The Washington herald., 1922-03-12
TROLLEY MERGER
CERTAIN TOCOME,
!FOCHT DECLARES
Public Opinion viii Over.
ride Selfish Clique,
i He Says.

common sense viii solve the
street car merger question Of wash
ingt9n. declared Chairman Focht Of
the House District Committee yes
"peblic opinion will surge for
warn and overwhelm the resistance
OF mere clique or humans who
are unwilling to yield. not actual
substance but opportunity for
gTordng fatter ana wealthier at the
expense of the masses" he de-
clared.
The merger Is bound TO come"
he caEtinued. because ~ means bet
ter service. economy In the CONSOLE
datton Of administrative forces and
cheaper car fares. There are many
advantages in the merger that the
cOuiIfa MES will not recognize. The
Capital Traction will not consent
beefpse 1t Is making II per cent or
moe to the per cent or less Of
the other company.
a. Merger Fair to All.
This fatteninc-I will not say
hoG--cOmpany would lose its soft
snapt by a merger. but still would
be making honest returns, and its
refusal to join in n move tha: means
benefit to the community is some
thing that will positively have to
give way. IL il just p matter of
time. The profit zluttOns can defy
the law and even Congress for a
while. but when the public comes to
realize what such a thing means "a
the city as whole. the common
sense Of the community will preva!
~~linst the stubbornness of the
few
1t is within the power OF the
Pubic Utilities Commission" Chair
man FOCht said. ito force the mer-
ger by simply reducing the carfare
to cents Iris is the Public Utiii-
ties ,Commission's legal right. The
effGis would be to even up the "eve-
nuesS Of the companies The W. u
4 T.. whose lines are mostly -fr
fhss kpArser sections. wCnId reCeiv.
greater patronage. the tables would
be t1rned. IN a way. and the Capita
TRACTION would be quite ready t.
merge.
House ComsItfee Delays.
s7There would be a degree of IN
fairness in some of the plans. TINT
House District Committee has no
veg acted upon the hill. Introduce
by Ibe March l. providing for a tai
on ,pet income above 6 per cent. ia
Dla4e Of the 4 per cent tax nov
exsting on gross receipts. Thu
present tax law would be repealec
JuHk so. 1929. under the bill. EaCi
cofboration thereafter would he re
euHed to pay on personal propert!
and, franchises Il tax based upOI
its-,net operating income as fol
lows:
Upon the operating income u
each year in excess OF 6 per Centun
Of the fair value Of the prOpert,
Of each company used and usefu
for the public service within til
District as ascertdlned by the Utili
ties Commission. IA tax OF 50 pc
centum. The tax would he base
upon the operations of each Calen
dar' year. except for the calenda
Year 1922 in which only the las
six months would he covered.
sir. Focht said operating in
come" means revenues and expen
ses properly assignable TO stree
railway operations within the Dis
trIct
"On or before April l. Of eacl
wear each company would he re
uufred to make affidavit to tn
hoard Of Personal Tax Appraiser
as stO the amount Of its operatiL,
INCLINE for the preceding .calenda
year. All taxes levied would b.
assessed and CollectiblC as are Othe
personal taxes. The real estat
wdlild be taxed as other real e.
tate in the District is taxed
Consideration OF the Senate bill
whiGh corresponds To that in tn
House. will be given by the Sen
atet District Committee next Wed
nesday afternoon. 1t is expected
that the measure will be reported
in which event the Senate will b
a step ahead of the House in eff
forts to force the merger.