Evening star., 1932-12-22
All Disputed Points lroned
Out, Clearing Way for
Its Passage.
SUBSIDIARIES DISPUTE
IS ENDED BY ACCORD
Final Agreement Also Eliminates
Provision in Regard to Indeter-
inmate Franchise.

A final agreement on all disputed
points in the street railway merger
resolution was reached today, clearing
the way for passage of the legislation
after many years of consideration.
The last few controversial features,
the power clause and the section deal
ing with franchise rights, were ironed
out at a conference this morning among
members of the Senate District Com
mittee, spokesmen for the railway COM
panies and members Of the Citizens
Joint Transportation Committee.
The agreement ended a deadlock.
which for time seemed destined to
prevent Senate action at this session,
with Senators Blaine of Wisconsin and
Capper of Kansas insisting on changes
which they believed essential to the
public interest.
New Power Amendment.
On the power clause Senators Blaine
and Capper were victorious in having
new amendment agreed to which will
enable the Public Utilities Commission
to regulate the rates at which all Of the
current required by the consolidated
railway system will be furnished by the
Potomac Electric Power Co. The or
iginal power clause, to which they OBJ
jected, provided that for the next is
years So per cent of the power for
street car operation would be furnished
at price agreed upon between the
companies and only 81 per cent to be
regulated by the Utilities Commission.
The final agreement does not embody
the so-called indeterminate franchise
provision, but language was agreed upon
reserying to Congress the right in fu-
ture to alter, amend or repeal anything
in the merger resolution or in the
unification agreement contained in the
legislation.
Subsidiaries Dispute Ended.
Another feature ironed out was the
section relating to subsidiaries. Blaine
and Capper had objected to giving the
merged company the right to operate
through subsidiaries, and this was mod
ifled to make this right apply only to
operations outside the District Of Co
lumbia in nearby States.
The minority members Of the Senate
committee did not insist on a change
in the universal transfer section. As
drafted by the ma ajority, sthe bill makes
universal transfers mandatory between
all street cars, but leaves it to the dis
cretion of the Utilities Commission to
determine the conditions under which
transfers shall be issued from street
cars to bus lines. One of the conten-
tions of the minority was that there
should be universal free transfers from
car to bus as well as from car to car,
but this was not inserted.
Throughout the merger consideration
in the past few years Senator Blaine
also has advocated amendments which
would change the basic public utility
law of the District on the subject Of
valuation for rate-making purposes and
also to outline a new method of court
procedure when utilities appeal from
decisions of the Utilities Commission.
His general contention has been that
the law should make the commission
the determining body on questions Of
facts. conflning the courts to passing
on questions of law in utility cases.
The indications when the conference
adjourned today were that Blaine would
not seek to attach these changes to
the street car merger legislation, but
let them be considered as separate leg
iSlation.
Blaine "Contented."
As the conference which brought
about the agreement was breaking up,
Senator Blaine told the assembled
groups that he is "contented, but not
satisfied" adding that he believes the
representatives of the utilities should
get together on legislation dealing with
the general law on valuation and court
procedure.
Tho Copofo uoS y,ropo rino to y,,oaf -
resume debate on the merger as the
final agreement was reached, and the
Senators on the District Committee had
to hurry from the conference room to
the Senate floor to be there In time to
preserve the parliamentary status held
by the merger resolution.
Senator Austin, in charge of the res
olution as originally reported, and Sem
ator Blaine, representing the group who
opposed the original draft, we're pre-
pared to explain to the Senate the de-
tailed terms of the agreement.
The merger resolution passed the
House at the last session of Congress,
and If the Senate acts on the compro-
mise agreement today or tomorrow, the
measure will then 60 to conference be-
tween the two houses for settlement of
the changes the Senate makes.
One of the features of the compro-
mise was the writing into the unifica-
ton agreement Of the Scent fare for
school children. Congress some time
ago fixed this rate by separate law, but
the companies have been contesting it
in court, where an appeal is now pend
ing. The original merger agreement
would have given the Utilities Commits
| sion jurisdiction to fix a reduced rate
for school children, without specifying
the amount In the final agreement
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