Norwich bulletin., 1919-01-27

ANOs, IL 10 llOt COMMISSIONS tlitil
are at fault, so much as it is the laws
under which they operate, and failure
on the part of the law makers to re-
cogniZe the fact that this industry is !
not static; that changes are constant |
ly taking place and that old laws do |
not fit present conditions and that the ,
street railway mana cement, as well as |
the public utilities commission, are |
powerless so long as those obsolete ,
laws remain in effect.
You have all been reading a great !
deal about service at cost. as if it !
were something quite new and sure
cure for all the ills to which the street |
railway is subject.
The service at cost principle is fully |
recognized in the Connecticut laws
governing the street railways; every
decision by the Commission has been
founded upon that principle, but the
truth is that the law while granting to
the public transportation at cost fails
to guarantee to the corporation the
cost of transportation, and, Just there
regulation fails for While it can and
does not protect the public against an
eXorbitant charge for service, it is
powerless to put the corporation in
possession of a revenue that shall, in
turn enable it to render the service the
public demands.
When, last winter, the Shore Line
was struggling to keep its cars moving,
short of men, almost without fuel, eX-
periencing great difficulty in securing
necessary repairs parts, and collecting
on the cars about five hundred dollars
a day less than our actual operating
expenses, exclusive of interest and
rentals I received a communication
from one of our patrons severely crit
icising our service, complaining about
the lack of heat in the cars and sug-
| costing that if | could not improve
conditions [ had better resign and for
my successor secure from the institu-
| ton at LakevilIe a sensible idiot to OPP
crate the property. I replied that the
suggestion rather appealed TO me, for
1 was thoroughly Disguised with my
| job and I doubted if a successor could
| be found anywhere outside of an insti-
! ton for the feeble minded. Where
else would you look for street railway
/ investors today?
Yet here IS an industry of vital i'm
| portance 70 the people of this state
| an industry almost as necessary to the
manufacture, merchants, builders,
contractors and professional men as
are the steam roads, which represent
the main arteries, while the street
railways serve as the veins that carry
the industrial and social circulation of
the state. To stop that circulation
means atrophy and eventual decay
while to stimulate and extend its
growth and development. No single
factor had had SO much to do with the
phenomenal expansion of industry. the
development of the agricultural, min
eral and forestry resources of this ma
ton as came from the construction of
the great railway systems, projected
and developed by private enterprise,
unhampered by government regulation,
and while there was much to criticise
in the way in which some of these en-
terprises were financed, there are many
who feel that in our effort to do lit
tie good we have done a great wrong.
We certainly have put a stop to all ex-
pansion and are moving rapidly in the
other direction.
Even if you would give me the time
this is not the occasion to discuss the
details of this great problem There
are many points of view-many differ
ences of opinion, even among those
who find them all agreed; namely, that
a crisis has been reached and that only
by full appreciation of its serious
ness and the friendly and intelligent
cooperation of all the parties in in
!, terest can the problem be solved anG
the industry saved-and saved it mus
. be-
In closing let me say that to my nnin6
many of the street railway troubles
especially the objection to increase OF
: rates and loss of patronage resulting
! therefrom, is purely psychological
How else can you account for the &C.
ceptance of an increase in the cost Of
everything else without a single "let.
ter to the editor when a change o.
rate on the street cars will result il
the calling of mass meetings to protes
: against the outrage. The leaders O.
: these movements either fail to see, o,
= will not admit that there has actually
been a, reduction in fares as measured
|. by the purchasing power of the nickel
and the earning power of our patrons
When, in 1914, one city ride repre-
: scented one fortieth of the daily wag,
. of the day laborer, today, it calls 70
l about one eightieth OF days wage.
, takes today nearly twice as many nick
, els to pay our labor, fully twice a
many to pay for a ton of rails or a tol
: of brake shoes. and more than twice d
l many nici1els to pay for a ton of Goa
y yet the barter or exchange value O
i these articles remains almost unchanfi
. ed. A ton of brake shoes will pay TO
. a ton of rails as it would in 191
They only cost as measured by the me
-. dunn of exchange. Would there b
this same opposition if changes i
: street car fares We're to be made i
i response to ali order Of the publ
u utilities commission after an investiga
> ton made on its own initiative and i
I recognition of the states income obi
0 cation?
y Since the state has through the pub
II lie utilities commission, control of on
= construction, maintenance and opera
u ton, and, through the laws in regar
= to highways and bridges, the power t
. involve US in great expense that in II
% way increases our earning power an
q has undertaken to give to the publ
. service at COSTS it not logical thu
I it should go just one step further an
y guarantee TO the street railway industr
- the cost of service?
- This suggestion will appear to vo
l. at first thought as a very radical dc
parture, and one likely to meet wit
- serious opposition. But is it radical
!. Is there not a condition in the stat
10 that is comparable with it?
You, often, in your writing refer
the street car as the poor mans at
,. tomobile-a very good definition.
- Let me compare the attitude of II
. state toward the two classes of rider
le the automobile owner and the patror
% Of the poor mans automobile.
: Motor care licenses have produce
~ for the state an average, for the pa
% three years, of about 100000, while {
a result of the increased use of tn
, means of private transportation II
- state has found it necessary or expt
40 dent to axpend on the highways, fl
the past three years, an average
!. about $4,000, 600, o. more than s. 600
10 600 per year in excess of revenue.
In the case of the poor mans al
i tomobile the state has derived a rev