South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-07-09
ANTI-JITNEY AGITATION FINALLY
BRINGS THE YELLED THREAT.

istic organ Wednesday. is. indeed.
Something 10 Think About" 1t
comes. OF course. incident 10 the agi-
tation TO suppress the "jitney" bus by
bond regulations that would put them
out Of business. and again we see how
closely the agitation is linked to the
traction interests The latest pres
sure, directed at the mayor and COM
mon council comes in the nature OF
a suggestion" that if the will Of the
interests" IS not adheared TO. dis
continuance Of street cars on certain
lines and the socalled dead ends" Of
certain lines may follow: We quote
il:
Imagine what would happen if
the Northern Indiana Railway
company should inform the mayor
that il had decided 20 give up its
franchise on the north side line
10 Mishawaka. Or sup
pose the company should decide
20 stop its Lincoln way w. cars
at Broadway instead Of cOntinu-
ing To Miami st. through that
sparsely settled section.
The same suppOsition might be
made Of other dead ends OF lines.
beyond the pale of possibility.
The argument is that if such were
10 happen real estate values ia those
sections of the city would deteriorate
and the savings of the investors be
ruined,-an appeal to the fears OF
these investors and "A hope 10 align
them-against themseIves,-whic is
practically what il amounts 20. OF
course, it is preceded by an angelic
description of the splendid service
South Bend is getting. and how but
for the self-sacritiCing efforts Of the
present management, our city might
still be a hamlet. we are told that
Fort Wayne has a less double truck
service than we and that for that
reason we should be satisfied; satisfied
when Fort Wayne is not. We have
no rights in the premises. not even the
right TO complain. they would have US
believe, il the local company's rev.
enues are broken into by a few local
automobile owners taking 70 carry
ing passengers for hire, and in cOnse-
quence, the street car service is made
worse instead of better.
Very well. but perhaps Mayor Kel-
Ter and the common council are not
asleep TO such possibilities. Let the
street railway company try it-but it
won't It's managers know that il is
its own inefficient services that in
vited TIE auto bus hither, and these
outlying districts have been affected
by it as much as anywhere The
answer OF the mayor and the common
council might be the levy of a tax Of
say about two and one-half cents on
a hundred dollars. looking forward to
a fund for municipal ownership pur-
poses, not only Of the street car lines.
but maybe. of an electric lighting and
gas plant as we'll
AS politics continue TO gradually
eliminate themselves from municipal
government. municipal operation of
the public utilities. TO more thorough
~ saturate the city with the service,
and at non-proft bearing rates-or the
elimination of taxation by the applica-
ton OF reasonable profts,-is becom-
ing more and more of an ideal. And
that the present public service COM
mission law stands in the way Of such
program is no argument against that
ideal. nor against the possibility of
achievement. There is no assurance
that this law Will forever remain on
the statute books in its present form
OF private utility protection. The ten
dency is in the direction of a larger
-,
their purely domestic affairs. For a
public utility i'm south Bend or any
other section of the state. to under
take TO institute reprisals against a
community. because that community
refuses 10 protect it in its undeserved
monopoly by suppression OF the auto
bus. would be merely TO drive nails in
its own coffin.
We are saying this. too. notwith-
standing that we are not advocates of
public ownership OF public utilities.
where private ownership is able or
willing 20 properly perform its public
functions. Il is merely the other
alternative" when arrogant utility
managements take 90 pursuing such a
come intolerable We hold no brief
for the auto buses except TO insist that
private citizens. owning an automo-
bile. have as much right 90 the free
use OF the streets as any other auto
mobile owner. even though il be the
delivery wagon or auto truck Of our
prosperous merchants. IL is the pes
tiferous hypocrisy of pretending 10
want 10 protect the public by requir-
ing these bus operators 10 furnish
suicidal indemnify bonds. when in fact
the purpose is 10 protect the street
railway graft that makes tho opposi-
ton 90 the buses the more obnoxious,
especially when. failing in such hum
buggery. the next effort results in such
a tacit admission as appears in the
yelled threat above referred 10.
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THE LAMENTATIONS PROPA-