Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-03-24
JAMESON MAKES
PUBLIC APPEAL
Street Rail Head Asks Con
sideratiOn of City's Welfare
in Rate Petition.

The question of whether street car serv
ice shall stand still or 20 forward is one
for the people Of Indianapolis to decide,
DR.. Henry Jameson, president of the
board of directors of the Indianapolis
Street Railway Company, said today In
an appeal to citizens to consider the
street car situation. The company goes
TO a hearing before the public service
commission tomorrow on its petition for
Scent fares and 2-cent transfers.
1T is q question Of vital Importance TO
the city, saiG DR.. Jameson. "Our com
pany has strained every resource and ex-
hausted every economy that ingenuity
can devise And yet our S1S,500,000
taxed property value and our scent fare
revenues viii not produce the service that
the rapidly growing city demands The
nickel fare simply Will not do the work.
CITES EXPENSES
OF LAST YEAR.
THE unthinking citizen who feels that
once we've paid the mOtOrmen and con-
ductors we can pocket the rest Of his
nickel as pure profit, is mistaken. We
get less out of our gross receipts than
anybody we do business with. In 1927
we paid 81 2S2, GOO in wages to cOnduc-
tors and motormen, and other wages
brought the total charge for labor up
TO two millions. We spent on mainte-
nance last year $1,126OOO. Our coal bill
for the year was $3.50 200, and we do not
expect that this years Will be much
less, If any. Our taxes amounted 70
$E0J,47I. and we paid accident and in
jury claims aggregatfng $169,440.
Compare some Of these items with the
two items listed for the people whose
Investment is taxed at S1S,JO0,OO0. Our
banded debt is over S13OOOOOO, and we
paid S629, GOO in the form of interest. The
owners Of S5,OO0OOO worth of stock re-
ceived only $4,000 one of the smallest
items charged against the gross re
ceipts.
1.-THE nickel will not do the work We
have stretched it in every direction, but
IT simply will not cover service, wages,
maintenance, interest on borrowed money
and Invested capital. and so on. our
property is not such that we can borrow
more money on it, and we are not earn
ing anything that would warrant bank
er in lending US large sums TO make ex-
tensions.
SAYS RATE BOOST
NOT FOR PROFIT.
Every man and woman interested in
the welfare and growth of this, his home
city, should think of this company as a
great Industrial institution whose prod
uet is absolutely essential to the very
existence Of the community, and that
without adequate support it must Ian
guish and fail The slight additional
help which it requires and has asked
for viii not, and cannot be used for
any selfish profit but for legitimate
charges and sorely needed bettermentS to
the service.
1--WE believe and have faith in the peo-
pie Of Indianapolis and feel that they
will meet this problem in the same splen-
did spirit in which they have met the
many additional burdens brought about
by the war.
ave feel it is up to the city to decide
whether it wishes to stand still or go
forward. We cannot extend our tracks
or buy new equipment when we are not
making money with WHICH to do it, or
pay interest on money borrowed for this
purpose"