.
 Service None Too Good.
 If the service given in Hartford for the nickel is a fair sample of what the cities in the state generally get; then they get none too much. The cars are, for the most part, anticipated looking affairs; the roadbed decidedly not good, the speed more on the or der of slowness than swiftness. There is a good deal of complaint to be heard against the service in Hartford, but nothing is done about it. Ev- eryone signs for the old days when a local company, with fellow-citizens at it's head, ran the cars and main tained the tracks.
 The cities are not allowed to charge anything for the franchise use of their streets.
 Contrary to the practice in Massa- chusetts, where the cities do the paw ing and the companies pay an excise tax that is supposed to take care of the paving expense, the Connecticut cities neither do the paving nor re- ceive such an excise. The company in Hartford paves between the rails and two feet each side of them.
 Besides the steam roads and the elec- trio railways. there are the New Ha- ven's electric lighting, gas and wat CT interests. On March g last, the Gas & Electric Improvement corpora ton of Hartford was incorporated to take over and hold these interests. At the time of the incorporation, it was said that this was the largest corpo- ration formed in Connecticut in years. 1
 The people behind it are Bertron, Griscom & Jenks, New York lawyers, counsel for the New York, New Ha- ven & Hartford and controllers of the l Hartford City Gas Light Co. The l corporation was incorporated for $45,- 100000 and the state received an in- l corporation fee of $6,5O0.
 The capital stock is divided into 1 450,00O shares of a par value of $1O0, 1 250,O00 preferred and 200,0 common l The charter provides that the pre- ferred stock shall pay per cent. di- vidends until 1915, and per cent l thereafter. The common stock shall not pay dividends until after the pre- ferred is taken care of.
 According to the certificate, the con- | pany can begin business with but $2,- ! 900 paid in. Compare this with the | fact that the incorporation fee paid | the state was $6,500
 Charter Provisions Liberal.
 Aside from the significance of this | corporation as indicating the extent | Of one of the side lines carried by the | New Haven in Connecticut, it reflects | in its charter provisions, the liberalty of the Nutmeg state toward prospec- | tive incorporators.
 The charter of the new gas and elec- | tric company permits it, among other l things, to buy and sell securities in l country in the world; to acquire let l ters- patent of the United States and : other countries; to issue mortgages | and promissory notes; to construct and | maintain street surface, underground 1 or elevated railways; to carry on bus | mess in gas, steam, compressed air. l water supply for irrigation and drink l ing and power purposes; to develop ! natural gas wells or fields; to deal in | electric current for lighting purposes, |