The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1919-07-24
THE STREET RAILWAY CRISIS
BY FREDERIC J. HAskIN

Washington. D. c., July 24.-Th,
Coxey's army of today Is made I'D o
the street car magnates of the nation
all treking to Washington to plead To-
relief from postwar conditions which
while ushering in an era of great pros
perity for, most industries, are unuues
tionably driving them into bankruptcy.
1t is not necessary to take the wore
OF the street car men for this fact. TIL,
secretary of labor and the secretary O.
commerce months ago became con
WINGED that the street railways were IL
a precarious condition, and wrote the
president, urging that he take some &C,
ton for their relief. The president is
sued statement in which he directed
the attention of public service commits.
sioners and other agencies exercisine
control over street railways to the ne.
cessity of action looking toward relief
Relief In the form of permission te
raise fares was given in some commu.
mites, but in many others the authori-
ties were adamant. The, result is that
one-sixth of the street railway mileage
In the nation is today in the hands Of
receivers, and other large portions of il
are taking losses while waiting for re.
lief. NJ
There is a peculiar condition that puts
the street car people in a position that
is different from every other important
industry. All industries are faced with
the necessity of paying greatly in
creased wages. higher prices for ma
tertals, more overhead at every step
The great mass Of them are respond
ing by charging more for their prod
ucts. So it Is that the public today
pays more for its shoes, its bacon, its
movie tickets.
But the product of street car COM
panies is rides. Rides are the only
thing they have for sale. AS the cost
of operation advanced they wanted to
increase the price of their product as
had other industries.
There are differences in many states
but generally there is a triple control
of street car lines. The first is based
upon the provisions of their franchises
issued by the municipalities. The Sec
ond Is police control which prescribes
the detail of their operation on the
streets. The third is a state control
usually taking the form of a state pub
lie service commission,
This state public service commission
is the most important Official body with
which the street car people have to
deal. 1t is usually the agency which
stipulates the fare that may be charged.
These commissions are, of course. po-
litical. Being political they may be
careful about flying in the face of pub
lie opinion. The street cars are owned
by corporations. The fares are paid by
the masses. 1t Is dangerous for a po-
litical body to grant a favor to a
corporation when it is going to cost
virtually every man, woman and child
money. So the public service corpora
tons have often hesitated in extending
relief, though in many cases they have
struck forth and acted boldly.
The public service corporations have
not always had the authority to in
crease fares. Often the franchise is
sued by the municipality has placed a
maximum on fares that might be
charged Before the war there was
no appreciation of the possibility OF
such a financial situation as exists at
present Some people saw the vision
of a street car fare of less than nickle,
but nobody ever dreamed that a larger
sum would be needed. So these fran
chises often state that not more than
five cents shall be charged
In such a case the city council may
have the authority to allow a higher
fare. In this case again there is the
danger of breeding unpopularity with
the voting public, and these councils do
not always act with promptness. The
these issues are being fought out.
Again it may be impossible under
these franchises to charge a higher
rate without referring the question to
a vote of the people. This has been
necessary in a number of communities.
The car riders of Buffalo, for instance,
were asked to vote themselves higher
car fare. At the polls they promptly
refused to authorize the raise. The
proposal was lost and the company was
left on the old basis Wherever this