Weekly journal-miner., 1921-02-02
NJ RATE RAISE
 ON POST STAGE


 i Latest developments in the loca
 excitement over stage fares iron
 Prescott tc Whipple Barracks, al the outcome, apparently, of mis-
 taken rumor to the effect that the
 Prescott Whipple stage line intended
 to apply to the state corporation commission for permission to raise
 its fares, were a meeting Of the patients at Whipple Barracks Sun lday afternoon. at which a committee iof investigation was appointed, and the receipt here yesterday of a let ter from D. F. Johnson, chairman of the corporation commission, stating that while John F. Stills, proprietor Iof the stage line in question, had ap- .peared before the commission with the complaint that several local taxi men were violating an order of the commission, he had made no appli- cation for raise in rates.
 It IS not known how the rumor started, but it has succeeded in caus- ing some excitement among the pas sengers of the stage line and the taxi men. Stills yesterday emphat- ically denied to representatives of the patients committee and the American Legion that he intended to raise his rates, or that he had stated to anyone that he intended raising them. We intend to keep our rates right where they have been," he said and this talk of raising them from 25 cents one way and 5 cents the round trip to 25 cents one way and 50 cents the round trip is pure popycock. We intend to con duct our business al the same old rates authorized by the corporation commission, and to conduct the same sort of regular stage service ! We have been conducting"
 Stills further stated that the point le is trying to gain with the com mission is that some of the taxi men f ire violating the commissions order hat they charge 40 per cent above he rate of fare granted to stage ines, since his company has the ranchise
 The letter from Corporation Com mission Chairman Johnson states: z i
 When the regulation of stage ( ines was placed under the jurisdie- ( ion of the commission, a rule was ssued that all service cars operating l yer stage lines must charge in ad- l ition to the regular stage fare 40 V CT cent additional We are sure t hat the justness of this rule cannot f e questioned, the stage companies 2 laintain regular time schedule and il 'hether they have a full load or not f ley must keep this schedule In q Q reat many instances they are cohl- II elled to leave from one or the other h f their termini without a single d assenger. Therefore, it would man Il estly be unjust that service cars ould run over a stage route not t, coping a regular schedule of time C ithout charging an additional fare. e John F. Stills was before the com 1T ission a few days ago and com sI aimed that service cars in Prescott IT ere violating this order of the com
 ission in that they charged 25 C, .nts for one way passengers and W cents for a round trip. In the ei lse of bona fide round trip pas ty nger, so cents would comply with in IT jaw. but MT. Sills' complaint ill as that they did not apply this to n, le-way passengers, in other words.
 at they carried one-way passen- fr ITS at the same rate as his publish in
 schedule rate of 25 cents. We te we no proof that MT. Sills' com cl aint is correct and our advice to E m was to secure definite evidence C, d bring the matter before the R unity attorney for action. M "In the early operation of the NJ tomobile act the commission had ol refused to grant to oper- B; DTS of stage lines. service car cer- so icates, as we felt that the 40 per P; mt ruling spoken of above gave
 em protection and that service car pr en should be protected against Gl orators of stage lines running NJ oh cars. We carried out this policy T.. til a ruling of the attorney gem ~ Il was made that the commission do not have jurisdiction to rule that
 e man could operate a service car no d another man could not. Tn ca Ter words, if certain rules of the tn mmission were complied with in m, erence to giving bonds, etc, the ov must issue a service car tn rmit Therefore, if Mir Stills were w
 apply to the commission for a mt vice car permit we would of sta ,essity have to grant it, but as DO ted above, this has not been da