The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-08-20

If they do not entirely disappear, will they be operated by cities. pri- vate capital retiring because it no longer can be assured of a fair re- turn on investment?
 Shall the present arrangements continue to operate the lines on an increased fare or of a guarantee basis from the people who, in effect, will say: You give us a good ride and we will pay for it and guarantee you fair profit?"
 These are some of the questions that are being asked in every village, town and city in the land today. 1n- terest in them is widespread not only because a very large percentage of the people ride on street cars in cities and through sections served by inter urban lines, but also because street railway securities are as widely scat tered, perhaps. as any class of stand l ard investments in the world today.
 Attention has been especially di- rected to the situation by the conven- ing here of the federal electric rail- way commission, appointed by Presi- dent Wilson to inquire into the situ- ation and recommend methods of improving it.
 Predict Bankruptcy.
 The commission has been in ses- sion for several weeks, sitting day and night, to get at the bottom of the street railway business. So far it has heard the side of the street rail- way men themselves. presented by operating officials, bankers, econom- ists, members of public utility com missions, manufacturers of street railway equipment and many others, and fhera hPa0 3 nf dis agreement. The condition of the street railways has been painted as desper--, ate and the prediction has been made calmly and without heat that unless relief is granted quickly many of them 1 will go into bankruptcy in the near ] future.
 | Already there are nearly 1000 miles ! of line that were being put to public | use few years ago that now are l either in the hands of a receiver ot ! have been junked or abandoned. i Bankruptcy of a street railway does l not mean of course, that it will gJ | out of business. but it probably does mean poorer service for the money l spent, little effort to keep up main l tenance, or build extensions. as is the i practice of lines that are on a pay | ing basis.
 There is more than s6.OOO.O 900, 900 ! invested in the street railroads of the i United States. and they operate mora 1 than 4,00O miles of line. with close ! to 300, 900 employees. Their bond and 1 stockholders. the commission has been 1 shown. comprise all classes of invest i ors-banks. insurance companies i trustees and individuals. The aver age hoIdsr of this class of securities
 does not have more than S5,000 Tn
 them. so that they are not a rich
 mans favorite and their depreciation
 and the insolvency of the companies
 by which they have been issued
 means loss and deprivation to hun
 dreds of widows and orphans, and in
 many cases may have 8 more or less
 serious effect upon some lisS insur- ance companies.
 Cards on Table.
 The American Electric Railway As
 sociation has been presenting the
 cause of the street railways to the
 commission. It has. according to it's officers and the Committee of One
 Hundred, which 1t has authorized to
 speak for it in Washington laid all It's
 cards on the table. It has not at
 tempted to deny there has been water
 put in many of the old companies; it
 has not denied particularly that there
 may have been some questionable practices in the old days although
 none has been shown so far. But it has asked that the commission re-
 member that first of ail. if 1t does
 anything nt all 1t must act quickly, recommend h fare raise for the lines,
 and leave the permanent solution of the street railway problem to the fu-
 tuTe and the philosophy of why it went wrong to a day when there is
 tims to sit down and discuss the po- litieai habits and morals of the Amer ican people.
 Pardee's View of It. But to get back to the causes for
 the present situation, Here is what John d. Pardee, president of the American Electric Railway Associa- tien told the commission:
 We believe that our problem in the solution of which We claim your assista Bee, is a problem of readiust-
 ing an essential industry te conditions that have materially changed first, because of the nat 'ral development of the business and the changing civic
 and social life of the communities; and, second, because of the great war. which has wrought a great change in national concepts of industrial and social relations
 "As I see the elements that go te msks Hp these changed conditions as they directly affect electric railways, they are:
 "Fjrst, The higher price ievei
 upon which not only the United States but the entire world has entered upon, which seems bound te maintain
 for an indefinite period of years | Second, The conditions surround
 ing the employment of labor, which is the larger part of the sost of oper-
 ation of electric railways than it is of
 any other industry with which I am
 acquainted, In this connection I be-
 lieEs that it must be evident te aHy
 unbiased and HHRr rejudised student of pFeseBtda conditions that labor is 1 demanding aad will receive a great CT share in the wealth it produces
 than ever before in the history of the
 world, BveryEhsFe industry is ad- jEstiaG itself te meet these demands,
 and no lasting solution of the railway Prnbis#7 san be reached unless this industry is put iR a financial position where it can render the same need of justice to Its empioyes as is expect