THE TRANSIT MUDDLE-CRITICISM AND A PROPOSAL
Waldman, Louis
The Transit Muddle—Criticism and A Proposal Mayor Walker's Mystery; Where Does He Stand? By Louis Waldman ¦^HEN w a transit solution in New York not a transit solution? Nine times kout of ten....
...Mechanical difficulties with the loud-speakers did not help...
...These are some of the important questions the public which ultimately pays the bill either in fares or in taxes, ought to-be placed In a position to discuss Intelligently...
...If it were an academic matter no one would care...
...By 11 o'clock the subway trains began depositing their crowds at the stations nearest the Garden...
...after the pap> ment of an operating expenses, laws, m j tercet and other fixed charges, lncssetag the rentals of over $2,655,000 to tat «gy under contracts 1 and 2. The imnqnt et total capital outstanding is I ll.INW.lli...
...and B.M.T...
...A block win be made available to the general public, reservations of which win have to be made by addressing Marx Lewis, .at the People's House...
...The Police later estimated that they had turned ' away as many as had found admission...
...It was for Norman Thomas, whose sudden appearance at the center of the hall brought him recognition from the youngsters which instantly communicated Itself through the length of the amphitheatre...
...The throng cheered the short speeches and properly revenged themselves on the long winded ones...
...Socialist speakers, hungry for* crowds, could here have the audience of their life...
...Soon after, the old Garden passed Into history...
...Turning completely around one could scan an endless sea of [aces, fining the balcony to capacity...
...in view of the city's experience with the dual contracts...
...It found that taCommlssioners and Ha engineer, the tatter paid $10,000...
...A dual nflirlaldnm a now maintained by the LR.T...
...To this day, no one knows whether the Mayor favors Mr...
...Because of the Irrelevant Interborough seven-cent fare suit, the problems of transit relief, unification and finance have been lost slant of...
...There was another Sunday night rally called to demand that the American government lift the blockade by which it was vainly trying to starve Russian men, women and children into submission...
...Untermeyer's suggestions or not...
...All packed the arena to the doors...
...He resorts to calling his critics names...
...Gene Debs had passed away...
...The movement lay bleeding, gashed and knifed by Internal strife...
...But Madison Square Garden, old as well as new, has always been a gauge by which the Socialists of New York have measured their movement...
...It would not be meanary to pay nearly a quarter of a million dollars over a ten year period for the services of a publicity agent employed- ta part at leasj—to "educate'* the pates Into the need cf a higher fare...
...Behold our ally, gaunt starvation," cried Norman Thomas as he blistered the authors and executors of the blockade policy0 0* Later there was a meeting to protest J the ousting of the Socialist assemblyman from Albany...
...But all there was to do was pitch in and help, hoping tor the best May Day dawned cheerful and sunny, not so warm as to keep people outdoors and yet with enough sun to entice them to make the trip to the Garden...
...That made little difference...
...in a measure, dependent upon a sound solution of transit...
...Why hain't it brains enough, as have htmdrah of other municipalities throughout tat world, to run them...
...Already then, the movement was hitting the downgrade...
...At noon, to the relief of a swirling mass gathered outside, the doors were swung open...
...Inside, the spectacle was an Inspiring . me...
...24, On the matter of financing of the system of new subways, does the Mayor favor the plan first proposed by the Socialist Party and made in...
...In the last few years accidents have been reduced 50 per cent which means, according to the Railway Commissioners, that "Detroit now has the lowest accident rate of any street railway in America...
...And the surest sign to that in its vanguard march hundreds of strange, new faces—recruits undismayed by recollections of old failures, recruits fresh for the struggle ahead...
...At 1 o'clock, the ground floor of the arena was filled: at 3:30 a few hundred empty seats remained in the dim recesses of the high and far upper balcony...
...The people of our city are in the dark as to the Mayor's transit program...
...o Does the Mayor and the administration propose the maintenance of the five-cent fare for a through ride on a unified system...
...27,000 in the seats, and perhaps a thousand and a half more standing up and serving as ushers...
...huge private profits...
...For the fiscal tear ended June 30, 1928, a net surplus mt the first six months was nearly >l,a$s,000...
...system or the BUT...
...An appropriate musical program and speeches by leadera of the Socialist and labor movement to being arranged...
...he also indicated in that interview that' he had succeeded in getting some points which might enable the next administration to match the record made In Philadelphia...
...It should insist on an accounting system which would tell the whole truth about city operation to the ordinary citizen who wanted to keep informed...
