Norwich bulletin., 1916-07-12
THE NEW HAVEN'S
 ADVERTISING PRIVILEGE
Executive Assistant Riggs Explains ComPany's Side of the Question.

The Interstate Commerce Commts- sion and Commissions generally have pointed out to railway managements that they should not ask for increases in rates until they have exhausted all efforts to obtain revenue from every available source in order to increase the efficiency of operation, said Ed ward G. Riggs, executive assistant or the N. Y. N. H. and Hartford railroad who was in Norwich on Tuesday.
 The New Haven road has been able, in the past two years to increase some rates. but many rates, particu- larly passenger rates, are far too low for the service rendered under pres ent conditions of wages and heavily advanced prices of railway material. The company is trying to increase the efficiency of it's operation, but is linn tied in that respect by inadequate fla cilities, and these can be improved only by the expenditure of large sums of money
 After a. years careful investigation and thorough discussion of the mat ter, the company found it could ob- tain from S150,000 to S250000 a, year by renting the advertising privilege. The company is frank to say it did not want to avail itself of this meth cd Of getting money, but beggars can not always be choOsers. The sub jeCt was laid before the board of di- rectors, who are unseIfsh1y working to try to improve the New Haven property and put it in Better condi- ton for the use of the public. While they did not want to adopt this method of getting money, on the other hand, as trustees for the public as well as for the security holders, the officers and directors felt, that for a few years, they ought not to ignore this sum of money.
 The company can get out of this advertising privilege enough money to buy each year ten au-steel pas- senger cars; or to buy six big steam locomotives; or to put rock ballast on fifteen miles of double track; or to put in thirty miles of the most mod ern automatic block signals; or to pay off 6 per cent on $2.50O000 of money to be spent for betterments and improvements; or to pay 300 men for working on the maintenance Of the track; or other improvements. The New Haven is not a pioneer in this method of obtaining money. It is used in Europe very generally. It is used by the Long Island railroad, which runs through a thiclIly settled suburban district, by the Reading, by the Erie, by the inter urban cleo triC carriers everywhere, by parts or the Pennsylvania system, and by the city lines in Chicago, Boston, New York and other cities.
 New England needs to prepare her railways for the future because it's business, leaving out of consideration the sO-called ''war-trade,' increases at the rate of 1 per cent a year. The population of New England increases six per cent. decade. Railway fa- ctlities are inadequate at the present time to give the service New England should have, and the New Haven should work as fast as possible dur ing the next five years to add to it's facilities. The only way the com pany can do this is by spending money. and the company proposes to do so out of earnings as far as possi- ble and by the sale of property, when they can get buyers, and. if possible, by new borrowings, if the company s credit can be sustained.
 The situation is difficult. It would be much more satisfactory to the of ficers and directors if they could do a great many things they want to do in the way of perfeCting the service, beautifying station grounds, adding to the property, etc, but they cannot do these things with the resources with in their control, and, in the interest of the future of New England, they believe they should exhaust every means of getting revenue in order to go on with the work of preparing the road for the future.