Evening star., 1955-07-22
Senate Unit Starts Work
On Revising Transit Bill

aOahS60 DuhB
the new company would have to
leave the District or run its serv-
ice in competition with Capital
Transit.
Clarifies Bill
Senator Morse, however. made
clear that his bill would en-
power the Commissioners toI
contract with the Capital Tran
sit Co. itself, if some agreement
could be reached.
Warned of possible legal COM
plicatidns. he said, You're not
going I } get out of this without
legal complications anyway, and
it might be best to get it into
the courts as soon as possible"
Senator Case explored the pos
sibility of whether the COM
|pany's franchise could be can
celed without the years notice
provided for in the 1888 Merger
Act which created the company :.
He was warned by Assistant Cor
poration Counsel Lloyd B. Har-
rison, who is assigned to the
Public Utilities Commission. that
it would lay the grounds for
heavy damage claims by the
company if the notice is not
given.
Senator Case contended that,
eff we have grounds on which
the Capital Transit franchise
could be Cancelled Immediately,
lit would give us more freedom
ito act" If that is impossible, he
said, then seizure of the COM
Ipany might be the only an
1swer."
Answering criticism by Mr..
Broadwater of the Commission
Iers' letter to Congress asking for
the seizure legislation. Commits
Isioner Samuel Spencer said. "the
purpose of our letter was to state
reasons that justified the re-
quest, "It did not purport to
tell the full history" he said.
Blasts Broadwater
Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Lane,
Engineer Commissioner, also
took issue with Mr.. Broadwater's
criticism of the Commissioners
letter. He noted the company
head had referred to a sugges-
Ition that a settlement be based
on an offer to the union of 8As-
Icents-an- hour increase.
Mr.. Broadwater. Gen. Lane
declared, said it was fatty re-
ijected by labor. My recollection
lis that the suggestion tmade by
Gen. Lane just before the strike
was called was fatty rejected
by management"
After Mr.. Broadwater had
charged that the Commissioners
letter appered to be the handi-|
work of Mr.. Mclaughlin with
whom the company tangled fire.
quently while he was head of the
utilities commission) as well as
of MIR. Harrison, Gen. Lane in
sisted the "three Commissioners
shared fully in the legislation
proposed"
He denied there was anything
personal" in his views on the
matter. Answering charges by
Mr.. Broadwater that the Com
missionsrs had omitted many
facts from their letter, Gen. Lane
said efficiency of operation was
not mentioned because the Com
missioners were not charging in
efficiency.
He said no reference was in
cluded to findings that the COM
pany was operating legally be-
cause I'VE made no charges that
the company has acted unlaw-
fully"
Gen. Lane noted that the
company's only offer to the
Iunion--of 10 cents an hour and
IS a month on pensions--was
made Monday after the Commits
sioners had asked for the seizure
Legislation. It was, he said, ''in
a different context" from the
company's earlier refusals to
make any offer at all.
MIR. Harrison. acknowledging
his role in drafting the Commits
Isioners' letter, charged Mr..
Broadwater is "just as guilty
of not telling all the facts as he
says we are"
i Speaking for the transit work.
ers union. President Walter J
IBierwagen said 1t regards the
proposals of franchise cancel
lation and seizure as problems
Iof management" and declared
1--WE do not deem it appropriate
Ito comment"
i He urged that any seizure leg
&islation give the union a chance
Tfnr rrIIertive haruoir1inu and