Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-07-02
LOCAL CAR LINES
SCORED IN REPORT
0vercapitaIization to Be One
of Charges Made in House
Document.
EMBRACES WORLD REVIEW
OF PUBLIC OWNERSHIP
Better Service and Higher Wages
Among Benefits Promised to
People of District.

company VIII De the Ch1ef claim OF tine
favorable report from the House District
committee on the Crosser bill for mu
| nicipal ownership of the street railways
of the District of Columbia. which will
be filed in the House probably this aft
ernoon.
The report covers the entire field Of
municipal ownership of street railways
pays more attention to the genera
theory than to the specific instances OF
the street railways in this city which
the bill seeks to take over. Although Rep
resentative Crosser. author of the report
had not finished late today that portion
of the report which deals with his fig.
ures on the claim of overcapitaliza
ton. he stated that the report woule
show that the roads could be purchased
for about s24.OO0.O0O, whereas the rail
road companies had claimed about So.
oO0OoO would be the correct figure.
Report a World Wide View.
Municipal ownership literature will be
enhanced considerably by the Crosser
report. as it is the first one of its kind
to be printed as a document of the ma
tonal legislature. and furthermore be-
cause it views the question with a bold
worldwide sweep bringing in municipal
ownership facts. figures and theories
from every quarter of the globe. 1t has
considerable reference to the Cleveland
situation. where street car problems
have been part of politics. and for
which city Representative Crosser in
tends to leave tonight to manage his
campaign for denomination.
The report, SO far as completed. makes
this reference to the Washington situa'
ton:
Decentralization is one Of the time
worn methods employed and is well ex-
emplified by the companies operating IN
the District of Columbia An
other means very much employed to pro-
cure profits greater than authorized by
law are inaccurate and often false &C
counting, suppression of facts and mis-
leading statements. The public utilitles
commission of the District of Columbia
has spent great deal of time during
the mast wear in an Intellectual effort to
determine the cost of procuring the eiec-
tric power necessary to operate one OF
the street railway systems OF WashinS-
.on.
' Unable to Tell Cost.
That same company was unable or al
leasted stated before the subcommittee
of the District of Columbia committee
that it was unable, to give even an ap-
proximate- Of the cost of construction OF
reproduction of Its property.
..The tendency of private street rail-
way company is to minimize the expense
of operation and therefore to deteriorate
the service in order to increase ITS pronts
Strap hangers make dividends"
The report states that employees OF pri-
yate companies do not receive as 1alf
wages as those Of municipalities.
THE average wage of motormen ano
III TON iC q
cents per hour. and they are required to
work eleven hours a day. The minimum
wage paid by the San Francisco munich
nal street railway is $3.50 for eight hours
per day," says the report.
The incompleted report has also this
statement of the Washington situation
Local Situation Described.
In the District of Columbia there are
two companies operating street railways
The Washington Railway and Electric
Company actually owns 1926 miles OF
single track, and through stock owner
ship in other companies 1t controls
"a IA miles, making the total single track
mileage Of the system loo.p n,iaes a7. ,,ns ne
companies controlled through stock own
ership are five in number. and OF the
total capital stock amouCtlnS TO sZ.f-'''
OeO the Washington RallWay ana flec
tric Company owns S2.2l9. 100 The WASH
;na+on Railway and Electric Company
n,,s,o ms ali OF the stock of the Potomac
EIectric Power Company. The total capi
,aI stock Of the Washington Railway ane
Electric authorized and issued Is $l3,WO,
ono the outstanding bonds amount te
SIG. Al $50. The average oivioeiiqs paie
~ the stock for the year ending January
n 1914. was 5.6a per cent. The average
interest on bonds was AZ per cent.
..The total single track mileage OF the
canital traction Company is ffty-sever
niies The authorized and issued capita
stock of the Capital Traction COMPANY 4 4
(, Ss9S 100. The dividend paid by the
canital Traction Company for the yeai
ended January 81. 1914. was g per cent
The rate Of interest paid on the above
stated bonded Indebtedness was pei
cent. U,,h
;,gton Railway and Electric Company
amounting to 16O 10 miles. 1920 miles i
overhead trolley construction and oi.o.
miles is conduit or underground trolley
construction OF The total track mileage
| of the CAPITAL Traction Company, amount
| ing to ffty-seven miles about ten mile:
| is overhead trolley construction ana iorty
seven miles is conduit. or underground
| trolley construction.
Terms Regulation Failure.
| For many pages aitef These ietei e''e'
in the body of the report to Washing
ton. Representative Crosser writes OF
the subject of regulation of street cal
| companies through a public utihte:
! commission. and says. in opposition t
regulation:
.The history of regulation has beer
marked by constant resistance agains
every important order or measure fo
the purpose of accomplishing anything
Substantial in the way of control"
Under the head of municipal owner
shin and operation, Mr.. Crosser call:
attention to his claim that this is th'
nnly correct principle of railway man
aaement. regardless of the fact tina
| there are but two municipality owned
| street railways in the United States
| These two towns are Monroe, La. ant
| San francisco Much of the argumen
rests on what this experiment ha
| shown. and the report on this point says
Public Ownership Benefits.
"The municipalities owning stree
railroads are Monroe. La. and Sar
Francisco. Cal. Monroe, La. is city o
only a little over 10000 population, ha.
owned its street railway system from
the time of its establishment It hac
nine miles Of single track. This stree