Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-08-21
TEXT OF PLAN OFFERED
BY PUBLIC SERVICE
CONTINUED from page II

+4A+N so -
do not desire to sell shall either be
rescinded, or the buses shall be re-
routed on streets where there are
no street railway tracks. The pow
er of the Board of Public Utility
Commissioners as contained in the
Public Utility Act as amended by
the so-called Elliot Act Of 1921 is
ample to accomplish the result with
ir a very reasonable time, II the
board will exercise it. The munich
palities and the board acting to-
gether, can accomplish the result
whenever they see fit. That it is the
duty of the board to thus act IS made
i clear by the opinion of Judge Kat
zenbach in the recent case III the
New Jersey Supreme Court Of Ar
thur A. Hunter versus Board of Pub
! lie Utility Commissioners, where the
justice in his opinion speaks as fol-
lows:
while temporarily the public
might have greater facilities of
transportation in Woodbridge and
] from Woodbridge to Sander by per-
hitting the prosecutor to compete
with the Railway Company, in the
| end such competition is not for b
| public convenience and interest as 1t
either results in less efficient service
by the railway company or abandon
ment of its service because the opef-
alton of the line will not pay operat-
ing expenses and a fair return on
the capital invested. The state as
sumes to regulate the rates for trans
portation and the character of the
service rendered. Morally and legal
Iy 1t should protect the business OF
the established utility from impair
ment and embodiment. To dc
otherwise would 500 create a stu
alton where the public would be
without transportation service. No
capital could De obtained for an en-
terprise where no security was af-
forded the investor. Without CAPT.
tai there would be no transportation
facilities which in this age are in
dispensable to the transaction OF
business and the enjoyment of life.'
Two cases in the State of Illinois
have recently enunciatel the same
doctrine. They are Joseph X.
Choate, receiver, and others versus
! the Illinois Commerce Commission
and the West suburban Transports
ton Company versus the Chicago
/ anu nGSI io
No competitive bus licenses shall
be issued hereafter for operation on
streets where Railway Company's
tracks exist.
The companies will promulgate a
new wage scale with a basic max
imum of so cents per hour, this be-
ing the last figure which the men
agreed to accept, and Is 10 cents per
hour, or 20 per cent. in excess OF
the present schedule. This involves
of course 5 cents per hour extra for
one-man operated car or bus. SO
far as the labor situation will per"
init. no one will be required to work
more than six days in any week.
Other working conditions can be left
to the management and the en-
ployes to adjust satisfactorily.
Both sides shall agree that the re-
port of former Judge Thomas G.
Haight, the master in the pending
rate case, fixing the value of the
property of the railway company de-
voted to the public use, as of the
date specified in his report, at one
hundred and ten millions of dollars,
as therein set forth, be confirmed by
decree. This valuation was arrived
at by the master appointed by the
federal court after considering the
whole subject, with the aid of coun-
sci for both parties, for one year and
one-half. 1t is some million dollars
less than the valuation fixed by a
firm of Independent engineers en-
ployed by the State of New Jersey,
at a cost of approximately one hun
dred thousand dollars, after nearly
one years study of the problem. 1t
is in excess of the mount fixed a.
the value in the summer of 1872 by
the then Board of Public Utility
Commissioners, which, under the
law, was obliged to find a value after
a few weeks consideration. Neces-
sarily such consideration did not ad-
nit of so complete an investigation
as was made either by the state en-
gineers or by the master of the fed
eral court. 1t is essential to adjust
this matter at this time because
while the federal suit remains unde-
termined, the injunction stands and
the change in fare referred to in the
next paragraph cannot be made.
simultaneously with the effectua-
ton of the plan, the companies shall
put into effect both on cars and bus
es a fare of sever cents, with one
cent for transfer. This fare Is lower
by one cent for transfer charge than
that fixed by the Board Of Public
utility Commissioners as q just and
reasonable fare in 1921 upon the low
valuation found by the Board and
with a lower wage in effect than
that contemplated in this plan. This
fare will stand comparison with any
company operating under at all sim
liar conditions and is less than the
average of present street railway
fares in the country. 1t may DO de-
creased as and when the cost OF
service, including a fair return upon
the value of the property devoted
to the public use will admit. Such
a reduction could be accelerated by
the support of the plan by the public
by the employees, by the removal OF
unjust paving obligations now en-
forced upon the railway company
and by the reduction of burdensome
axes. P
The companies will give employ
Iment, either on cars or buses, to al
bus drivers who are qualified an6
can pass the railway company's U.S.
ual tests of employment.
After the plan has become effec'
tive, the company will take up with
the Board of Public Utility Com
Imissioners the revamping of it!
financial structure so as to provide
for future financing and to place the
company upon a sound hnancia
basis.
Service can be resumed, temp