...The first duty of such a Municipal Transit Corporation should be to secure the very best managerial staff to be found anywhere, a staff not only technically efficient, but desirous of seeing the success, not the failure, of the municipal experiment...
...Returning in the evening of October 8, 1925, after spending several hours in Philadelphia, Mr...
...Its net Income for the year ending February 28, 1928, was $3,020,017.44, approximately the same as the preceding year...
...In order to clarify the situation and...
...Dramatic features which would have heightened the enthusiasm were lacking...
...For what use is it for the city to provide better facilities for transporting the population to the heart of the city, if those better facilities will Immediately be followed by the construction of additional numbers of sky scrapers and industries that keep the transportation lines overburdened...
...Once the occasion warranted an attempt...
...Walker went to Philadelphia to study the working methods employed In that city ta sub way-construction...
...Cj Since the method of operation is just as Important as the maintenance of a five-cent fare, we should know: if the administration plans unified operation of the lines operated by the two existing companies and the subways now being built by the city, does it propose to do it through a public operating company or through a private operator, such as the B.M.T...
...The city had tests*: enough to build the subways...
...Four years bass* passed and not a single routs of new subways—the plans for which were filed in the latter part of the Hylan administration—has been,opened to date...
...It should adopt a labor policy that would encourage, rather than discourage, the organization of a responsible labor organization of their own choosing among the employees, and •hould make it possible or the working i force to live a decent American life...
...June 6th is the third anniversary of his death, which resulted from Injuries he received when he was hit by an automobile as be was crossing the street ' Marx Lewis, executive secretary of the Socialist party, and for four years secretary to London when he was a member of Congress, is in charge of the arrangements...
...If the Mayor does not favor recap* ture of the old city-built subways under the dual contracts, does he approve of the terms of those contracts by reason of which tin aJU'1 eredtt to the extent frosen and nrtavaftahto far public improvements and the raspsjsri are called upon to pay annually about thirteen million dollars a year as s sort of subsidy to the LR.T...
...Full Houses At The Garden The May Day Meeting Marks A Turn in The Tide By Edward Levinson "T"HE new Madison Square Garden may be a monument to Tex Rlckard...
...Or, win it be any other form of public agency...
...In any such move, we must insist that the city pay no more for transportation facilities than the property Is worth...
...Outstanding among these experiments has been that in'the city of Detroit...
...bankruptcy, secured an increase of salary from $65,000 to $75,000 a year, whin tot general counsel had his salary raised frost $60,000 to $72,000...
...The ownership and operation of a portion of the trollies of San Francisco has also been a success, although everything possible has been done both ta Seattle and San Francisco by private Interests to put obstacles ta the way of their efficient operation...
...Does be offer any hope in some concrete way for fu" ture relief...
...As many of us failed to get in the Garden that Sunday night as had fought I their way inside...
...It is extremely important that the major jfctetalla of any new arrangement be known far in advance so that the public may be appraised of their native...
...The recollection of a several score mounted police suddenly appearing from the basement of the Garden to disperse thousands of would-be listeners is tied up vividly with beating of horses' hoofs on concrete sidewalks...
...o • When the new Garden opened its doors in the flashy theatrical district the Socialist party could only speculate hopefully on the occasion when it might once more sound a call which would bring the ma mien pouring in...
...He has never yet answered legitimate criticism fairly...
...or both...
...Not another person could possibly jam his way in...
...For Service, Not Profits g And Slnally, under municipal own...
...Lewi, announced yesterday that the Second Avenue Theatre, at 2nd avenue and 2nd street had been obtained for the memorial exercises...
...Walker pledged that during his administration, rapid transit would be relieved by the City building new subways...
...At 11 o'clock, however, the sun disappeared, the clouds hove overhead and it poured...
...It is true, of-course, that tans of millions of dollars have been invested in the building of hues under plans filed by Mr...
...A story of Meyer London's life and work to being written, and it is expected that copies of the biography wfU be available by the time the meeting to held...
...A few years, ago over 170 municipalities in Great Britain owned their own car lines," a growth from practically zero in the earlly eighties...
...If the administration favors a pub* lie agency, what will be the nature of that agency...
...On the contrary, the Department of Street Railways has paid over $750,000 each year ta taxes on its properties...
...I hope, therefore, that the questions which I shall present to the Mayor will be answered by him...
...It was a matter to be cautious about...
...If the city is going to run them sad run them honestly, efficiently and democratically, one of the most Important scepsis to build up a strong Socialist sat LaboFFarty, which believes in such operation not as a vote catcher but as a part of a larger program of democratizing fW great sources of wealth to the people...
