The Connecticut labor news., 1921-01-21
STATE CHAMBER WOULD RELIEVE ALL
 TROLLEY BURDENS
Executive Board Disagrees With
 Public Utilities and Referen- . dunn Is Ordered.

The board of directors of the Con- necticut Chamber of Commerce does not agree with the recent report to the Legislature of the public utilities con- mission that the commission should have authority to authorize street rail way companies to operate motor busses and to establish new bus lines. The chambers trolley Investigating commit tee, III its final report recommended that such authority be vested in the pub l1c utilities commission, but not all the directors agreed, and the matter will be settled by referendum vote of chamber members.
 Otherwise the report of the trolley Investigating committee was accepted without dissent and will be submitted to referendum of chamber members, so that their views may be secured and passed on to the Legislature.
 The recommendations of the trolley committee fo1olw:
 l. (a)' That insofar as possible jit- neys and trolleys be required to bear similar tax burdens; (b) that such tax be based, where feasible, upon their net income; Co that the street railway com panies of the state be excused from paying taxes now due the state until after the session of the General Assem-
 
 bear no interest.
 not required to lay new pavement and be required only to keep in repair the pavement adjacent to each rail which IS actually damaged by them.
 5. That street railway companies be relieved of all bridge building and maintenance requirements, except the obligation to install and maintain the rails, wires and accessories used ex- clusively by them.
 4. That street railway companies should have authority to operate motor busses in substitution for, or auxiliary to, existing lines, and to establish new bus lines, with the permission of the public utilities commission, after a duly advertised hearing.
 5. That rates of fare should be de- termined by the relative cost of operat- ing the street transportation lines with ln municipality, or group of munich pal1t1es so inter-related as to such mat ters as riding habits, as to make up a street transportation system essentially distinct from other systems in the state.
 6. That twice each years the public utilities commission review the rates of fare charged by the street passenger common carriers of the state, with a view to authorizing an increase or ordering decrease, in fares as may be justified by the financial statements of the carriers. The committee added, however, that 1t was not prepared to recommend that municipalities be auth orized to make service-at-cost contracts with trolley companies.
 The committees recommendations concerning paving, bridges and taxes agreed substantially with those of the public utilities commission on the same subjects
 Regarding abandonment of munich pal ownership or control the committee reported that all forms of ownership and control of street railways have been 1 tried i'll this country, from unregulated 1 private ownership through privately i owned and state and municipality con- l trolled to municipally owned railways. The committee believes that a munich | pal1ty cannot operate a street railway as efficiently and economically as can a | private concern and that 1nunicipa1ly owned railway will not give as good 1 service to the public, and it is, there l fore, opposed to municipal ownership. 1 However, a trolley cof11pany should not be required to indefinitely operate a line, or substantial portion of { ! line, at loss, hence the committee be- ] lieves that a railway company should have the right to discontinue a non paying line, or portion of line, witt the permission of the public utilities commission, after hearing.
 After saying that the six main topic covered by the final recommendation require legislative action, the commit tees report added:
 This condition is due in part to earl, errors of judgment in building into un profitable territory and in part to thu increases i'll the uses of private automo