El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-11-04
Street Cars To
Get More Fare
OrGOOn Rocks
United States Knows This;
Government Helped
to Wreck En-.

n aSulEls ton D. ~ nov. 1--- ne
"Coxey's Army Of today is made up
Of the street car magnates Of the ma
ton all pleading for relief from post
war conditions which, while ushering
an era Of great prosperity for most
industries. are unquestionably driving
them into bankruptcy.
In the meantime there is a great dis
OF the street car men for this fact.
The secretary Of labor and the secre-
tary Of commerce months ago became
convinced that the street railways
were in a precarious condition and
wrote the president urging that he
take some action for their relief
In the meantime thee is a geat dis
crepancy in the fares charged in DIFF
terent cities
In Boston where the elevated
and the surface systems are Op-
Grated by state board Of trus-
tees under an arrangement which
guarantees n return to the Invest
meuf, fares went first to cents,
then TO > and finally, just recent
ly, to 10 cents.
In Cleveland where there was
once a cent fare the rate Is now
3 cents with an additional cent
fora transfer.
Washington has gone from six
tickets for a quarter 10 cents
straight, and now charges . cents
for q transfer. which charges are
held TO be Inadequate
There is peculiar condition that
puts the street car people in posi-
zion that is different from every
other important industry.
Hit The Hardest.
All industries are faced with the
necessity Of paying greatly increased
wages, higher prices for materials.
more overhead at every step. The
great mass Of them are responding by
charging more for their product 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 othed industries.
They found. however, that they
might not do So As public utilities
they were under the control OF va
rious agencies. very particularly as
to the fare they might charge.
In a case where the city council
may have the authority TO allow
higher fare, there IS the danger OF
breeding importantly with the vOt-
ing public and these councils DO not
always act with promptness- The
companies may be losing heavily
while these issues are being fought
out
People Must Have A Say.
Again II may be impossible under
these franchises to charge a higher
tate without referring the question
TO vote OF the people This has been
necessary in number Of communi-
The federal government feels con-
siderable responsibility for the pc
sition IN which the street railways
find themselves. During the war the
government maintained a war labor
board to settle disputes between en-
ployer and labor. That board usually
granted increases in wages There
were logical reasons why there should
be Increases in pay OF labor-even the
operators Of street cars Forty five
percent OF the cost OF street railway
operation is spent for labor so these
increases play havoc with the balance
sheet The government alAO raised
the price TO Industries on such ma
terials as steel products and the street
railways are huge consumers Of these
Government Wants Relief.
So the government wants to bring
relief 10 the street railways. IL holds
that they are more than corporations
which may or may not make profits.
They are necessities TO the well being
Of every municipality. The whole
public Will be injured if il is not
possible for them to operate
The federal investigating commis-
sion now at work has no authority 20
enforce its findings II can only
make recommendation The owners
hope that local communities viii fol-
low the recommendations OF the fed
eral commission The verdict Of that
commission viii give them something
as a defence against the condemna-
ton of the voters
There are one OF two solutions al
ready under consideration IN Cleve-
land and IN Cincinnati there is a pro-
vision for an equalizing fund which be-
comes a sort Cf money reservoir from
which operating expenses are paid.
II. for example, the companies are al
lowed 10 charge a seven cent fare, II
the experiment provides ample funds
the reservoir VIII rise. When - gets
TO a certain point the fare automal-
icallv goes back TO 6 cents II the
level is maintained, this fare is pro-
nounced adequate II the level falls
below a certain mark. indicating a
loss. 10 is automatically raised again
So is a barometer established that
viii provide sufficient money and
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