Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-23
Car Fare Rates and Merger.

Senator Capper's protest to the Public
Utilities Commission against any present
increase in the rate of street car fares
in the District is distinctly in protection
and promotion Of the community well
fare and should be needed. Senator
Capper recognizes that it is within the
power of the commission thus to ad-
vance the rate of fares while the merger
project is pending before Congress for
approval, but he questions both the
need of such an increase and the
wisdom of making one at this time.
He calls attention to the fact that
members of the Senate have in the
past seriously questioned the right of
the commission to raise the rates of
both companies when only one has
Gas in this case) petitioned for or
claimed the need of additional revenue.
On it's face there is something
paradoxical and something repulsive in
the neglect of community welfare
involved in the suggestion that if one
street railway claims to need an in
crease of fare, but refuses to ask or
receive it unless a like increase is
granted to another company which
does not claim to need it, the only
solution of the problem is to exact both
increases from the car-using COM
munity.
IL +ba H,,o;6co+io,, aoroe1o,a,ot,' he-
tween the two street railway corpora
tons and the bus line, which has been
submitted to Congress for approval, it
is stipulated that the present rates of
fare" except as to transfers, shall re-
main in force for a period of one year
after the date of closing" of the
agreement, which is by that instrument
defined as the date of the transfer of
the properties in the new company and
the delivery of neW-cOmpany certificates
to the shareholders of the old corpora
tions. It Is further stipulated that the
existing companies shall not be preclud-
ed from requesting change in fare IF
this agreement is not approved by the
present session of Congress-" 1t is
under the latter stipulation that the
pending application of the Capital
Traction Co. for a rate increase has
been made, in which application the
Washington Railway g. Electric Co. has
been, by order of, the commission,
united.
If there is any doubt whatever as to
the propriety Of present action in
increase of the fare rate, applicable to
both companies, the benefit of it should
be given at this juncture to the car
riders. There has been no showing of
urgent need on the part of the COM
panies, that of either the flrst-applying
or the other which was joined as appli-
cant by the commission. In his letter
to the commission, Senator Capper, who
has familiarized himself with the condi-
tions, expresses positive doubt as to the
need of an increase, citing figures of
earnings which at least establish the
presumption that there is no stringent
necessity at this time for action which
might seriously prejudice the cause of
just merger before Congress.
Reading between the lines of Senator
Capper's protest one discovers a hint
to the corporations of poor policy in
demonstrating before merger has been
effected that under the laws as they
stand the car-using community is
negligible in fixing the car fare to be
exacted from it, Everybody wants street
railway merger. The community, how
ever, wants merger that shall be fair,
by which the car users and tax payers
shall participate equitably in the bene-
fits. and not merely suffer from the
merger an increase of their burdens.