...did the work pretty waft...
...Later on, careful analysis of financial plans will hardly be possible...
...Steps Toward Re-Organization The City Transit Corporation should immediately institute a practicable system of civil service examinations to the grid that efficiency may be maintained, security guaranteed to efficient employees and favoritism eliminated...
...whether he favors any other suggestions or plans or ; not It is my earnest hope that demands will - be made by various civic and political I groups ta the community who have | nothing but the interest of the city and i its inhabitants at heart, that the Mayor j present his plans and thus compel a pub111c discussion of these vital problems...
...or the BM.T...
...The atmosphere was that of a holiday...
...What Municipal Ownership Would Actually Mean By Harry W. LaidJer mm j a airs j . w • a oaaassvaa J^JUNICIPAL ownership and operation of transit facilities is an accomplished fact in hundreds upon hundreds of cities abroad This development has taken place at particularly rapid rate since the beginning of the century...
...That fact is now beyond dispute since the United States Supreme Court has finally determined that aV least as to the I.R.T...
...Under public ownership it would no longer be necessary ta pay a million dollars for legal expenses as the Interborough has dona In tht sat few years to fight for an increase ta tht fare charged...
...In the distances, the crowd merged in a unified human mass...
...Waterman, the Mayor expressly and by implication, gave Innumerable pledges of building new subways and making them available for use during his administration...
...Samuel Unteraseyer, or as proposed in his second report...
...o • • Perhaps only young Ous Oarber could have been audacious enough to take the Garden to celebrate May Day this year...
...And it has done this on perhaps "the lowest rate of fare among the thirty-seven largest American cities...
...and (c) by special tax aaaessmento levied against the property specially benefitted along the routes of constructed subways...
...Walker la a gentleman ordinarily endowed with a sense of humor and considerable of a "wise-cracker...
...The Socialist party called a meeting ta the Garden on toss than four days notice and as Debs was being cremated In Indianapolis, 18,000 men and women mourned his passing in New York...
...In that way alone can democratic government continue its processes of self-correction...
...Memorial to Be Held for Late Meyer London Numerous labor, Socialist, Workmen's Circle a-id progressive groups will unite on June 6 to pay tribute to Meyer London, for more than a quarter of a century one of the leading figures in the national Socialist movement and for six years the only Socialist In the American Congress...
...The dead men ta the heavy-cushioned chairs came to life and scampered into the recesses of the club...
...There was an Interlude of cheer when the Garden in 1924 rung to the hurrahs of the La Follette supporters...
...rt How does the Mayor and his admin* istratlon propose to operate those subways?—privately or through a municipal agency...
...That suit affordedMayor Walker a convenient opportunity to continue drifting wICHbut any transit plan or program until the present, the end of bis administration...
...There are those who speak of the Debs rallies in the old Garden, of a giant meeting to demand Justice for the men, women and children caught In the vise of the Laurence mill strike...
...Instead'of occupying a clear space In which their appearance would serve to rivet the attention of the entire audience, they sat surrounded by the band, so that half of the audience could not tell where the speaking was coming from...
...or the LR.T.' or a new private ¦croup...
...My trip was aaest Interesting...
...Seattle and San Francisco Operations 2. It has decreased the number of trolley breaks...
...the dreary "William Tell" overture was unnecessary...
...Cooler heads might have been inclined to stop him, but cooler beads have found out by this time that Gus Gerber cant be stopped...
...What Form of Control is Planned...
...And in every proposed extension of the system, it should cooperate with city and regional planning groups aiming at the decentralization, rather than the corf* cent ration of financial and industrial centers...
...Fresh with the message of revolt beard on street corner and in district club-house, thousands of young Socialists came to the Garden ta 1917 fully to realize for the first time the mass character cf the movement There wera three ox tour meetings ta the old Garden during the campaign of 1917, when Morris Hillquit led the party in the face of the snarls and threats ovpnhe war-mad...
...That would be the Hmrt of any raped transit relief yea could expect to attain daring the next four years under my Republican opponent's progress...
...2^ If the latter plan is adopted and * since, under the financial situation of the city not more than between fifty to sixty million dollars are available for subway construction, does the Mayor favor delay of the building of these new subways, which are already greatly needed, for a period of over ten years since the cost of the new system is placed somewhere between six hundred and fifty | to eight hundred million dollars...
...and BM.T- they, ta the meantime mating hags profits frpsn operation...
