The Washington times., 1914-04-15
ENDORSEMENT GIVEN
! THE CROSSER BILL
Commissioners Favor MuniCi-
pal Ownership of Railways
in the District.
tcontinued from First Page.D

CONTINUED from lESl t6Se.J
are vital to the life of city. To its
progressive Development, and general
" TO the welfare OF its people.
The furnishing OF such transporta-
ton is as essentially the performance
of a public function rs is the supply
ing of water or lights to the people
Of a city; to the furnishing of police
and ire protection TO them; 10 the car
Iying of their mail. Today no city
of the size of the National Capital
could long survive the deprivation OF
this form of transportation. Nothing
more surely retards the growth and
development of such a cit; rs the fall
Ure of its street railroads to keep pace
with the increasing needs OF its people
IN this respect Tested by any theory
of what constitutes a public, a mu-
nicipal function, this means of trans
portaticn completely meets the. test.
Monopohstic In Character.
Examine the nature of the service
It renders, and it is at once seen tn be
nonopolistic in character: as much so
as is the supplying of water, the car
ryins of the mail. And when to this
is added the consideration that it re-
ouires special and exclusive privileges
in the occupation and use OF pubic
streets, avenues, and highways, Tor
which special privileges in the District
of Columbia neither the Federal nor the
District governments has ever received
any compensation. and they are likely
TO be made the basis of large claims OF
alleged franchise character, its mo-
nopolv features become even more ap-
parent. These are offensive to mooerh
thought upon the subject, and the lrrl-
tatinc cause of an ever-lncfeaslng No4-
ume of criticism and complaint:
To leave to private individuals. as
source Of private profit, the perform
ance of such public function. restlng;
by necessity as If does, upon speclai
privileges. and possessing the monopo-
tstic characteristics, TO which allusloh'
has been made, is to insure the Hain-
tcnance of a struggle between public
duty and public needs on the one nanu, tSn
other. that in the nature OF things
grows sharper with the passing years,
and in the opinion Of the Commissioners
No amount of regulation by pupnc
authorities, accomplished ohly al!t. e 'tre
laws delays are over, will end the n
repressible conflict that necessarily
arises when the avarice of man Is SET
against a public duty that is laio upon
him to perform
A Private Profit.
"Th;s aspect of the matter may be
stated in homelier phrase. The moh-
a-ement of a street railroad prlVate'E
oy ned ard operated is chiefly concerned
IL collecting as many fares ana at as
low a cost to the company as possIpie
and this for the obvious purpose OF max
ING the largest dividend returns Tor lts
sfocIrhoI6ers-that is private profit The
messengers are chiefly concerned IN oc
tanning the largest number 81 rioes a,!r
1noney-that is the most efflcient pupIc
service. If this public service is per
formed by public authorities they can
have no other motive than TO DO these
things that the travelling puulc de-
1cands They have but 10 MAINTAIN a
proper relation between efncient service
and the cost thereof.
:s'The rnunicipal ownership and oper-
q stion of street railroads Is no LONGER
in the experimental stage Ihe ora
World has long since demonstrated the
wisdom and great practical advantages
the best service for the least amount oil
utilities, and at least one large clty IN
This county. New Orleans, has for n
number of years shown with what not
able Success il can be accomplished
Furthermore, the present Congress has
within a few weeks enacted a law un-
der which the National Government Will
build ard may operate railroad for
Alaske thus eyidencing its own con
Idence m the principle, at least, OF the
bill under consideration.
Lines Are Parallel.
1T may he urged in opposition to
this bill, that regulation of such public
utilities should first be tried under
.he law. enacted a year ago. creating
e public utilities commission for the
District of Columbia. but It should be
pointed out, in addition 10 what has
already been said in ihis connection.
that there exists in the District two
street railroad systems. which for con-
siderable distance parallel one another
and needlessly duplicate much OF the
service each system renders. This
condition will undoubtedly render more
difficult ana perpleXing such regula
ton as the commission may be able