The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-11-19

sfhe public can hays anything II
nnts 70 pay for. Ons-man strest
NJ will tend to kssp the fare
lIcro Il II; two-msn operation will
Ssseettass : much larger fare. Or
y krsst railway company VIII
! forced 70 % ont q bssinssa \
These are expressions Of Presi-
I'd B. J. Denman and vics Presi-
snt John q. Huntoon Of. the Tri-
~ Railway company made last
lGht before the specta1 scommiftse
z the Davenport city council ~
{clntsd TO consider the advisabili-
y Of permitting the company to In
|3ugurate the 0ne-man car system
u that city.
q While the meeting had only to
- with Davenport problems, and
olhing affecting other than Dav-
6pOrt was discussed, the sentiment
Z the 0fIicialS Of the company can
y taken to include this side OF the
}lver.. although the method Of pro-
aSedufe for one-man cars would
Necessarily be different.
" After hearing the problem dis
I&ussed and explained from all an
xIes OF the street car company's
6tde, the committee confined itself
~ interrogation--the councilmen
look 1t under advisement to report
IL q special meeting of the coun-
al early next week. Aside from
4he question of 0ne-man operation,
l5he committee will also investi-
rate the service It cost plan, which
The company officials stated they
would be willing to adopt to retain
lwoianen operation II the public so
Nestea, adding that the public can
AZ n. anything II is willing to pay
n Consider Cost Plus.
"a "a The service at cost plus IL pro-
yided for in Iowa cities under re-
,nent decision Of the supreme court.
q is q plan that is in operation In
0ther cities. not only in the state,
but elsewhere in the country. In
Meet it guarantees the company
m equitable return on its invest
nent, the rates OF fare to be so
Is to retain the profit al
= stationary figure. The plan would
provide for city council represen-
htion in the management Of the
.oompany's business. The rates
would be placed at a figure which
would permit a sinking fund.
When the sinking fund attained
certain proportions the rates would
be lowered until such a time as it
became necessary to replenish the
Fund.
General Manager J. G.. HuntoOn
was the first to be heard. He cited
figures to show that the company
d barely operating at cost at the
present time. and said it was either
n casefof profit or of giving up the
Franchise and leaving the people of
Davenport without street car serv-
Zee. He said It is either a case of
One-man operation or an increased
fare, which would have to be at II
Ur IL cents. The latter, he vOuch-
eafed, is apparently out Of the
question. An increase of one cent,
which would bring the fare in Dav-
sanport to q thin dime, might not
meet with serious objection CT the
bablic, but this wouldn't be suffi-
ejent to keep the company's head
above water.
10 Give us chance to save our
4 Macon" is the manner in which Mr.
Huntoon summed up the situation
from the street railway point d
! view.
President Denman went into
/ more exhaustive details and an.
severed the many questions put tC
him by Mayor c. P. Barewald ant
J ether members Of the committee.
Must Decrease Costs.
The problem is not one Of in.
ereasing fares but one of decreas
Eng costs Of operation. he declared
The Scent fare Is the figure tn,
public would still have to pay un
[ der one-man operation in order fol
the company to show q Just return
on its investment. He smiled
broadly at any suggestion one-mar
cars might induce the company t.
: accept a lower fare.
I'VE are $250.00e in the hole al
This time and we can't recover this
loss by reducing the price," SAID
Mr.. Denman.
by disseminating the Fourth