The Washington times., 1919-09-18
v. R. {. FIGHTS
FORSEPARATE
VALUATIONS
Insists It's Subsidiaries Should
Be Considered individually,
: and Not as Composite Whole.
ny BILL PRICE.

~ Bill PRICE.
Before the Washington Railway &
Eiectrie ,Compaay could submit. any
Of its financial hgures 60 the Public
Utilities Commission bearing upon its
Hppslc4tton for increased revenues,
thiG moFuing, the important question
vas submitted % Chairman KutE, the
only member present, as 70 whether
al the companies Of the system are
g be treated ss one or handled sep
1Fhtely.
the n1Gtter By citisena present rep
reseuting civic bodies, largely
brought about by threats from Of
nelals Of the companies that unless
relief is granted sufficient 20 prop
eFly operate ali the lines they may be
conDelled 70 cut loose from the City
and Suburban, Georgetown and Ten
legtoWn and Waahfngton InteFuFban
lines and lesye them 70 shift for them
selves,
ASK seDarate Consideration.
JehA S Barbour, attorney for the
system, stated that while the mat
ter would be presented g whole, and
the record should be as one, the COM
Dlny desired each road to be treated
separately In the figures to be pre-
sente6 60 that the financial status OF
each might have its own weight
". Mex Clayton, chairman Of the
lublie utilities committee Of the Fed
Grafton OF CitiEens' Associations. de-
clafed be would like 70 present q mo-
ten that the separate petition Of the
various lines be dismissed, and that
the Commission consider the appliea-
tion as BY the parent company alone
The PuFPese. 81 Congress.
IL. Clayton read from the act Of
.Congress OF 1900 authOrtEing the
consolidation Of the roads. and from
the reports in both House and Senate
On the subject. showing II Was the
cleaf Ihtention Of C6ngress that there
GhOulA be complete unihcation and
absoiute ownership BY one company.
All the records domonStrated that the
PurDcse Of Congress was one com
D8nF and not subs diary companieG-r
Instead of this, he charged the W.
r. q =. has used this act Of Congress
IS tt has seen dt for nineteen years;
Obtaining benefits from some lines
until eoufr0uted by financial trouble,
Gnd BOW Threatening to cut loose
fRgE weaker lines that are said TO be
glpeontsbls, For many years il kept
the BTightWood line outu, but finally
too1Z 70 In aS part Of the system II
has never done this as 70 the three
ether lines, despite The intent Of Con-
efesA
In aone Of the previous hearings
beforo the commission, he said, had
the company ever before sought to
separate the various lines, standing
Is one and asking for relief as one.
CoAgFess Fixed the capital stock OF
ell tie roads at $4,000, 900. Now, the
company. considers the capital stock
% the city and Suburban and the
ether lines Is separate which, he
said, 4 has no legal right 20 DO.
Gooege A Ward, Of the Columbia
heights CitiSeus' Association, and X.
y. Aru8EtronE, Of the Rhode Island
CitiSeHs' Association. along with
ether Representatives OF the public,
insisted on the commission holding the
subject TO the parent company only.
The company should be required to
stand on one application.
Bynae standa With Public.
conrEd syma, counsel for the COM
uaiGs3on, sympsthized with these argu-
uaenta. he said the whole system
O0ght On law Be considered as one;
that the question Of rate in the Dis
tFict s. auch that IL must be congid-
cred as y whole. He did not like tho
idea that after treating all their lines
as q whole Ga the past company Of
hcials admit that they are eonaidering
the ioppinE on Of some Of their lines
t. shift for themselves
1fr. Barbour answered that I'VE
have regarded this as one system
and have sought 20 include everything
The Potomac Electric Power Com
pany also-bVt the commission has in
the past overFuIed US, treating the
P. 3. p. - entirely separate and also
hsyiug separate annual reports from
the different railway iineg."
COlo0el KutE reminded him that the
relations OF the P. z. p. to the W. r.
and =. are somewhat different to
these Of the railway lines not yet
brought into the system.
CO0Dauy4u ApPesIs In Vain.
President Ham said IL has been the
earnest desire Of officials TO maintain
the integrity Of the entire system. but
that the company has heretofore ap-
be6led in vain for sufficient revenues
% exist. and TO prevent going 70 the
wall The situation has reached q
point where Il is doubtful whether
there will be a ". r, and = much
IenFer. and where some OF the sub
ai4taTtcs may have 10, appeei to the
courts against conhscation and ruin.
The Commission fixed the total val |
nation Of W. r. and z. properties, in |
eludiHg subsidiaries, at &16,1O0.O00, !
bat also found the valuation OF these |
gabsidtGFies separately. The object /
81 this hearing Is to fix rates that |
win give the company 9 return OF /
about 8 per cent on the total Of all /
cempanies.
Charles L KimbalI, chief engineer /
of the railway system, was the first /
witness. He at once went into the 4
matter OF receipts and expenditures 4
Of the various lines. His testimony |
and that Of other witnesses Of the 1
company was TO the effect that the /
comPany, under the present rate Of |
rare. viii fall $4,000 short during
the year 1919 Of earning any return /
at all Instead Of q per cent re-
turn. he said, there viii be nothing.
The figures being presented un-
auestiOnably present 3 gloomy out
look foF the company. These figures
are 70 Be carefully analyEed by ex-