New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-01-14
Property Owners Chair
man Accuses Public
Service Secretary.
AT ODDS OVER 81"
AND SUBWAY PLANS
Accused Declares He'll Answer
in Detail Before Com
mittee.

Travis Fl. Whitney. secretary o. the
Public Service Commission. was &C
cused before the Thompson invesiiga-
t1on committee yesterday. together
with Assistant Chief Engineer Turner
with favoring the Brooklyn Rapid
Transit Company and obstruetng the
efforts of Brooklyn citizens to get the'r
complaints before the commission.
The charge was made by Herbert l..
Carpenter. chairman OF the Fulton
Street Property Owners Association
which is fghting the proposed third
tracking Of the Fulton Street elevated
The most needed Improvement in
Brooklyn IS the connecting OF the Full
Ton Street elevated and the subway
system" Carpenter said, "but Mir.
Turner has deliberately opposed this.
His objections are exactly the same as
those Of Colonel Timothy s. Williams,
president Of the Brooklyn Rapid Tran
ait"
He said that Whitney had refused
Yesterday morning 20 advise MN
whether there had been proper service
Of an Injunction he, Carpenter, had OBJ
tanned restraining the commission from
proceeding further in the third track
ing matter. and that Whitney had re-
torted he vas not the peoples counsel.
Whitney was called before the
Thompson committee. He denied gen
erallv all bias in favor OF the railroad
oonpanv. or any attempt on his part
10 block the property owners he said
he had refused his advice AS to proper
service Of the injunction. as he always
did in similar cases, stating that IL
was never the custom Of the commis-
sion TO admit service, but at the same
time no technical question as to that
natter was ever raised. He denied
specifically that he had said he was
not counsel for the people
81 have been furnished with trans
cript Of Carpenters testimony said
Mr. Whitney last night, land Will ap-
near before the committee and answer
in detail.
As a Brooklyni;e am as much DIS
annointed as Mr.. Carpenter. that 1t has
not been possible TO work out better
so1ution Of the Brooklyn situation. For
~,,ontbs I have been in conference with
tho Committee of One Hundred, at
tempting with them 10 work out some
kind az solutio, as they can tes-
tify TO-" ~, ,u.a rr
Mr. Whitney in his statements, saying
tba+ the latter had at all times mani
festeS an earnest sympathy in behalf
Of the citizens and property holders,
and that at no time had he observed
Mir Whitney disclose in any manner
an inclination 10 favor the railroad
company in the controversy.
The subpoena servers OF the commit
Tee were still unable to find Robert
Colgate Wood, the commissioner who
recently resigned just before charges
we're fled against Linn. However, word
was received from his counsel that ne
would produce Lin when wanted.
Chairman Thompson Of the commit
tee said that information had been re-
cejyed telling of how certain pubic
utility corporation magnate had made
more than s1.000,000 in the last year
bv selling materials to his own com
many. He said he would subpoena HIM
and investigate the activities OF man;
who. with the interests OF thousands OF
stockholders in his charge, could make
such a fortune IN the dual capacity OF
seller and buyer.