The Washington times., 1930-06-02
Editor, Times:

6ulIOT, 1lLIleS'
The Mcleod plan of holding an
inquiry into traffic conditions in
Washington during the months
when Congress is in adjournment
is. in my opinion, a good one.
It ought to be adopted. and in
the meantime there should be
no taxicab legislation passed.
The 35-cent taxicab is appre
ciated by the Washington public
and I should hate to see the
Public Utilities Commission take
any step which would oust them
from the streets. Many of us
doubt whether they can be per.
manent, but it would be better
to have the companies fight it
out among themselves and make
it a battle for the survival OF
the fittest.
There have been few scien.
tific studies of traffic conditions
in Washington or elsewhere. One
of them here has been made
under the direction of the Park
and Planning Commission, ano
another is now under way under
the auspices of local business or
ganizationS. If these could be
supplemented by an official group
named by Congress, it probably
would lead to important develop
ments in the way of traffic legis-
lation in the next two years.
Probably we would legiSlate the
parking evil out of existence and
get rid of the red and green
signals which now serve to re-
tard rather than to facilitate au-
tomobile traffic. 1t seems to me
that we ought to have a new
director of traffic, or at least
a new law doing away with the
dual authority which now serves
to twist the administration @ the
act into a knot. And also we
should bond our taxicab drivers
at minimum of cost to the
companies, so as to safeguard
our streets. PLAZA.
Editor, Times:
AS editor of The Times, you no
doubt know Of the articles con-
cerning the National Training
School for Boys on Bladensburg
Road. Some of them are true,
and others only half true. am
now going to relate the true
facts about this institution.
Although an inmate of this
school, I swear this to be the
truth, and nothing but the truth.
To begin with, the boys confined
here are not what one could
rightly consider criminals. Some
of these boys are naturally in
clined to be crooked, but the
majority of them have only made
a mistake, and should be treated
as human beings instead Of Grim
inals or animals.
The food is of very poor quality,
but if cooked and seasoned we'll
it would be fairly nice. Several
months ago the food was very
poor; as a matter Of fact, it was
all one could do to digest it.
This resulted in a food strike
For a few days after the strike
the food was sufficient in quality
and quantity. Now, however, the
food has dropped back to its
former level. Once a month,
when there is a meeting of the
board of trustees, the food is
much better than usual.
For punishment, we have what
is called "the line" also the
hose" The first is an imaginary
line on which the boys are COM
PEELED to stand for hours at a
time with heels together, arms
folded and face to the front.
The second is a length of rubber
TUBING, approximately three
fourths of an inch in diameter
and between two and one-half and
three feet long. 1t isn't imagin-
ary like the line" either.
The most trivial offense may
cause line" punishment, such
as whispering or talking in line
or in the basement, leaving your
seat without permission. scraping
your chair on the floor when get