New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-10-15
p.;lroad Turns Down Pro-
rosals in Advance of
Public Hearing
Denies City's Rights
To Mandatory Power
Cannot Be Forced to Ac-
cept Solution, Says Vice
President Place


...,e5 fatty Yesterday, in advance Of
rub.ic hearing, the tentative pro
,ossls for a settlement of the West
s,Se Enforcement problem. made pub
n, recently by the joint committee Of
ne Public Service Commission and the
Rosrd OF Estimate.
vice President Ira A. Place, speaking
for the Central. after attacking the
proposed plans. stated;
oTbe power resides nowhere to COM
,sl the company TO accept these pro
oossls or proposals Of a like chsrac-
Ter"
NAV Force Road to Terms
william /. Ransom. chief counsel of
Ire Public Service Commission, replied
=, this defiant attitude with threat
of force to compel obedience. When
.hovn Vice-President Places state
ren,. he said:
4All the powers of the commission,
no Board Of Estimate and the District
l..orrey's Office can be brought into
.etion 20 insure the cOmpany's compll-
snce With IFS obligations
Public Service Commissioner Travis
Whtrcy said: 81 don't care what
NJ Place says The public hearing is
or ,he 18TH. and ] nave nothing TO say
before.
Chief Of the tentative proposals are
the provisions that the city shall re-
tain al Of the property along the line
o. the improvements II now owns. that
he land needed by the company shall
be rented To- the company and that the
rental paid shall he readjusted every
twenty-five years. with the provision
that t shall never be less than the
r.g.us. amount.
B. the Ottinger- Ellenbogen law the
Public Service Commission and the
Boar6 % Estimate sr- given mandatory
power to deal with me Riverside Drive
Improvement situation. if no com
promise is reached by December !.
Reason for Rejection
Passing over the history Of this leg
Klatioa. Nice-President Place con-
iinued:
"The necessary result is that the
rsilroa. company cannot, and will not,
81 any line or under any circumstances
or conditions which can be proposed by
any one under this statute, make or en-
ter into any contract.
"I.e amending statute limited the
tine within which an agreement might
be reached 90 December /, 1917. total
Of Isl days. No agreement being
reached on that date. the Public Ser
vice Commission is directed 20 make
general plan. 10 be carried into effect
through compulsory provisions. There
now remain about forty-fve days be-
fore December l. The plans and pro-
files which were under consideration at
the time the law was amended. and
which were the basis of the 1915 agree
melt. were those which were submitted
70 the railroad company by the Board
Of Estimate and appointment itself.
"Auv modification of these plans
looking 20 an agreement must be made
and submitted by the same body. In
der me statute they must then be on
pub exhibition az least thirty days
before any action is taken. The pos
sib.g Of this being done may be left
10 t-e Imagination.
"Tre only meeting of the joint COM
m.t.ee which ! have attended | attend
ed ou che invitation OF the committee,
through lis chairman, on June q, 1917.
All ~ the members of the committee
as then constituted and as now consti-
iutsd with its counsel, were present.
Waited for New Plan
81 have not attended or been asked
20 attend any conferences with the
committee or any member Of the com
mlitee nee that time. I'm accepting
hat ms tation, after reciting the main
feature Of the proposed agreement
rsscAei with the Port and Terminal
Comm lttcc. then said to the members
o. this joint committee in substance:
"Yog. being public officials. con-
temned that proposed agreement. Rec
ognzing. as YOU did, the Importance Of
a proper solution, IL must be assumed
you have ONE better plan. What is it?
"S.nce June q | have been waiting
for thai better plan and terms. Those
which are now given out. however. are
rot only appropriately called tentative
proposals and cover at best only a
portion Of the territory involved, but
hey emphasize the possibilities.
They are accompanied by no maps or
prohles. no prices, estimates or figures
Of any k1d
while these proposals do not con
tain definite information, they do con-
tain some astounding propositions.
among them are these:
"Tnc area of lands and interests IN
lands which would be required for the
physica. plan as here proposed would
not vary materially, if at all, from
hat required under the plan Of 1916.