The New York herald., 1922-08-29
Continued from First Page.


and made public. q Upon the broader
features of the Mayors scheme. in view
of its publication so far in advance of
actual presentation either to the Board
of Estimate or to the Commission, we
shall, however, be bound to make pass
ing comment. This the proper Informal
ton of the public will require. At the
moment. l think 1t necessary only to
point out:
"First-That the Mayors plan. so far
as 1t promises an independent program
of subway building by the Board Of
Estimate and Apportionment, Is. to re-
peat, yholly deceptive. for the reason
that thing whatever can be done
along {, line he suggests except upon
the Initiation of the Transit Commits
sion.
'.Second-That the suggestion of an
expenditure of $500. 100000 by the city.
within the limits of It's legal borrowing
capacity. and in addition to the amounts
that would be required to take over
the privately owned lines in the dual
system that it is proposed to recap
ture.' and to the further sums that
would be involved In the acquisition
of elevated and surface franchise
rights, the ripping down of elevated
structures and ripping up of surface
tracks, the purchase of operating equip
ment for a city wide bus service, the
building of new tunnels. bridges. and
so on. is ludicrous in the extreme
THE present legal borrowing capacity
of the city is already mortgaged practi
caly out of sight by the city's other
present obligations. Moreover were
there no membranes whatever upon it
~ Il
lines would alone wipe it out, and any
additional borrowing capacity realized
within the next few years over and
above the sums which will annually be
required for docks. schoolhouses and
other municipal purposes not paid for
from taxation would not finance a tenth
of the system the Mayor is proposing.
The Five Cent Fare smash.
"Third-That the recapture of those
parts of the existing system now oper-
ated under lease by the railway COM
panies would mean not an extension of
the five cent fare system. but. on the
contrary, further disintegration and
tearing apart of so much of the five cent
fare system as the Mayor mas left, with
cut realizing the slightest corresponding
benefit at any point.
Under the dual contracts the old and
new subways of the Interborough COM
pany, East Side and West Side alike.
were united in the one system on the
basis of a common five cent fare. Every
line in the elevated system of Brooklyn
still held under private ownership was
at the same time linked Up on basis
of universal transfer and common five
cent fare with the Fourth avenue sub
way in Brooklyn and the Broadway line
TO Fifty-ninth street, Manhattan. and
across the East River to Queens. Though
II is difficult to believe, the Mayor Is
proposing that all of these lines again
be separated. his new municipal system
TO charge five cents upon one set and
the old operators of the original subway
and of the Brooklyn elevated lines to
charge another five cents upon theirs.
This Is a part OF the price the Mayor
would charge the public for the privilege
CT having their railroads operated by q
city department rather than by railway
men.
..Fourth-That any plan for the build
ing of new subways and the installation
of new surface facilities. that is to be
offset, as the Mayor proposes, by the
ripping out of the existing elevated ana
surface facilities. will add practically
nothing to the net carrying capacity OF
the existing system. for the obvious rea-
son that there would be merely trans
fer Of the present volume of traffic from
one kind Of cars to another without pro-
yfding for years to come the accommoda-
tion for more passengers that the condi-
tlons of to-day imperatively demand, TO
say nothing of the future need.
Political Intent Seen.
What the situation calls for. beyond
the getting Of every ounce of service out
of the lines now in operation that their
trackage will permit, Is the pFomptest
sort of provision for the building OF
wholly new lines, OF lines that actually
can be financed, and not only the preser-
walton at every point OF the common five
cent fare but the broadest possible ex-
tension OF the five cent area
"T'he plan of the Transit Commission,
which the Mayor still shows
an almost unbelievable lack Of UNDER
standing. demands exactly this. II calls
for further unification and FOR the resto-
ration of the broken lines and the aban-
doned transfers that the Mayor policy
has developed during the last five years.
II does not propose for moment the
use of city funds for the acquisition OF
existing properties. II would not add
a dollar to the citys Indebtedness. but,
on the other hand. would provide for
means of liberation Of the existing city
owned lines from the Indebtedness they
now carry. with a corresponding COM
mand of actually available funds for
real subway building.
THE members Of the commission have
not of course had an opportunity to ex-
anime minutely the details OF the
Mayors scheme. There will, however.
be plenty of time for their examination
and public discussion - though the
Mayors choice OF time for the launch
ing Of plan, after five years OF mac
tion and nearly year after the publica-
ton OF the plan OF the Transit Commits
sion. suggests irresistibly that the dis
cussion he Is provoking is expected to
parallel the period of the political cam
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