Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1921-10-28

IRE Review VIII puotisn next "eeA
...,.,nsnt of the local street car
.,,y.s earnings for several years
=, which will show that they were
:, from facing bankruptcy when ask
for and receiving increases in
-. "a, fares, gas, electric lighting
~ h.atlno rates. Also that there was
:, necessity for an increase OF 'ares
!, order TO pay their employees more
money.
c,,i,ens of the Twin Cities and not
.,one members of organized labor are
snylouslv awaiting the decision or
sse two city administrations on the re-
saest of the Twin City Federation of
Thor To ask the Illinois Commerce
Commission for a five-cent street car
tsre for Champaign and Urbana.
The Daily nlini of October 20 came
o,t for A five-cent fare with the follow
ing editorial:
Twin CITY street car fares from seven
N FIVE cents will soon come up for
bearing before the Springfield public
utilities commission.
representatives of the Illinois Trac-
tion system, II Is said, have taken the
s,and that the reduction cannot be
made Patrons of the company in this
community are beginning to ask
Why?
I'm many cities in the middle west
the pre.war tive-cent rate has been re-
suHed II seems contrary to good
reasoning that this reduction should
have been accomplished so generally
II II entailcd bankruptcy on the part
of the street railway companies.
The complaints that public trans
narration utilities are subjected to Sc
ysrc hardships In their control has
come to be taken with a bit OF salt
by the seneral public. Few public
ut nt,es seem to be so bound down by
The commissions that they cannot
manage TO make along very nicely.
"A local labor federation contends
that as there has been a cut of approx
Imately five cents an hour In wages,
ihere should be corresponding reduc-
lion ~ fares.
1T Is lifficult to imagine that the
operation costs of street railways have
continued as great as they were dur
ing the war. Prices in general are
ccming down Other cities have re-
duced their street car fares. Why
not Champaign Urbana"
The local street car system has al
ways been considered the best paying
system Of any of equal size in the
central west
The following list of few of the
lines operating on five cent fare
many of which never took advantage
of the war to raise rates, yet nearly all
paid as high wages or higher:
New York City Is lines): Los An
geles. Cal. San Francisco, Cal; In
dianapolis, Ind: Akron. o.; Yonkers,
n Y; Duluth, Milan; Tacoma, Wash.
municipal lines); Flint. Mich; Wich-
ita, Kan; South Bend, Ind; Terre
haute. Ind; Sacramento, Cal; Gov
ington. KY; Long Beach, CAL; Tampa.
Fla; Roanoke, Va; Kalamazoo,
Mich. Mount Vernon. ~ Y; Lake
wood o.; Hamilton, O.; Superior.
Wis; Lorain. o.; Muncie, Ind; New
Rochelle, N. Y; Williamsport, Pa;
Council Bluffs, Ia; Ogden, Utah; Wa
tertown, N. Y; Petersburg. Va;
Portsmouth, o.; Kokomo, Ind;
Lynchburg, Va; Anderson Ind; Mi
ami, Fla; Newport, KY; Phoenix,
Ariz.; Warren, o.; Port Huron, Mich.
The proposition of going bankrupt
is all bunk. When the British Insur.
ance company (Which 1t is said owns
practically all of the entire |. T. 81
finds its public utility investments
are bafing bankruptcy it will immedi-
hlely use its propaganda forces to I'M
load on public ownership. The ex.
perience OF the Des Moines company
officials in claiming bankruptcy to in.
crease fares above cents is a good
lesson TO the other utility companies
AFTER keeping the cars in the barn on
the courts order for several months,
they Will be allower to operate again.
starting on the Scent fare and gradu-
ally reducing to a Scent fare with a
provision that the city may purchase
'he system anytime on a six months
ho'lce. II is doubtful if that company
ever claims bankruptcy is staring it
IN the face again.
Ihe local company wages paid has
oeen considerable less than that paid
o'her labor for like service. The
company has reduced the wages of It's
ohpIoyes, the least being 10 per cent
ana the unorganized worker a greater
amount
ne prices of materials and sup
plleS nave been reduced, decreasing
.e operating expenses and this should
passed on to the public.
ne iillni Is right-the public is TAX
.ns public utility corporation claims
en grain of salt and asks why not
H'e-cent fare for Champaign and IIr.
bana? "'i p"'eh an" oi'