The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1921-07-31
newman IN FAVOR
Of RETAINING D. c.
UTILITIES BOARD
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us.S S~s Aso
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lalf. but the users of electricity
ave paid the full ten cents. The DIFF
erence has been impounded by the
.ourt, and will go to the company
wins in the courts.
The Public Utilities Commission.
therefore, has, on the surface, done
lothing for the community except
tAISE rates.
This looks bad at first considera-
ION. and would seem to offer some
Justification for the theory. that the
ommission should be abolished.
Consider Car Fares.
This seems especially conclusive
wen you consider the street car
mes. Before the commission was
cfated. street car fares had been
fled by Congress at cents cash, or
81 tickets for a quarter. Those who
fsor abolishing the commission point
ou with considerable force, that II
thre had been no commission. street
car fares would still have been
GERS, because II would have taken
an vet OF Congress to raise fares, and
IL contended Congress would not
haV passed such bill.
i considering the adjustment pro
posi-. however, we must be fair tc
| the commission, no matter how much
we 1ay feel that Scent car fares are
an IMPOSITION.
tits going too far to say Congress
woui not have passed q bill giving
L ID htUh
Nigh have done so. During and
after the war Congress recognized ir
| innunerable ways the necessity o,
] highc charges for many things. i
, nigh have recognized the need o.
the Washington street railways, ane
passe a bill giving higher fares.
Bn,even II Congress had not passed
such bill. the companies could still
have lad access TO the courts. and
thers $ no reason TO believe that the
courtfwould have been different from
the Ppplic Utilities Commission.
In ke last analysis, street car fares
must b based on the FACTS as to thu
fair vsue Of the properties. and wher
the coSt came to consider those TACT
they wkuld find them to be exactly tn,
same facts on which the Public Utili
| ties Commission based Its action.
The statement that fares would no
have seen raised IL il hadn't been fo'
the commission, therefore. Is not JUST
fled. The probabilities are that what
ever Government agency handled TIT
questbn-Congress. utilities com
| mission or the courts-the results
would have been approximately th'
| same.
Other Side OF Picture.
~ne other side OF the picture Is that
| IL there had been NJ utilities commits
SION. rates might have bean increased
| MORE THAN THEY WERE. There
great deal OF justification for tina
| apprehension. In some cities stree
car fares were raised 70 10 cents, OF
sysems using overhead trolleys, which
do not cost half as much to build a
| systems like ours, using underground
| trolleys.
While the Public Utilities Commits
sion has not made a brilliant record II
fare reduction, IL HAS made brillian
record In valuing the utilities Of Wash
ington.
In 1913, when the commission wa
created, practically NOTHING wa
| Known about the inner workings a
the gas companies, street car COR
Ipanies, etc. They had always bee
PRIVATE corporations. whose rec
lords were hidden in obscuritf, who's
bookkeeping was done any WY the
wanted to do II, to conceal wiateve
they wanted to conceal.
Nothing was known as to ho'
much property they had, whee
was, how they got It, what they pal
for Il, or what II was worth.
The law required that each cSn
pany be permitted to mako chae,
for it's services which would give
reasonable return ION the FAI
value of it's property used and usef
in the conduct Of its business
But NOBODY knew what thi
FAIR VALUE was, and until Il
Public Utilities Commission four
out, nobody COULD know, becau'
the companies wouldn't let anyboc
find out what they mad.
That whole, bad condition, whit
would forever have blocked effect
fare regulation, has been changed
the work of the commission. Eve
rail. screw, bolt, nut, dynamo, CO
and article OF every description I
longing to the street car compani
was inventoried and valued, with {
result that the commission land &C
sequently the public and Congre,
now knows what the fair value
each Is, and what the things are tn
| go to make up that fair value.
The importance, necessity and val
OF hat knowledge rannots be ov'
Put All Cards on Table.
Also, all books and accounts of
utilities must now be kept in
cordance with strict regulations |,
down by the commission, with the
suit that It will be awfully hard
the future for any company to c,
ceal or juggle any transaction. i
inner workings are laid bare.
Now, II 10 happened that, coir
dent with the conclusion of the v
uations, war costs came along a
operating expenses of all utilit
went sky high, along with everythi