Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-29
A One.Sided Picture.


are virtually at an end and the Public
Utilities Commission is almost ready
to take the case under advisement fol
q decision.
The bulky record of testimony, con-
Stunning some 1000 pages Of typewriting
and the effort put forth by the COM
panies in presenting their side of thu
picture. They have made an eloquent
and . moving appeal that more thar
once must have cast a thick pail Of
gloom over the hearing room in the
District Building, so disconsolate anc
plaintive has been its motif. They
must have more money. The return
upon their investment Is too low. Tit
wolf Is at the door and the street-car-
riding public must come to the rescu,
with It's pennies, which. this public Il
assured, are inconvenient to handle
anyway and might as we'll be dropped
in the fare box. In submitting q
melancholy prospect. the companie:
have been eminently successful. The!
have not allowed one small ray of ligh
to enter. The only silver lining to thu
sonber clouds is that which might be
furnished by the dimes of thu
customers.
II the companies have erred 1t il
because their zeal has lost to them q
proper sense of proportion and balance
Their picture is one-sided. 1t NIGH
even be called lop-sided. They have
given plenty Of attention to q portraya
Of the pauperized condition of the cor
porations. The only attention they
have given to the rights of the public
whose streets they use for profit, ha.
been to obliterate or to attempt t.
minimize the few strokes made by ths
Utilities Commission and the spokes.
men for the people, who have sought
to paint In this necessary and impor-
tant element of the scene.
The result is that the companies are
shown holding out their hands fol
more money. but offering nothing ir
return. Search as you will the thicl
pages Of testimony and the nearest ap.
proach to q promise of better or more
adequate service in return for more
money Is found In the following state
lnent by President Hanna Of the Capt.
tai Traction Co.:
"s In recent years, with the
increased rate Of fare and their (the
WashinStB Rapid Transit Co.'S ability
TO purchase new equipment, their bust
ness has gone up, and want TO state
right now that If We had sufficient
rate of fare to enable us to purchase
new equipment, which we have not
done for many years, and to put our
equipment and our service in better
shape than 1t is now, that our passen-
gers would 90 up, and it is my sincere
belief that In spite Of the fact that was
brought out In the last two or three
creases in the rate of fare have shown
immediate falling of in passengers car
fied, that 1t is not permanent arrange
ment. do not know that the rate
be sufIicient to enable us to make the
sort Of Improvements in our service that
we would Like to make. doubt it very
much. But If we were able to make
those Improvements, to put on modern
cars ana improve service in that way,
I am confident that we would get some
OF this business back. OF course. all
this is surnise. This is not facts
Nobody knows what the facts are. But
believe that my experience qualities
me to make a rather intelligent surmise
on what would happen"
II such an able and experienced
executive as Mr.. Hanna does not know
what the facts are, there are none. All
that the public has been offered in
return for higher fare has been Mr..
Hanna's intelligent surmise, which is
interesting, but totally inconsequential
as q guarantee. The corporations have
made Q fortissino appeal for more
money. They have soft-pedaled service
IN return.
known. One of them is that while the
companies contend for a uniform rate
Of fare, granting their plea means that
the public will be paying half its fares
to Q corporation whose returns have
been falling OF after many prosperous
years, while the other half will 60 to
fattening the returns of q company now
on Q prosperous footing after lean
years, the Washington Railway e. Elec-
trio Co., which did not ask for higher
rate Of fare until ordered to become a
partner In misery Of the Capital Trac-
tien Co.
Another fact that no longer belongs
in the category of intelligent surmise
IL that both Of the companies have put
themselves on record as fayoring cor
porate merger and unified operation
of the traction lines. Such unification
would lessen those costs of operation
that now form the foundation Of argu-
msnts for higher fare. But efforts by
the Utilities Commission, designed to
hasten this merger, are rebuffed by the
companies, as are all tentative sugges-
tions thrown out by the commission for
effecting the possible economies OF
operation that lie in such joint use OF
equipment and recruiting as would be
possible without corporate merger.
As eloquent and as skillfully put a.
has been the appeal for higher fares. #
lacks that ringing note Of sincerity
xsedsd to naaks II eanyincing. In tn