...After his nomination and to give emphasis to these pledges, Mr...
...Can we fill the Garden...
...Hylan and in the campaign against Mr...
...and 1KT, with great salaries attached...
...Today, after seven years, the system Is more than one-third paid for out of its own earnings...
...In 1923 there were 83 breaks per month...
...From then on it was rain on and off all day...
...The cost* to the city of its system was $4S,*50,000...
...system...
...And the city should see to it that those whose properties were benefited by extensions to the system should pay a portion of the cost of these extensions...
...For the younger Socialists Madison Square Garden came into existence in 1917...
...3. It has developed an Express Service, which has made the service In this city among the speediest In America...
...or the I.R.T...
...Like the two admltik-Usttons of bis Democratic pTBdecssaflr...
...In order to develop maximum efficiency, we should organize for the operation of the unified public system a semi-autonomous municipal corporation, with adequate representation on the board of directors of the workers, the technicians and the general public, which latter group should Include members of the three political parties...
...Municipal operation would tT*Tntmft * the wastes due to the lack of unifies tion now found in the transportation, system...
...Untermeyer as far back as close to two years ago that notice of recapture be given by the city to the LR.T...
...To enable the various groups which will want to take part In the meeting to be represented, provision is being made to allot blocks of tickets to all the groups, and those groups will be limited to their allotment...
...Delaney's first recommendation to the Hylan administration that the cost of building subways be divided, approximately into three parts: (a) the ear rider...
...He also pledged himself to the maintenance of the five-cent fare...
...Some Walker Promises i Some of the Mayor's defenders contend ttiat he Is not responsible for overcrowding In the subways...
...This to May Day...
...Many high school and college classes bad absentees who gave their non-comprehending teachers the explanation...
...borough, which would not be neceaaaw under public operation...
...to afford a fair discussion by the press and the public, may I ask that thej Mayor inform the public on the following questions: 1 When may the public expect relief from the present congestion on the existing rapid transit lines by the opening of the new city-planned subways...
...nor its tan president, with a $38,000 salary, nor tit 'assistants, with salaries ranging treat $15,000 to $38,000...
...The citizens of that city purchased the Detroit United Railway system ta April, 1922...
...The Brooklyn Rapid Transit wKh M such load as the Manhattan BaJhsaf contract, had a surplus tor the year easing June 30", 1927 of over $8,000,000 altar meeting all fixed charges and after placing aside a reserve for the sinking read, This provided six per cent dividend on as preferred stock and almost 6 per cent at 770,000 shares of no par common stack issued ta return for the common stock at its bankrupt predecessor, which was torn selling far between $1 and $6 a share...
...Yet the impression that remains is that of the sheer size of the audience...
...What of Re-eapture...
...b) the general taxpayers of the city because of the increased values ta real estate by reason of the* subways...
...o • • Here was the human material to rebuild the party on, stronger and enthusiastic than ever before...
...Since it is admitted that because of the high cost of construction, the new subways could not be operated at a five-cent fare if they are to be self-sustaining, and since it is not likely that either the LR.T...
...The management of the Garden said It was the largest audience the arena had ever held...
...The epj would not be inclined to pay, as the hv terborough has paid, over $150,000 to as president and nearly $100,000 to the Assistant to the General Manager for royalties on patents which they « own...
...These annoyances robbed the demonstration of much...
...No such discussion can be had unless the Mayor frankly announces the plans...
...By 1927 this had been reduced to about one-third...
...Among other things he declared: "They are building subways in Phila lata bia ea> the wholesale plan, while we are buUaing them hi retail...
...Walker pictured to that audience how little transit relief they might expect if Mr...
...Nor are they strong or useful enough to stand on their own feet as an independent entity...
...There was no other hall which could hold an who would pay tribute to Debs...
...So much the worse | lor his failure to correct It...
...The speaker's platform was badly located...
...so that the city may take over its subway properties at the price reserved In the leases...
...Thousands of eager faces crammed ' ;very Inch of the floor, which rose in ihe rear to merge with the first tier K>xes and balcony...
...On another occasion the Garden became a free press forum "The Call" had met the force of the Kaiser's Washington prototypes and was three tee nned with suppression...
...Only by open and frank discussion of the public acts or emissions of the Mayor and his administration—a discussion usually raised by minority groups—can the administration be checked from excesses or shaken from indolence...
...They are not related, apparently, to either the LR.T...
...Moreover, the Indecent conditions of the overcrowded and inadequate service in our subways Is becoming unbearable to the millions of car riders...
