The Washington times., 1919-01-07
Street GAR
|. HEADS hint
FARE RAISE
AT HEARING
By BILL PRrcE.

The Public Utilities Coumisuisu
today heard the first official intims-
ton that the street railways Of els
city may have 10 ask for an increass
Of fares from s cents 10 some unit
as yet not hinted.
But the commission sIso -sxv g.
largest gathering. Of aroused cit;sens
ever at q public utility hearing a
this city; not only szw the ron fuIl
Of them, but heard fruu TIN
through insistent questiouinx and ~
plause whenever points were
Dro1eht out not In sympathy VIA
The occasion wss fhs hssrfnr a.
detefmins upon free interccm1ssx
transfers st sixteen points fu tkis eItv
lrecommended By John A Bss,~r a Ii.
report 20 tbe eomnaission ~ ~
board room filled euichay wsth r~or~-
sentatives OF eifizens ssscc,stso,s -
other bodies. deiesstions from tSs
Government Printing once ana o.
Bureau Of Ensrsyfns ana Pr4p<spr
All Of them were on their -toss- an
the time prepared to grin the VII
nesses Of the railway companfes
The hearing got no further An th~
morning session than taxing the tss.
timony Of Representatives OF the Car
ttal Traction Company.
Ham Attsehs s-Ce.f rsr~. -
On the witness stand this sfter.>o,
President Ham presented tia expected
statement Of his company, % the a.
feet that the Scent fare will not
cover the cost OF operstiou. He s.sd
that, for the month Of October, the
operating expenses and tarss were
$4,000 in excess Of the revenues.
For the mouth OF November ths
operating expenses and taxes vers
$500 less than the operating rev.
enues- His most important nruru9
Were for the month OF December IN
which the operating revenues vers
$3.50 o.S66 and the operating cxpsnsss
For the three months Of oesssss.
November, and December tho oem-
pany failed By s1e4.oo0 to meet ne
Increased cost Of operstion-
su.s Co stsse.esl
IN concluding bis testimeny hr.
Ham announced:
Ffrst-That he had subnftts1 con
vincing proof that the scent fare
is not yielding q sufficient revenus 20
pay the cost OF operations, and ehai
the commission will be asked IN The
near future to determine the extsat
and nature OF the relief that shsss6
be afforded. 2
Second-Tsat as to inter-oempasy
-
ing out free transfers for . limited
Third That in connection with free
transfers the company asks Of tia
commission, not to overlook the fnct
that the company has sustained an
already existing deficit which ft has
no margin to meet and still less 30
cover further and increased Iosnes-.
Hsniitsa Reads st.te.e.f.
George Hamilton, PRESIDENT OF thu
Capital Traction, read q carefully prs-
pared statement saying that his ceus-'
pany will interpose no legal objection.
to the viii OF the commission n de-
cision should be given for the estaS-
lishment OF inter-company trsnsferE
at all the points recommended by John
A. Beeler. In doing this, however, the
company pointed out It's objections 60
inter-company transfers at Four
teenth street and Pennsylvania ave-
nue., Fifteenth and G streets, Fif.
teenth street and New York svenue.
and a walking transfer" from Sew
enteenth and H streets to Pspnsy1-
vania avenue and Seventeenth. II vas
the opinion of the company that tbess
transfers would cause great oonoss-
ton and Inconvenience to the travel.
ink public.
Mr.. Hamilton expressed the beissf
that scent fares will not produce the
necessary revenue &c operate the
companies in the future so that they
ere able to pay a reasonable return 20
stockholders and bondhoiders. n a.
became evident that thus was true, he
said, the company would expect tire
commission to further increase rev.
cnues through whatever uethsd was
deemed wiseSt.
Even though the Capital Traction
believed the issue OF interoompery
transfers at al 1.-The points reccrs.
tcontinued on Page q Column -