Evening star., 1939-08-25
Capital Transit Net
Improves Sharply
Above Year Ago
Pepco Reports July
Earnings Are Below
Same 1888 Month
By HAROLD B. ROGERS.

Inc Potomac Electrlc rover 60
and the Capital Transit Co. both
filed with the Public Utilities Com
mission today their monthly reports
for July.
Capital Transit showed a net in
come of Sl6,954 in July, 1899. as
compared with a deficit of $5349 for
last July, thus registering a gain of
47 per cent.
For the year to date, net income
was 1888 ,646, as compared with
S159,Ol4 last year to date, with a
gain of 109 per cent.
Operating revenues for July, 1899,
were S950,864 and operating ex-
penses before depreciation were
1857, ,275, as compared with operat-
ing revenues OF $690,323 and operat-
ing expenses of S660,975 in July, 1888.
Taxes amounted to S101 1913 in July,
1889. and $73013 in July, 1898. De-
probation was $l09 $50, as compared
with SOB, ,369 for the same month
last year
Interest charges were S62 ,684, as
compared with S62 ,543 in July, 1888.
Revenue passengers increased from
12,546, ,30l in July, 1888, to 13,547 ,209
in July 1889, a gain of 8 per cent,
and also increased from 93,750,061
for the first seven months last
year to 99,238,979 for the period this
year. gain of SO per cent.
Pepco Income Down.
Potomac Electric Power Co. showed
net income of S330,451 for July
this year, as compared with $3.50 1893
last July, a decrease of s8,747, or 258
per cent.
Operating revenues for July were
Sl,3O5,l37, as compared with 81 250.-
468 last July, gain of S54,649, or
437 per cent
Net operating revenues were S431 :
672 this July, as compared with
S430,222 last July, a gain of O34 per
cent.
For the seven months period op-
Grating revenues registered a gain
from S8,720.505 last year to S9121 1923
this year, an increase of 460 per
cent.
Net operating revenue, however,
fell off during the same period from
s3221,83 to S3,2l3,846, a decrease of
025 per cent.
Net income for the seven months
also dropped from S2,564O55 to ST.
507,906, decrease of 2.19 per cent.
Bankers Face Problem.
In spite of the growing pressure
upon banking institutions from the
Federal Government for more and
more reports, and additional taxes,
which consume both time and per-
eonnel and additional funds, Wash
hgton bankers for the most part do
Rot agree with the suggestion raised
in other sections of the country that
banks should shorten their public
hours.
The suggestion for such a short
ening of public hours came recently
from w. Laird Dean, immediate
past president of the Kansas
Bankers Association. He told a
gathering of bankers and business
men that banks involved particularly
in the ''hardships' of the wage-hour
law, would have to 60 to shorter
public hours
They are short enough now" he
exclaimed. Bankers don't like it
Employees don't like it. But we are
institutions in interstate commerce,
we are under the law and we have
to have wage expenses stay inside of
income -. We are going to have to
crowd you into our banks and wait
on you as swiftly as possible and
have our doors open less hours than
heretofore
1T is not pleasant task. We
have Simon Legree' over US, and
we are stepping around, but We are
not going to get out of it
Load Is Increasing.
Washington bankers realize that
the load laid on the local institu-
tions by the Federal Government is
increasing. The most recent change
was brought about by the social
security amendments, which brought
all banks in the District under So
cial security. Already Administrator
Elmer F. Andrews of the Wage Hour
Division, Department of Labor, had
advised bankers "it would seem ad-
banks subject to the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1888" Virtually
all banks are keeping their own per-
sonnel records in this matter, and
at least one is paying for overtime
work. it was learned Meantime
the Wage-Hour Division has said
officially that it is engaged in e
detailed investigation of the varie-
gated activities of employees of banks
to determine more precisely the
status of bank employees under the
act"
The National Labor Relations
Board is in controversy with the
Bank of America over a board de-
cision which held that the bank
fell under jurisdiction of the board
because it was engaged in inter-
state commerce. This will be fought
in the courts.
Prefer Other Ways.
Despite all this, most local bank
ers feel that there are other ways
of working out their problems in
stead of shortening the public hours
Banks here now open at $50 am
and close at 2 pm.
One institution is making a scien-
tific survey of its whole establish
ment to determine whether a
change in operating methods and
reclassifcation of work can take care
of the situation. Staggered hours
have been resorted to by some banks
bringing in some employees for a
later reporting hour so that they
may work to a later hour without
overtime. One institution has a
time clock system worked out to
great detail.