...The fact that the dty'df 8eattle, under Mayor Ole Hanson, paid far more for its lines than any fair appraisal Indicated was their true value has made the struggle for success, and the amortizing of the bonded Indebtedness, a far more difficult one than it would otherwise have been...
...The great city of New York Is rich enough to see that Its citizens are carried to and from work and centers of recreation as human beings and not as a herd of cattle...
...Rain could not ruin this meeting, nor could anything else...
...A If so, upon what basis does the Mayor propose to accomplish it...
...What New York Would Gain Under community operation and unified control of this nature citizens of New York would be the distinct gainers...
...The Communists, who for years had vent their venom on the Socialist leader, were trying to hold a "memorial" meeting in the Garden and thus win a bit of ghoulish prestige...
...The party had come back...
...A Program For New York City We in New York should proceed to the municipal operation of the transit lines and should give Immediate notice of recapture for the recapturable lines...
...Some Socialist trade unionists were also skeptical about the possibilities...
...Superficial then as now, the Metropolitan press could not understand that I what had really made the old Garden | significant were the loud pulse-beats of aspiring working class audiences which had for two decades resounded against the Garden's dingy walls...
...End The Transit Mystery...
...S party that will, as a minority party, ktap the lime fight on the management ef Ota utility, and, as a party in control, « everything in its power to have sack operation serve wholly the well-being of the community...
...The Garden was filled, not alone with 28,000 cheering and stamping human beings, but with reborn hope and renewed determination that the Socialist party is once again on the march...
...In that campaign there was also a debate in which Morris Hillquit met a Democrat whose name charity makes us conceal...
...It should provide the most effective safeguards possible against graft in the letting of contracts and should perform its own work In the making and repairing of equipment as rapidly as feasible...
...The fine frenzy of Socialist enthusiasm spent itself in the attack of those who thought the party, persecuted and wracked by the war-mongers, had not been aggressive enough, and in the dogged defense put up by those who told the Communists their slogan of "revolution around the corner" was the cry of mad-men who in the end could only bring the movement to grief...
...J5 Or, does the Mayor favor Mr...
...greed and special privilege...
...8 o The consuming public would Bat...
...While the city corporation'- should seek to make the subways pay for themselves, its first thought should be the comfort and health and lives of the millions of car riders and of Its thousands of workers, rather than the turn of the balance sheet...
...Of course that does not include such construction as had to be finished under the dual contracts...
...The band swung into the "International- and "The Bed Flag" without previous announcement thus taking the thousands who would have Joined ta the singing by surprise, m a program already crowded, the inclusion of...
...He overlooks the fact that a public servant must not be so thinskinned that he cannot stand being ques-, tioned about his official acta or policies...
...in the face of the written ophdoa of the General Counsel that such pay* ments were unlawful When the City of Detroit took over Hi rapid transit it found that it no looser needed the high priced law firm paid annually under private ownership the sum at $200,000 a year, nor Its high priced proa dent, with a salary of $48,000...
...This year's experience will contribute greatly to next year's May Day demonstration...
...According to The New York Times of October 0. 1925...
...A glance upward revealed thousands more, the faces rising row upon row, until it seemed that some clung to the ceilings...
...To devotees of the fistic art it may conjure up memories of smoke-enveloped prizerings where latter-day gladiators have banged away for the glory of heavy purses...
...alliances between dominant political organizations and traction companies: cupidity of politicians, and stupidity of straphangers...
...jq Win the annual budget have to * carry millions of dollars in interest and amortization for bonds Issued by the city to build the new subways...
...lata* e< bonds, would tend ta Sj| lass from year to year, not mors, $s$g>| taws its bonds and insists on ever SsSta valuation...
...The president of the LR.T...
...It proved to me that they are making Una progress in baiMing their subways...
...Children of the Workmen's Circle schools and Young Circle clubs were present by the thousand, testifying to the idealism of their parents, who in.an age of Babbitry are trying to get their young to understand something of Socialism and the best of the labor movement...
...In some respects the demonstration was disappointing...
...Does the city administration favor * the recommendation made by Mr...
...He did not create I it True enough, it existed long before j he became Mayor...
...Of course, this surplus is now Mag absorbed largely by the Manhattan PtaV road Company as a result of the sseaaf contract which the Interborough stair years ago with the Manhattan, the eparator of the elevated roads ta Manhattan, but the fact remains that the people *M now paying a high tribute to the hiss...
...Ten minutes later, the Fire Department closed the doors...
