Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-01-24
TO GET ELECTRIC
RAILWAYS REPORT NEXT MONTH
Commission Decision to Be Made Known
Then-Some Members Said to Discount
General Increases In Rates Granted.

on the nickel fare they could afford
to pay dividends on water and thus
elevate this water" to productive
stock market basis. Some of these
stocks. given away at the time of tn"
acquisition of the bonds Of the com
panies, were classed as "'gilt-edge"
within a few years. purely on account
of their dividend-paying qualities.
Following the same line of thought.
some members of the commission ad
here to the view. that when the crash
came. operating expenses mounted
and the 1915 award OF the war labor
board made higher pay for operating
employees obligatory on the roads. this
water" discontinued the payment Of
dividends. dropped its "gilt-cdge"
qualification and became a burden on
its holders. Therefore. il is ella lined
the fair valuation of many roads is In
some cases, millions of dollars too
high.
That application of financial RELIEF.
which should be granted the electric
carriers. cannot be made general is
understood to he a view held by al
least some members of the commits
sion. The commissioners realize thai
operating expenses and operating in
come per car mile and per passenger
carried vary widely IL different cities
There will. however. probably be for
mulated some sliding scale of relief I"
be put forward to public utilities COM
missions providing for a fixed rate Of
fare. dependent on traffic and mainte-
nance conditions.
As to Municipal Ownershfp.
Some members OF the commission
| 1t is known. do not favor municipal
ownership of tracks and leasage Of
them to the traction companies a MA l.
put forward by Lieut.. Col. c: W. Kutz
Engineer Commissioner of the Dis
trlct OF columbia, in formal testimony
before the commission. What devel-
opment the matter of track ownership
VIII take cannot be stated before thu
report is issued.
Witnesses before the commission a,
| Its hearings made it clear that mu-
/ nlcipal or public ownership of trac-
ton companies is not conclusion
wished for by the owners of the roads
| 1t was earnestly urged by practical,
All witnesses that some federal proyi-
sion should be made to relieve ia.
traction companies of the burden o.
| taxation on their trackagc. which. IN
| many cases, extended into suburba y
| territory.
Recommendation as to the advisa
| oiilty OF some scheme for a uniform
zone fare plan will probably be in
corporated in the commissions re
port, 1t is understood. The bulk Of
testimony introduced, however. was
emphatically against the zone fare
| ~ ShiNi oOycCllOD DelnG ina
OF restriction of the density of popu-
lation which makes for a large
amount of profitable short haul bust
ness.
Service at Cost Plan.
| Probably the service-at. cost plan.
as exemplified in the street railway
| system of Cleveland, will be held up
| In the report as one ideal 20 which
city traction companies should aspire
| Newton ID. Baker. Secretary of War
/ who was an official of the company
and. as he jokingly remarked eth.
man behind the works" spoke in sup
/ port of this scheme. He said the sys-
tenn has worked out admirably IN
! Cleveland. and that il provides for Il
| sliding scale of fare charges the rat
| going down when the COMPANY
monthly income reaches S750000 and
! going up when such income falls be-
low s2o0.00o.
The local traction situation. which
| members of the commission realize is
! much involved. will not be gone into
extensively. but will be considered
with the general situation. When
the President appointed the commits
sion he did not recommend that they
| consider any individual case. but tina I
| they survey the situation as a whole
and draw their conclusions as to the
| general situation!