The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-02-27
|KOCHERSPERCER DEFENDS
 COURSE OF NEW HAVEN CO.
Vice President of Railroad System Denies Wilson's Allegation That Steam Road Is Being Looted by Purchase of
 Trolley Lines

ther my own opinion, and in that I may say I am supported by my as- sOciateS in the board of directors, \that the ultimate system of suburban de- velopment is by the trolley, and the interchange between cities in close proximity will be best promoted by the service upon the street railway lines in the various cities, thence by high speed transportation through use of the steam railroad tracks between cit ies, and we have been hoping and still believe, there will ultimately be such a use of the steam railroad tracks wl1ereon electric lines may be run on frequent headway, that is, at five, ten, fifteen or twenty minute inter vals, as the amount of traffic will Justify, and thus there will be estab- Iished that ideal intercommunication between localities which is most de- sirable for their development"
 Can't Expect Miracles.
 Vice-President Kochersperger incl dentally referred to Representative Wilson's statement concerning casual ties and added:
 You never knew of a business con- cern in the world whose morale was not affected by continued critical com ment of an unfair character. The employees of the New Haven road are among the best in this country. They are courteous, jealous and eager to serve the public, but these men are but human and like the great busi- ness men of this country have been keenly affected by the continued crit icisms of men in public life. Let me quote from the letter of Charles H. Jarvis of New Britain when he re- marked:
 we cannot expect 1niracaIes even from the great New Y York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad company, espec- ia1ly at a time like this, when all of their facilities are crowded to the ut most. Is there any manufactures in the state of Connecticut that is giv- ing as good service to his customers at the present time as he gives un- der ordinary conditions? Is there a sales department of any of our fac tories but what is constantly being bombarded every day and every mail because of failure to give the usual service to keep promises and failure to ship goods with any de- gree of promptness? The railroad company is not much different in this respect; with it's ample facilities it is crowded to it's utmost capacity, and we manufa cturers ought to under stand it because we know how it is ourselves in our own business"
 Vice President Kochersperger next took up Representative wilson's crit ieisms on the amount of taxes paid by the New Haven company and stated:
 Pays Big Share.
 "'In 1899 the amount of taxes paid to the state of Connecticut by the New Haven company and the com panies then operated separately, but which have since come into the sys- tenn, was S1,09O,997; in 1912, the company paid 1,522, 1885, an increased payment to the state of Connecticut of $431, ,83S, equal to forty per cent. It should be further noted that in 1906, at which time the Connecticut Rail- way and Lighting company was separate and independent corporation, state was $102,767. The taxes of the Connecticut Railway & Lighting Co.,, for 1912, for which the New Ha- ven company was responsible, and paid, was $2O7,574, so that the state received the benefit of the New Ha- ven's control of the Connecticut Rail- way & Lighting company by the amount of $104,8O7, an increase of 102 per cent. Furth ermore, this fact should not be lost sight of, that the total revenues of the state of Con necticut for 1912, other than that re- ceived by it from the sale of bonds was $5,915, 5,417. of which the New Ha- ven system paid $1,587, ,195, being the taxes for 1911, or 27 per cent. of the entire revenue of the state. As a matter of fact in some years the New Haven system has paid to the state of Connecticut B, e1-3 per cent. of the en- tire state revenue.