Evening star., 1925-02-15
W.R.&E.BUSPERM|T
DECLARED ILLEGAL
Senator Copeland Tells Bell
Commission Had No Right
to Grant Franchise.

The recent action of the District Pub
lie Utilities Commission granting au-
thority to the Washington Railway
and Electric Co. to operate a bus
line is illegal and opposed to the
best public policy, Senator Copeland
of New York declared in a letter yes
terday to Lieut.. Col. j. F. Bell, chair
man of the Public Utilities Commits
sion.
Senator Copeland, who is a MEM
Der of the Senate District committee,
insisted that the action taken by the
commission therefore is void. In his
letter to Col. Bell, Senator Copeland
said:
Grounds Of IlleEality.
II consider this action to be illegal
for several reasons. The chief one is:
THAT the Washington Railway and
Electric Co. has no power to operate
busses. All the acts of Congress,
from 1875 to date, comforting powers
to operate street railroads in the
District. use practically the same
language. Each corporation is 'au-
thorized to construct and lay down a
street railway, with the necessary
switches, turnouts and other me-
chanical devices, in the District of
Columbia, and run cars thereon
1T is a we'll recognized principle
of law that a corporation created by
statute can exercise no powers and
pressly given or necessarily implied.
Limits of Corporations.
Away back in 1904 Chief Justice
Marshall used language which has
been repeated many times since. In
the case of Head VS.. Providence In
surance Co. this great jurist said:
1T is a general rule that a corpo-
ration can only act in the manner
prescribed by law
Certainly the street railways of
the District of Columbia were given
no power, and no rights are implied.
to run busses over the streets of
Washington"
Even in the public utilities act of
1913, Senator Copeland said, there is
nothing to indicate that the street
railway companies can enter into any
business other than the operation OF
street railways.
Operate BY Charter.
Every street railway company II
the District operates by virtue of s
charter granted by Congress, giving
it the exclusive right to operate stree
cars over certain designated street!
and avenues in the District of Colum
bia. The acts of Congress comforting
| this right confined it to the operation
of street cars 1t did not give tn,
right to operate any other kind Of
character of public transportation
vehicle.
THE public utilities law provide.
| for the extension of lines or Of serv
| ice of the different public utilities il
the District of Columbia and for rea
sonab4e additions to service an,
| equipment. Nowhere does it give th
commission, the right to authorize
street railway company to use tn
| streets of Washington for any othe
service than that contemplated b.
| and provided for in the act of Con
gress under which it was incor
! porated.
+, No Right to Franchise.
1T must be apparent that the Pub
! lie Utilities Commission erred when
/ undertook to grant a bus line permi
to the Washington Railway and Elec
trtc Company The commission ha
not the authority to modify tn
! SkdS0tSs <tHQ Tie w RalI
| way and Electric Company has n
| right to accept a franchise to operat
! busses 1t must follow that the re
cent act of the Public Utilities Com
mission in undertaking to grant
bus permit to the Washington Rail
way and Electric. Company is void
There is no. doubt in my min,
| either that denying the application o
| another company for, permit t,
operate cross-town bus lines, witt
cars running from early morning un
til midnight, was contrary to publi
policy. I have lived long enough Il
the District to realize how inadequat
is the service from certain section
Of the city to the Capitol. AS .un
derstand it. a proposal was made t,
| run busses over lines such as l hav
suggested.
Il conceive 1t to be the duty Of tn,
Public Utilities Commission to serv
the community In the best possibly way
The recent actions Of the commission
in my opinions have been violativ
| Of the ,highaat interest OF the public