Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-06

Continued From F1rsC Page)
sarily be increased for the other, and
that the 10 cent fare is exhorbitant for
the service rendered the public.
For the court to grant the prayers Of
the plaintiffs" the brief said, "it Is
necessary first to md the present rate
of return for fair value inadequate,
and second, to fix a fare which would
result in a rate of return reasonable to
the public as well as to the utilities"
This is impossible, the brief claims,
since the companies have supplied In
sufficient data In the record.
1.-The burden of proof is on the COM
panies since they seek to have an order
aside" the brief>declares.
The brief goes at great length into
the inadequacy of the valuation data
supplied by the companies. On the sub
ject of going concern value" West and
Keech said:
I'm the valuations Of both companies
they have given credit for an in
tangible element known as going con-
Germ value. Due to the great influx OF
private automobiles in the District in
the last several years, the increase in
the use of popular use of taxicabs and
the advent of bus service, the field
from which the railway companies have
drawn their patrons has been reduced
materially. The street railways no
longer enjoy q monopoly in the local
transportation field, but are confronted
with stern competition. Therefore we
submit the going concern value OF these
companies has decreased since their re-
spective valuations"
Absorbed Depreciation.
With respect to depreciation the two
lawyers stated that they were not con-
cerned here with annual depreciation,
but that they were concerned with the
actual observed depreciation existing IN
the properties of the respective COM
panieS.
They cited facts to prove also their
assertion that the accounting methods
of the two companies are at variance in
all major respects" and further that 1t
is impossible to determine what fare
the companies are asking in cases in
volving intra company transfers between
cars and buses. Uniformity of fare, the
brief stated, does not now exist in the
for transfer and bus service.
The two lawyers briefly outlined the
various steps and procedure leading to
the present status OF the case,
In order for the court to grant the
prayers of the plaintiffs, they pointed
out, it is necessary first for 1t to find
that the present rate Of return received
by each of them is inadequate and, sec
ondly. for 1t to TX fare which would
result in a rate Of return reasonable to
| the public as well as to the utilities.
The record, they declared, Is devoid
of facts showing the present value OF
/ the properties, used and useful for rail-
way purposes, and the net operating in
come earned thereon. No proper de-
duction, 1t was declared, is made for
| depreciation on the depreciable proper
ties of the company.
Numerous errors in accounting ap-
pear" the brief stated.
Retaliation as Helpful.
With regard to the valuation of the
| Washington Railway g. Electric Co., the
brief sets forth that Mr.. Ham, its preSi-
dent, stated that a valuation at this
time would, in his opinion, afford more
exact information as to the value OF
the property, but that he felt there
was sufficient evidence before the COM
mission for 1t to judge whether or not
his company Is entitled to relief" add
ing. however, that q revaluation at
this time would be helpful to the COM
mission in reaching conclusion"
The necessity for uniform rate OF
| fare on the two street railway COM
pany lines no longer exists" the brief
set forth, because Of the great influx
of bus and taxicab competition"
| Thus the lower rate company would
not be excessively overtaxed as has been
claimed in the past 1t was said. In ad-
dition, a number of lines of the two
companies are non competing and per-
sons living or working on certain lines
of the higher-rate company would, OF
necessity, have to. continue to make use
thereof,