Evening star., 1955-07-22
Senate Unit Starts Revising Measure
To Authorize Capitol Transit Seizure

the new company would have te
leave the District or run its serv-
ice in competition with Capita.
Transit.
Clarifies Bill
Senator Morse, however, made
clear that his bill would EN-.
power the Commissioners te
contract with the Capital Tran.
sit Co. itself, if some agreement
could be reached.
Warned of possible legal CON-
plications. he said, You're not
going to get out of this without
legal complications anyway, anc
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 fo1
heavy damage claims by the
company If the notice is moi
given.
Senator Case contended that
"if we have grounds on which
the Capital Transit franchise
could be Cancelled Immediately
it would give us more freedom
to act" If that is impossible, hi
said, then seizure of the com.
pany might be the only an.
Swer."
Answering criticism by Mr.
Broadwater of the Commission.
ers' letter to Congress asking fol
the seizure legislation. Commits.
sioner Samuel Spencer said, "tht
purpose of our letter was to STATE
reasons" that justified the re.
quest. ut did not purport tt
tell the full history" he said.
Blasts Broadwater
Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Lane
Engineer Commissioner, alse
took issue with Mr.. Broadwater',
criticism of the Commissioners
letter. He noted the company
head had referred to a sugges-
ton that a settlement be basec
on an offer to the union of 81a-
cents-an-hour increase.
Mr.. Broadwater. Gen. Lane
declared, said it was fatty re-
jected by labor. My recollection
is that the suggestion (made by
Gen. Lane just before the strike
was called was fatty rejected
by management"
After Mr.. Broadwater hac
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 Mr.. 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.
missioners had omitted many
facts from their letter. Gen. Ian,
said efficiency of operation wa!
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 tina
the company has acted unlaw
fully"
Gen. Lane noted that th'
company's only offer to tn,
union--of 10 cents an hour ant
S. a month on pensions--wa
made Monday after the Commits
sioners had asked for the seizur'
legislation. It was. he said, iii
a different context" from tn
company's earlier refusals tt
make any offer at all.
Mr.. Harrison, Acknowledge
his role in drafting the Commits
sioners' letter, charged MI
Broadwater is ::'just as guilt,
of not telling all the facts as h
says we are"
Speaking for the transit work
ers union, President Walter j
Bierwagen said 1t regards tn
proposals of franchise cancel
lation and seizure as /" problem
of management" and declare,
I'VE do not deem it appropriat,
to comment"
| He urged that any seizure leg
islation give the union q chanc'