Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-08-24
FORWARD OR BACK?

In VIEW or the truly eXtraordlnar
attempt of the Mayor and his adviser
rutflessly to ignore the basic principle
under which the transit program wa
approved by the people and substitut
therefor an obsolete method Of sfinanc
ing, the experience and point of view o
New York are of importance. There, a
here, the fundamental purpose of the ne'
transit system was the provision Of five
cent fares on the high.speed lines through
out the greater city, the collateral benefit
arising from enhanced values Of rea
estate being an important, if not dc
cisive, factor.
We quote from an editorial in the New
York Times of yesterday:
The opening in the first week OF next
month of the Brooklyn Rapid Transits
route to Fourteenth street and Broadway.
Manhattan will be the first fruits OF the
dual subway bargain. The city's con-
tribution Is the Manhattan Bridge ana
the Manhattan subway connections Inc
Brooklyn Rapid Transits contribution is
the elevated system throughout Brook
lyn, which will feed the Manhattan lines.
over the combination the fare VIII be
q nickel, eventually from Fifty-ninth
street to Coney Island. with link
through Queens on the side. Cheaper ac-
cess to Coney Island is the least of the
benefits. In families where there are
several habtual riders between home
and work the gift will be equal to the
interest on a thousand dollars. An even
greater contribution TO reduce the high
cost OF living is access to cheaper rents
IN more comfortable homes The city's
share lies in the consequent increase in
taxable values in the several boroughs,
besides the aid to sanitation and the
promotion of good citizenship through
the scattering of the overcrowded popu-
lation.
Although the cornerstone of the plan
is the halving of the fare cost to daily
riders. there is good prospect that the
merely financial results will not be dis
appointing. During the period OF con-
etruction. since 1913, there has accumu-
lated a deficit on this section of the dual
subway of $1,O37,276, and no benefits
have been realized. That was inevitable.
But for the last year of the period there
was earned the full preferential to the
Brooklyn Rapid Transit, and within
s250,371 of the interest upon the cost Of
the new construction.
1t will be noticed that the Times speaks
Of the merely financial results" The
really big thing for the city is that ats
share lies in the consequent increase in
taxable values mot the tax rate) in the
several boroughs, besides the aid to
and the promotion of good
citizenship through the scattering of the
overcrowded population" New York is
not worried about early deficits. The
preferential is being earned
Ind eventually there will be ample funds
10 meet the city's fixed charges. In the
the enormous benefits flowing
from the facility are being realized, bene
ats not to be measured only by an array
of dollar marks.
The difference between the Taylor view,
which Is the view also of New York, and
the smith-MittenTwining view is the
Inference between vision and lack of
vision, between doing things in a big
way and doing them in a little way, be.
tween inspired leadership and humdrum,
routine administration. We can find no
with men who want to put Phil.
adelphia on a six or seven-cent transit
basis. while New York, with longer hauls,
6 on a five-cent basis. There may be
praise somewhere for leaders who favor
hat sort Of preferential in favor of our
chief competitor, but it will not be found
n this city.
1t is not. after all, just question of a
ease that confronts us. We are face 10
ace with the issue of going ahead or OF
soing back. One leadership is militant
'orward-looking, optimistic, grounded in
'aith and earnest in capitalizing in the
peoples favor every asset they possess
rhe other is slovenly, backward.looking
in distrust and earnest in ure
ng that the people be dispossessed and
deprived Of their undoubted rights. II
We are going to accept the economies o,
his second school we may just as well
lose up shop, call in the spiders and
ssue orders against the removal of their
vebs.