The Connecticut labor news., 1921-07-22
TRADES COUNCIL
 DELEGATES SCORE
 TROLLEY COMPANY
Jitney Controversy Starts Discussion That Leads to Some Caustic
 Comments.

darned" policy of the Connecticut Company in raising fares, giving in ferior service and then attempting to cut the pay of the trolleymen was roundly scored at the meeting of the New Haven Trades Council last night in a discussion on the trolley-jitney controversy. While no formal vote of condemnation of the company was taken, the delegates, collectively and individually, took the company to task for charges and service given. One pointed out that the service on some lines IS not even as good as the old horse car days when the patrons of the cars were wont to get out and sit along the curb while the driver Watered the horses.
 Whether or not the members of organized labor would take sides with the company against the jitneH oper- ators was the cause of the discussion. It was claimed that the union men of the city should religiously support the trolleymen's union which Is natur- ally opposed to the continuance of the Jltney men who are not organized. Every delegate present expressed willingness to do all i'll his power to support the trolleymen's union but declared they couldn't and wouldn't stand for the arbitrary attitude of the trolley company. Several pointed out that even when on committees pro- testing to company officials against poor service or doubled fares, they were shown sCant courtesy and there fore while they wanted to do all they could for the trolleymen would not be bound to stand against the jitney men who were at least giving them service.
 The jitneys are about doomed any how, it would appear although a test case on the validity of the law Is be- ing prepared. Judge Kecler in the superior court yesterday denied the application of the New Haven-Derby Bus Corporation for a temporary in j.i:e;ton t0 restrain the state of Con necticut and the city of New Haven from enforcing the regulations of the public utilities commission of Con- necticut in regard to jitncy routes.
 Application was made in the su- perior court at Bridgeport last week by counsel for the New Haven-Derby Bus Corporation as a legal move to prevent the police from carrying out the ruling of the public utilities com mission in barring jitney buses from any streets and highways where there is trolley service. In regulations is sued in the past two months, the commission has denied permissions to operate jitney buses on many routes throughout the state. The law un- der which the rulings were issued went into effect last Friday, but the police of several cities announced that no arrests of jitney bus drivers would be made, pending the outcome of injunction proceedings.
 The decision follows in part:
 "Chap' IT v of the Public Acts of 1921 (the jitncy law) is attacked for unconStitutionality in it's various grounds. The first ground alleged is that the act provides no penalty for breach of it's provisions. This claim does not go into the constitutionality of the act. The claim is not i'll itself we'll grounded.
 violating any order, rule or regula- ton established in accordance with it's provisions or any provisions here of shall be fined or imprisoned or both. The words quoted, clearly re- late to the express provisions of the act, as distinguished from the order etc, referred to in Section 8. Unless this value is given them the words mean nothing and become merely repetition.
 "The second ground alleges that the act grants special privileges to cer- tain classes of persons and the third grounds alleges that the act deprives the plaintiff of equal protection of the laws There does not seem to be anything in the specific provisions of the statute which is obnoxious to these objections. It is provided that any person may operate jitney route, where he is found to be a proper person and the route proposed is one of convenience and necessity. The determination of these questions is left 10 the public utilities commits sion."