Norwich bulletin., 1917-10-18
SHORE LINE NOT
 ALONE IN INCREASE
President R. w. Perkins Tells of Con-
 ditions in Other Cities.

ALONE IN INCREASE
 President R. w. Perkins Tells of Con.
 ditions in Other Cities. In regard to the existing conditions between the merchants of Norwich and | the Shore Line Electric Street Rail- | way company, President R. W. Perkins | in an interview Wednesday afternoon | stated that the Shore Dine company 1 was not alone in the increased fares, 1 for many other companies throughout New England had been forced to raise their "a tes. These companies bad also met opposition from the public. MT. ,, Perkins cited the conditions of rail- ways in Massachusetts where the sit uation is practically the same as in Norwich, saying: The public hearings now being held by the Street Railway Investigating Commission, composed of members of tives of the legislature of 1917, have already developed the fact that the public in various communities is not only keenly alive to the seriousness of the street railway situation, but is anxious to lend its support to any measure that will avert either A1spen- sion of the service, or tend to improve the service as it exists today.
 During the past three or four years the street railway companies have
 
 cost of materials, increases in wages and special taxes levied upon them by law. This has resulted in an alarm ing depreciation Of railway securities. dends to bond and stock holders, as well as a depreciation of rolling stock, roadbeds, and service. Matters have reached such a stage that the rail- way companies find 1t absolutely im- possible to secure the capital neces- sary to the conduct of the business. Many of them are Confronted with the necessity of discontinuing service alto along by retrenching all along the line.
 It was to alleviate, if possible, this situation, that the legislature ap- pointed the present commission, and at the hearings which have been held so far there has scarcely been >s1e dissenting voice to the proposition that street railways are an indispen- sable necessity, and must get such re- lief as will save them from destruc- ton.
 At Fall River many prominent bank CTS, lawyers, manufa cturers and rep resentatives of merchants concurred in the belief that the person who makes the money for the construc- ton and maintenance of the utility is entitled to fair return for the use of the money he loans. It was shown
 
 vested by various savings banks in that district in the bonds of street railway corporations, that such invest rnent on the part of the savings bank is legal investment permitted by the bank commissioners, and that the present situation seriously affects the banks and insurance companies-in other words the savings and invest nents of small holders-just as much as ir affects the prosperity of the en- mn mi fho Ina cfr must get relief, regardless of claims of mismanagement or anything else. As to claims of mismanagement. 1 Frederick A. Fisher, president of the before the commission at Lawrence, stated:
 Regarding the claim of poor man. agement, or nlismanagement of street | railways. no one who is fair minded -an attribute the present situation to such a cause. The very fact that all. | 5r nearly all, public utility companies, | all over the state, are in a bad way, is in itself refutation of the claim of poor management. One or two cor ooratfons might be mfsmanaged but | t is absurd to think that all of them l nave been mismanaged. Regardless of | stock and bond holders, public ser- vice corporation, and especially a Il street railway must be kept prosper ous. Just as soon as 1t becomes inn it impoverishes the entire l Fifteen years ago a four | per cent. non taxable street railway | ]ond was worth something, like $92, | md was a safe investment. Today 1 ;uch bond is worth $25.
 "As for the five cent fare-it was an lccident. If there had been six cent l piece instead of nickel piece, the fare would have been six cents from the nore than five cents years ago, per :aps it wasn't necessary to charge that much, but there isn't any doubt that ive-c cents will not suffice to pay for street car ride today: and I hold hat Americans believe in paying for l what they get.'
 In some instances at these public earrings the representatives of cer- ain towns and cities have taken the l tand that the street railways oper- te at a profit within the city limits nd that it isn't the concern of such aimed, this view, however, was shown ) be narrow and undeTnocratic by 1 ornelius Mahoney, an attorney of 'orth Andover. speaking before the 1 at Lawrence. MT. Ma |, oney said: ft "The rural street railway is the sal ation of any city. Within almost a ,one's throw of where I now stand es terribly crowded, unsanitary, and -eeding places for tuberculosis. The lral street. railway makes 1t possible IT some people to escape. this sort thing, and it is a shortsighted and arrow and un-American policy to z link only of the interests of a few t eople in a limited area like 1-4I luare miles of Lawrence in discus z ng situation of this sort" ji Regarding regulation of the public ] iIities in Massachusetts through the s Ib1ic Service Commission, Mr. Oliver h -eston, of the New Bedford Institute q
 Savings, in a recent address before t e commission. stated that Investors
 Massachrsetts have become posi- o vely afraid to invest in the stocks n
 bonds of ony corporation subject VI
 state regulation, because public t, Eulation in Massachusetts has u olsen down." MT. Preston pointed c t that capital is not forthcoming for ancing necessary extensions and im- g.