The New York herald., 1922-11-17


and which, Turner said. was Commend
ed by Mayor Hylan."
Mr.. Weaver. who had made extensive
studies of buses both in America and
abroad. had no use for the bus approved
by the Mayor, and convinced Mr.. Turner
the Chicago type of bus. designed and
operated successfully by Mr.. Conklin's
company. was an infinitely superior We
hicle. Mr.. Turner, who called, in all,
about ten or a dozen times upon Mr..
Weaver, still desired to sponsor the mat
ter of a franchise.
Turner said. the witness testified. that
The and his friends would take care
Of 20 per cent. Of the capital stock,
about $500. 900 or s350,000 worth.
did he say whether cash was to be
or whether 1t was to be paid for SER
vices rendered." asked Clarence J..
Shearn, the examiner.
mo. we never got that far. He never
specifically identified the persons for
whom he wanted the stock" replied the
witness, "but / had no doubt in my
mind that they were politicians"
When Turner came back and made
his second proposition. Mr.. Weaver said.
he made II on the basis that he could
be of assistance in getting a franchise
from the city and also in getting TIN
New York Motor Bus Companys type
OF vehicle accepted by the city. Turner
told him that, as he was an old friend
of Mayor Hylan and had been working
with the Mayor on the bus problem
he was confident he could put the thing
through.
Replying to another question. the
witness said no suggestion ever had
been made by Turner that the politicians
who were to get stock were to pay for
it, Another stipulation proffered by
Turner, to which the company never
assented, was that, In the event of
franchise being obtained, man to be
named by him (Turner) was to be ap-
pointed sales agent of the bus manu-
featuring company, operated by Mr..
Conklin and his associates.
And that man. asked Mr.. Shearn,
would get commission on all cars
either sold to the city, If that were the
form of the transaction. or on all cars
sold to your operating company In case
you got a franchise?"
"That is correct" replied Mr.. Weaver.
When the examiner brought the wit
ness down to the final proposition or the
series Mr. Weaver said: II think we
sent a message to the Mayor through
Mr.. Turner asking him to consider a.
proposition that I had made to Mr.. NC
Callum Of the Bureau OF Franchlses'
!, hen Mayor Hylan had first taken
office 1 was quite active In the Bureau
Of Franchises trying to determine what
had become of our seven year old fran
chise application.
Found Hylnn an Enemy.
after time I came to the conclu-
sion that we had opposition In the shape
of the city and tho Mayor himself; that
instead Of being opposed by the Inter
borough, as we had been during the
Mitchell administration. we were opposed
by Mayor Hylan and the city. Mayor
Hylan was taking active steps to put
legislation through at Albany permitting
the installation of municipal bus lines.
I believed such legislation would fail
and so did our attorney.
II worked out plan with Mr.. NC
Callum of the Bureau of Franchises to
enable Mayor Hylan to put In munich
pally operated bus line under existing
laws. These permitted the granting of
a franchise with proviso that at Its
termination the city could acquire, under
specified prescribed conditions, the
equipment of the operating company. l
offered Mr.. McCallum in behalf of the
company a seventy-one year franchise.
briefly, on the basis of capitaliza ton
equaling the actual cost of construc-
ton plus 10 per cent. and a return to
us of per cent. on that capitalization
for the first year Of operation, We had
the factories to build the buses and
within twelve months after I'VE had
started the city would have been in pos
session of the property. and the city
also could have exercised the right of
termination at periods of one, two,
three, four, five. and up, I think, to
twenty years"
Mr.. Shearn pointed out that the wit
ness had in mind going ahead under the
provisions OF section 73 of the charter.
which covers limitation conditions and
grants of franchises.
in other words" said the counselor.
you drew to the attention of the Mayor,
through Mr.. Turner. that IL the Mayor
really wanted to have the city own and
operate buses way was provided un-
der the law. and that you were perfectly