Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-03-04
MARYLAND
Seems Like
We've Seen
This Before
BY CHARLES L. HOFFMAN
Star star Correspondent

the show playing there if the
Sunpapers' critics had been
covering the trolley circuit"
It probably offers them little
comfort, but the drama enact
ed there is almost a repeat
performance of what has been
labeled 1.-THE Washington
Story" by transit union Off
Gals.
The plot was the same, the
characters similar-only some
of the players were different
The cast includes the COM
pany and the union officers
and well-intentioned public
officials.
Bernard Cushman, WASH
ington labor attorney who rep
resented the Washington union
in negotiations in its 52-day
strike last summer, appeared
a trifie late on the Baltimore
scene.
Nevertheless he was there
as the strike got underway and
became the unions chief
spokesman and negotiator.
The other lead-representing
management-had a change
of players but there was a re-
markable similarity In their
performances.
Mon or Group?
In Washington it was the
brash, youthful looking f.
nancial wizard, Louis E. Wolf
son, who drew the misses and
anger Of the public. Mr.. Wolf
son moved into control OF
Capital Transit in 1949. BY
strike time last year 1t was
reported he had parlayed a
$2.2 million investment into
holdings worth a half mil
lion more, while collecting
some So million in dividends
and another SIT million in
profitable stock transactions.
Baltimore's villain was, how
ever. a gigantic holding COM
pany, National City Lines OF
Chicago, that had made its
entrance there five years be-
fore the Wolfson group got
to Washington.
Since 1914 it has taken out
So million more than the orig
inal $2.4 million it invested
in the Baltimore Transit Co.
1t still has holdings which cost
it about $574.436 and have a
present market value of 1913
million.
Both found "fat and lazy"
companies and with which
gold-plated their pocket Innings
by eliminating outmoded
maintenance methods, excess
employees and non-profltable
service.
Baltimore and Washington
are not unique situations.
! Transit companies generally
are faced with the problems
of a declining industry in an
expanding economy. The chief
culprit is the auto with its
comfort and speed.
AS more people turn away
from mass transit. streets be-
come clogged and buses and
streetcars roll even more slow
ly, forcing more passengers
away. Then cities find them
selves faced with millions of
dollars needed for new ex-
pressways, wider streets and
more off-street parking.
Loss Of Riders
In Washington, passengers
have disappeared so rapidly
that the 395 million passen-
gers carried in 1949 numbered
only 217 million in 1854. Bal
timore Transit lost half its
passenger load of 264 million
between 1914 and 1855.
Operators wage scales, IS
cents an hour on vi Day in
1915, have been doubled in
Baltimore and are up to 50 an
hour in Washington.
Hard-headed businessmen
such as Mr.. Wolfson and Ma
tional City officials have met
this situation by cutting serv-
ice which means cutting off
employees. These moves have
enraged both citizens and
workers.
The vicious circle in which
the transit companies in both
cities are caught has forced
them to double fares to meet
increased labor costs and other
expenses.
Mr.. Wolfson and National
City alike have been criticized
for not making a bigger and
fancier pitch to win back
customers through express
service, bargain days and even
cheaper fares. In both cities
the companies also have been
weak on public relations, fail
ing to convince bus riders that
the stockholders should get a
return on their investments.
Fair Rote Of Return
Stockholders in both COM
panies went through long star
walton years and have been cut
in for dividends only recently.
Yet in neither case have the
companies obtained the So
called fair rate of return"
which they are. allowed in the
highly regulated transit field.
Economies made by new
management to bring profits
can be carried to a point OF no
return. That is the situation
rapidly developing in both
Baltimore and Washington.
Inability to pay labor de-
mands on the present systems
has been the cause cited for