Evening star., 1927-12-02
CAR MERGER PLANS
Held TOO COMPLEX
CoveII Scores Three Pro-
posaIs as. Proving Puzzle
to Public Mind.

Now that all three Of the projected
plans for consolidating the transpor'
tation systems of the District have
been revealed to public inspection. utll-
ity. experts at the District Building ap'
near to be somewhat puzzled as to the
reason of their respective authors In
making them so complicated.
The bringing about of a merger. in
the opinion of Maj. w. +. r. Covell.
senior Assistant Engineer Commits
sioner. who is acting Engineer Com
missioner in the absence of Col. VIII
liam E. I.adue, and represents him on
the Public Utilities Commission. Is a
simple process which should not be
incumbered by complexities that are
confusing to the public mind.
Held Simple Problem.
"The merging is not complex
problem" said Maj. Covell today.
''The street car companies already
have authority. given them by Con-
gress, to enter into a contract for
physical and operating unitication l
am unable 10 understand why they
decline to merge. especially in view
Of the estimates, which show that
they would be able to save between
$4,000 and S1,0O0000 year under
unlneQ operation
However, all the merger plans
thus far proposed and those which
may he developed in the future, will
not force the companies to merge
unless the owners consent. These
plans may aid In bringing the merger
about. but | believe that simpitied
scheme, one that the public could
readily comprehend. would serve
more useful purpose than those which
have been created in the last few
months.
Maj. Covell said he thought the
Hansel plan. which was made public
Yesterday, was far more complicated
than either the one proposed by Harley
p. Wilson. principal owner of the
Washington Rapid Transit Co., or
that worked out by B. NICK. Bachman.
chief accountant of the utilities COM
mission. The latter's scheme. he eX
planned. is the simplest of all, and it
probably will form the foundation of
any merger plan that the commission
may sift from the features of the
Wilson or Hansel proposals.
Fail to Get Copies.
Copies of the Hansel plan have not
been furnished members of the com.
mission or it's attaches, and their only
knowledge Of it's features are those
which have been published. For this
reason. they are reluctant to comment
on it's proposals, but it is apparent
that an air of curiosity has arisen con.
cerning the details omitted, concern
ing the valuation and capitalization
to be placed on the proposed merger
corporation, as well as the percentage
figure that is to be adopted as rea
sonable return on the valuation finally
arrived at.
Some objection also was heard as
to the proposal of the Hansel plan to
include the sightseeing and taxicab
companies in the consolidated COM
pany. This idea. 1t was said. is one
of those copied from the Mitten sys-
tenn. under which the Philadelphia
transit lines are operated, and prob
ably would not be practical in the Dis
trict because the commission has no
jurisdiction over the sightseeing com
panies and only partial control over
the taxicab companies. The Mitten
it was explained. owns
and operates the taxicabs in Philadel-
phia as well as the transit lines.
Construction Plan Scored.
Another fault found with the Han
sel plan is that 1t contemplates the
use of overhead instead of underground
on all future extensions
of street car lines. While this type
of construction would be more eco
nomical, it was said. it probably would
never be approved by the Utilities
Commission or Congress. 1t is doubt.
full, too. 1t was explained, whether
there will ever be an extension of the
rail lines in the future because of the
more general use of motor busses.