The Washington herald., 1921-06-26
House Group Favors TAX.
ing Over Car Lines
OF District.
MERGER SECONDARY
IN THEIR OPINION
Influenced by Hams
View-Utilities Board
Under Fire.

Immediate relief to street car
natrons is considered by a ma
iortty Of the members Of the HOUSE
District Committee to be of import
ance paramount to any proposal OF
a merger between the Potomac Ell
ectric Company and the Washlns-
ton Railway and Electric Company
whether such a consolidation IN
.ludes the Capital Traction Com
pany or not
Several members of the House Dis
trfct Committee who favored the
Rail- bill, which provides for a con-
.oliaation of the Washington Rail-
vay and Electric Company with the
Potomac Electric Power Company
apoear 10 have withdrawn their
support after hearing the testimony
Of William F. Ham, president OF
these corporations. who appeared
before the subcommittee Friday at
their request The candid admis-
sion of Mr.. Ham, that he could offer
NO hope to those who anticipated
a reduction OF fares to result from
a merger such as outlined in the
Ball bill. Is thought to be the rea-
son for the present unpopularity OF
this measure.
Concentrate On Fares
The efforts Of a large majority. II
not all of the members Of the Hcrse
District Committee, are being con-
centrated on bringing about lower
fares for street car riders, with the
least possibly injury to the corpora
tions, Representative Lampert ex-
planned yesterday. and proposed leg
islation that has a purpose Other
than this Is deemed to be inadequate
It seems to be recognized BY the
entire committee that the insistent
demands on the part of the public fol
a more reasonable carfare are moi
without Justification Opinions diff
fer as to the most effective way u
render relief, but there is a spirit oi
determination in the committee tc
materially reduce fares, precludine
any possibility OF serious division
of opinions resulting from a selfish
desire of any member to exploit hi.
own bill.
Two Bfns Favored
The opinion general among mem
bers Of the subcommittee is that two
bills will be reported favorably al
the subcommittee meeting Tuesday
and brought before the full COM
mittee at its meeting on wednes-
day. One Of these measures involves
the taking over of the lines of all
the street-car companies. together
with the gas and electric plants. by
the people. This Is known as the
Keller bill.
NThe other act. known as the Ham.
mer bill proposes to abolish the
Public Utilities Commission. to-
gether will all the laws and reguia-
tions passed by that body. 1t also
was learned yesterday that the
Hammer bill probably will be
amended to establish a rate of fare
at four tickets for IS cents and the
Redistribution of universal transfers
A provision to reduce the cost OF
gas may also be carried by this bill
when IL is presented to the full COM
mittee.
Oppose UtfIitfes Commission.
The dissatisfaction with the way
in which the Public Utilities Com
mission has handled the street-car
situation indicated that a majority
of the subcommittee would vote for
the repeal of the act creating this
body. Several members. although
not critical of its administration of
public affairs, are of the opinion
that the duties of the Commissioners
are too voluminous to permit them
to devote sufficient time to matters
concerning public utilities, and are
in favor of creating separate
public utilities commission whose
activities will be confined strictly
to business relating to utilities cor
porations. This, they point out,
would allow the Commissioners much
more time to devote to municipal
affairs
1t is highly probable that during
the coming week some remedial
measures for the street-car situation
will be reported out of the full COM
mittee favorably. and indications AZ
this time point to the Hammer and
Keller bills as those most likely 10
be accepted.