New-York tribune., 1920-05-07
City to Fight
&c Fare on
Staten Island
Nixon Has Been Bedevil;no
Everybody to Raise Rates,
Says Hylan in Ordering
Suit to Halt Increase
injunction Move To-day
Whalen Declares Company
Gets Additional $780,
900 a Year by the Deal

Resumption of service on the trolley
lines Of the Richmond Light & Rail
road Company, in Staten Island, on a
schedule increasing the fares from to
cents, as ordered by Lewis Nixon
Public Service Commissioner, late
ednesday night, yesterday prompted
Mayor Hylan to instruct John P
O'Brien, Corporation Counsel, to begin
court proceedings at once on behalf of
the city to prevent the carrying out of
the Scent fare order.
Mayor Hylan, in letter to Mr.
O'Brien, charged that Mr.. Nixon, ga
public servant who is on the pay roll
OF the people to the extent of $4,000
a year." has been "bedeviling every
body" since he took office to increase
fares throughout the city. Mr.. OBrien
said he probably would apply in the
courts to-day for an injunction to stay
the Nixon order.
Test Case Over Fares
City officials who are opposed to
fare increases construed the Nixon
order as affording a test case to de-
termine how far "police power" might
be used in extending fare increases
elsewhere. Mr.. O'Brien said that great
as the powers of the state might be
they could not be used to break a
written agreement, and the franchise
of the Richmond company fixing B.
cent fare is written agreement, he
added Mr.. Nixon, on the other hand
contended that his right to prevent "a
,loto ,G
ice" is unquestionablc. He added that
if the strike on the Staten Island lines
had not been ended the employees
would have been so scattered that it
would have been impossible to re-
store the service later.
Meantime Scent fares, WITH the sale
Of ten tickets for rs cents, and d
charge of instead of cents for chill
dren, became a fact so far as Staten
Island trolley commuters were con-
cerned
The increased fares were the basis on
which the strike. begun on April 27,
was called off, the men receiving 60
cents an hour instead of from 40 to as
cents. Their original demands were
for from IS to 70 cents. About half
of the cars were in service yesterday.
Many of. them were only half filled, be-
c:use some passengers on learning that
the fare was raised to 8 cents got off
and took the bus lines operated by the
city, on which scent fare is charged
According to the company q majority
of Staten Islanders "would rather pay
8 cents than have no service"
May Forfeit Franchise
Whether the service will continue if
thA city succeeds in obtaining an in
junction against the Scent fares Off
cals of the company refused to say.
F. H. LaGuardia, President of the
Board of Aldermen, agreed with Mr..
O'Brien that the company was in dan
ger of losing its franchise if it con-
tinued to charge cents. "The COM
pany is acting like a man trying to
cheat himself at game Of solitaire"
he said.
Captain John ]. Kuhn, receiver of the
company, indicated yesterday that the
company might seek an injunction
against the city's operation of bus lines
on the island. Grover c.. Whalen,
Commissioner of Plant ana Structures,
said he had no fears as to the future of
the bus lines. He declared that the
strike on the trolley lines had cncour-
aged the public to patronize the buses
The Mayors letter to Mr.. O'Brien
read:
81 understand that Commissioner
Nixon has ordered an increased fare
from 5 to cents on the traction lines
in Staten Island. Nixon has been be
devilling' everybody since he took of
flee to increase the fare on the Staten
Island lines as we'll as the other lines
of the city.
"The Corporation Counsel and the
CONTINUED on page nlne)