The sun., 1919-08-15
/. R. 7. RECEIVERSHIP
SURE, SAYS NIXON
Commissioner Tells Federal
Body Municipal Ownership
Is Certain to Come.
SEES FARE UNDER NICKEL
Prof. Irving Fisher Attributes
Economic Trouble to Gold
Surplus.

WASHINGTON, Aug. II. Municipal
ownership OF the transportation system
In New York city IL certain to come In
the frlness of time" Commissioner Lewis
Nixon Of that city told the Federal Elec-
trio Railways Commission to-day In re-
viewing the financial condition of the
New York traction lines. AS an imme-
date remedy. he said, consolidation OF
All the underground, elevated and sur
face lines under the control Of single
holding company was advisable.
Az matters now stand. the Commits
sioner said, the marlborough Rapid
Transit Company will pass into u re-
.ceivership before the first OF next year
unless means to meet its operating ex-
penses can be found. The BROOKLYN
Rapid Transit Company already Is IN the
hands of a receiver, but the Third ave-
nue. system, he said, appears to be get
ting along all right for the present.
The Commissioner declared the recent
strike on the Brooklyn lines had made 1t
more than ever certain that some method
Of preventing strikes and consequent
suspension of service on public utilities
must be arrived at Only the voice OF
the people as a whole, he added, could
speak WITH tne dutnoTity bhoe SSe'N f'~
vent strikes.
Bames Best Engineers.
: The New York city transportation
problem is Of such staggering proper
lions, Mr.. Nixon said, that the capacity
tof engineering skill in the United states
has not been able even to keep pace with
the city's needs, much less to build for
the future.
/. The Commissioner viewed optimistic
cally the result to be obtained imam
-ciaily with the completion of the whole
subway programme in New York. When
that has been done and more normal
conditions are restored he expects to see
the city's transportation provided on
fiat fare Of less than 5 cents, with free
universal transfers.
william p Burr, Corporation Counsel
of New York, asserted that the present
position of the surface lines In New
York was their own fault because or
financial exploitation in the past 1neir
history was a record of speculation,
peculation and fraud" he charged. add
ing that municipal ownership was the
only solution.
Prof Irving Fisher of Yale University
followed Mr.. Nixon and charged that a
billion dollars of foreign gold was re-
sponsible for bringing American trolley
} lines into bankruptcy and also In send
ing prices generally slxyrocketing to
undreamed Of high levels. The flood OF
bullion. he said, came before the war,
sent over to meet PURCHASES by belliger-
ent Powers In the United States. With
the first appearance of the golden in
yader he said, prices began to leap sky
ward--even prices on articles wholly I'M
related to the war.
( The result of the gold Importation
has been a depreciation of the American
dollar so far as its purchasing power
was concerned, Prof. Fisher asserted
At the same time its price or. the actual
amount of gold 1t contained by weight
remained fixed. he added. and to-day its
buying power is one-third of what 1t was
Z in 1906 and half of what it was in the
spring of 1914.
would Stabilize Dollar.
The remedy is easy. the witness de-
clared. Sterilization of the dollar by
the regulation OF the price of gold in
accordance with price fluctuations was
POSSIBLE, he said, through the system of
dollar values worked out by Government
economists.
Applying his theory OF gold imitation
TO the case of the trolley lines, Prof.
Fisher said the basic trouble was that
the fixed rates of fare no longer were
adequate to meet expenses since the pur-
+ chasing power OF the nickel was not
one-third of what II was wnen most of
the 5 cent rates were fixed.
Obviously, he said. the logical thing
{ to meet the present emergency appeared
to be to raise fares: but in that would
be implied equalization to the new price
3 levels of all other fixed charges such as
interest rates, salaries, wages and all
similar contract agreements that were
nxed in terms of big" dollars. before
the gold imitation. and should not now
be met with deprecated little dollars
Appreciated dollars had caused the
Populist movement which died away to
be replaced by the Bolshevist idea now
spreading through the world. the wit
ness said. Stabilize the dollar and Boil
shevism would similarly disappear, he
continued, adding:
'The most dangerous kind of discon-
tent is when a man is hard hit and does
bat tt,,t