Evening star., 1924-02-09
GAR FARE ANDL|GHT.
HEAR|NGSP0
Bell Says They Will Be Called
if Commissions See Any
Reasons for Cuts.

will decide during the coming week
whether to hold public hearings at
this time on street car fares and
electric light rates. Engineer Com
missioner Bell announced today.
The major made this announce
ment while discussing the report
i made public by the Commission yes
+; terday afternoon showing the fnan-
cial conditions Of all the public serv-
ice corporations.
! If street car hearing is deemed
. necessary the Commission. Maj. Bell
said. will Consider the advisability
; of separate rates of fare for each
j company, based on the different
earning powers.
: The commission already has ordered
g, public hearings on telephone rates
and on the fare of the Washingto on
! Rapid Transit Company. The rates
! of the Washington and Georgetown
Gas Light companies were reduced
. only a few months ago.
/ Hopes for Merger.
| Maj. Bell said today that his chief
| interest in connection with the street
| car situation is to bring about a
! merger of the roads. He revealed
! the fact that shortly after becoming
chairman of the utilities board last
year he sounded out officials Of the
two companies on the possibilities of
getting together for a merger con-
ference, but found he said, that there
was little hope of making headway
along those lines because Of the dis
puted values placed on the physical
properties of the companies by the
commission and the companies them
selves.
The two street railway companies,
considered as one. earned less than
per cent on their combined valua-
tions during the calendar year 1923,
the Public Utilities Commission an
nounced yesterday afternoon.
The commissions statement con-
| tained summary of the financial
,condition of all the public service
corporations and was made public in
pursuance of the announced policy of
Engineer Commissioner Bell to ac-
quaint the public with such facts at
the end of each year.
| Capital Earnings Lead.
Maj. Bells summary discloses that
! the Capital Traction Company earned
| 1.76 per cent return on its physical
valuation, while the Washington Rail-
way and Electric Company earned
only 4.31 per cent.
/ Ever since fares began to go up
however, the commission has adhered
to the policy of fixing the same fare
| for both companies. And in arriving
| at reasonable rate of fare the com
! mission has considered the earnings
| of the two companies as though they
were one. On that basis the combined
| rate of return for 1923 was 5.S7 per
cent.
| An interesting fact revealed in the
| commissions statement is that the
! for 1928 is. l per cent less than in
1922, while the Washington Railway
and Electric's return for 1928 was
| 0.22 per cent more than the preceding
year.
Comparison With 1922.
| In 1922 the Capital fractions earned
SIG per cent, while in 1923 the re-
turn was 7.76 per cent. The Wash
ingtoh Railway and Electric earned
4.O9 per cent in 1929 and 4.31 per
cent in 1928.
! The report shows that the Capital
fractions total of revenue passen-
gers fell off from 69,592,424 in 1922
to 67,20O,995 in 1923, decrease OF
more than 100000.
The Washington Railway and Eiec-
trio Company lost 1.ss6,5s0 pay pas
sengers last year. the figures being:
Pay passengers in 1922, 15,604,S7S; pay
passengers 1923. 73.70S,2sS.'
, The income of the Capital Traction
company available for return on fair
value last year was $1,291, ,250.i1
while that of the Washington Rail-
way and Electric was $772,113.90
These two figures, taken together
gave the net income of both COM
panies. s2,063, 3,364.61. or 5.97 per cen;
on fair value.
Combined Income Less.
In 1922 the combined income of both
roads available for return on fai.
value was S2,114,140.3S, equivalent to
$50 per cent on fair value. Thus il
will be seen that the return of the
combined companies was O.39 per cent
Hess last year than in 1892.
The commission shows that the
| PotorsGc Electric Power Company
earnef $1.SS3.3S9.24 in 1923. an in
crease of $149,03S.95 over 1922. Thi:
income was equivalent to a return o
SS7 per cent on fair value, as com
i pared with S.57 per cent in 1922.
The Chesapeake and Potomac Tele'
/ phone Company. the commission
| states, earned during 1928 $1,000,
R4g@ss2ss4gs R4g@ss AA s. Asss a e e as g Il