Republican farmer., 1919-04-04

1 These expensive measures for non- | IopoIy rescue are recommended in a report signed by John B. Dillon, Cliff lord E. Hough, Oliver R. Beclwith, John T. N1acKnight, Arthur M. Waitt' Ira M. Ornburn and Francis R. Coo ] ley.
 Among the payments from which the company would (be relieved under
 this report is a payment of $3OO. GOO for. the construction of a new bridge at Stratford, to take the place of the 1 present structure which would be ss11T fic1ent for all traffic, excepting trolley | traffic In an additional report Oliver R. BecEwith says the releases from
 bridge arldI paving assessments is positive for two years and is eolIiy-
 aIent to an aid of S7OO,OO0.
 The company owes the state about S5VoO09 in taxes, The total remission would amount by Jdly. 1921, to s1.- 100000 Thees taxes would stand as lien and draw per cent.
 The trolley companies cannot bor- | row from banks. They have no cred 1 It. MT. Beckwith calmly discusses
 means for crippling the jitney's until l the trolley companies are able to take
 an annual revenue of $9OO,OOO by req
 son Of the jitney regulation
 1 Not finding these means sufficient 1 to put the trolleys into sound financial condition, Beckwith recommends a
 state loan of $2,OOO,0oO at one-half
 of one per cent greater than the state
 IS obliged to pay for the money. 1 The Connecticut company Is a rsg1I-
 lar Pandora's box of troubles It owes
 the state for taxes s218,000. At the
 end of June it will owe S40O,OOO
 more without a cent to pay with. It
 owes Conn. banks $2,O21, ,474, owes the
 New Haven company $1,00O.O00, upon
 which payments of $250. 900 are due; l owes for cars $175,0OO; owes the U.
 :. government for advances for cars
 and extensions in Bridgeport, inter- est per annum $75,OO0. The total of
 the above debt is $3,263,127.
 The committee claims that
 unless substantial relief is giv- l en through legislative action i it is clear that unless the substantial i relief is given through legislative ac- i ton the company must go into q 1 receivers hands with immediate l abandonment of operation and re-
 moval of tracks and sale of over S5 miles of track which does not pay it's own expense to be quickly follow 1 ed by immediate abandonment of over loo miles additional which do not pay 1 operating expenses and taxes. Such 1 an abandonment would effect Stam- 1 ford, Norwalk, Bridgeport, Shelton, | Derby, AnsOnia, New Haven, Wall ! ingford, New Britain, Manchester and Rockville and would cause de. 1 preciatlon in property values along 1 1855 miles of railway and contiguous l territory served by the company The 1 Connecticut Co. pays no dividends l and cannot earn enough to pay in l terest or principal on $7,09s.0oO i worth of bonds. Since 1910 the New 1 Haven Railroad Co. has assumed payments and interest on bonds and i the Connecticut Co. has given it's notes to cover such payments. Only 1 through assumption Of these pay 1 ments by the New Haven Co. has the 1 Connecticut Co. been able to take l enough money from it's gross revenue 1 to pay for additional cars, tracks. car 1 house improvements, etc, since 1910. 1 The evidence shows a very moder- | ate salary list. The percentage of 1 overhead to expenses and of overhead 1 to revenue is smaller than in many 1 other companies with which compar- | ison was made. In the past five year0
 the company has given careful atten- | tion to the best modern means of 1 economical operation.
 | Officers of the company ask relief; ! from The burden of street paving; i from payments of building bridges:
 regulation of. jitney competition; | abatement of taxes accrued and fu- ture tax reduction the right to aban- 1 don non-paying lines; permission to operate motor vehicles.
 Samuel c. Shaw of this city dissents from the report of the majority of the commission, to the extent that he be- lieves the assessment for bridges should not be entirely removed, but should, like the taxes, be extended as { a credit for two years.
 MT. Shaw observes that eith&- the Connecticut Company will ge on It's feet. or will not. If 1t does not get
 on its feet, he sees no reason why the
 state should lose the bridge assess
 ments as a preferred debt against
 the property. MT. Shaw is especially convinced that the assessment of $500, 900 for the bridge between Strat-
 ford and Milford should be charged