...would voluntarily yield any advantages they now have under the dual contract what subsidy would the city have to give to the operating company ta order to maintain the five-cent fare in a unified system, including the newly built city subways...
...At the present time the system has increased in value to $55,000,000...
...Speaking at Public School 90 at Richmond Hffl, on October 28, .1925, Mr...
...If there was an ovation for any single person...
...Few public questions are more talked about and less understood than transit...
...During these seven years it has, furthermore: 1. Greatly decreased its accident rate...
...Walker's four years hi office have been full of talk about transit and new subways, but with no results...
...I say this because I have found that although Mr...
...The subway earnings, therefore, a* fa* United States, Supreme Court has reaagA* ly pointed out, provide for dividend pepments of over is per cent en the pgr value of the stock...
...As we reached the, sacred precincts of the Union League Club, storm shutters Jammed closed sharply...
...Of this amount about $2,500,000 was set aside or the amortizing of the bonds...
...On Baffling Mayor Walker It in appraising the transit situation, I am, at times, compelled to be critical of the Mayor, it is not because I am fond of ruffling his good nature...
...Not a Single Route Opened Thus, both in the primaries against Mr...
...Front-page stories the next day, telling of "attempted revolution on Fifth avenue" provided us with one of the few laughs of those strenuous days There were other Garden meetings when Sori all its had to run the gauntlet of drunken soldiers and sailors sent direct from ship and camp to break up the Boris Hat rallies...
...DeJaney in the Hylan administration, but the trenches dug lie like orphans of tender years, awaiting some kind Providence to give them a boms...
...7 Jf the prepaid unified system is to * be operated by a private company, then what wffi be the terms of such proposal...
...Because of politics...
...The newspapers wrote human interest stories...
...An inner circle of Al Smith friends will always recall the Garden as the place where their white-hope came home towards the end of a bitter campaign for a Saturday night of triumph before he was thrown into the political discard...
...4. It has Improved the service, among other things, by adding over 90 miles of new track, by modernizing the system, by expanding the area over which service is rendered, by purchasing over five hundred new cars—paid tor out of street car fares—and by buying a fleet of 160 odd parlor coaches...
...has often been the anxious question as Socialists prepared to celebrate triumphs, to condemn political and economic outrages, or mourn the passing of their hero...
...The overflow of some 20,000 started an impromptu parade up Fifth Avenue...
...But It Is not There are so many vital municipal problems intimately connected with, and dependent upon the administration's transit program I What of schools, public improvements, traffic relief, city credit, taxation, and a host of other relief questions...
...several years ago, for instance, at a time when the wages ef the workers were being reduced on tht ground that the company was facta...
...The seating of the many hundreds of child choristers ta front of the speakers platform from which they could (and did) easily parsde in and out of the audience was a mistake...
...1 Bast 15th street Among the groups receiving allotments win be the International Ladies Garment workers Union, the Socialist Party, the Workmen's Circle, the Furriers Union, the United Hebrew Trades, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, the international Pockefbook Makers Union, the Hat and Cap Makers Union, the Forward Association, and other groups, Including several tower Bast Bide organ nations...
...The audience had a heavy mixture of the young...
...Walker said as he stepped off the train at the Pennsylvania station that construction of subways in that city was progressing much faster than here* in New York...
...Will it be a sort of political department, created by appointment of the Mayor, or will it be some agency such as was ¦asjaastod ta the first report to the Trass* Cnmietesinw by Mr...
...All of these, are...
...The giant auditorium holds 27,000 persons...
...Not one cent has been paid from taxes...
...he is a terrible acre-head under criticism...
...What routes may we expect to be opened first, and what parts of the city will be afforded relief earliest...
...J2 H the Mayor favors recapture, will he please assign the reasons why, for close to two years, notice of recapture was not given, and the city thus obliged to carry in the annual budget the sum of approximately thirteen million dollars a year for interest which the city must pay on bonds Issued to both those subways, while these subways remain highly profitable enterprises to the companies to which they were leased...
...Madison Square Garden meetings began to grow scarce...
...The policy of persecuting bona fide | trade union organizations adopted by the I Interborough Rapid Transit Company should be forever abandoned as belonging to the tactics of by-gone decades and inconsistent with enlightened labor policies of the day...
...Dots be favor continuing- that arrangement for the balance of the eontract period which baa about forty years more to ran...
...It is desirable that these questions be discussed now and not during the political campaign when partisan feelings run high...
...When the old Madison Square Garden was given over to the wrecking-squads to make way for an Imposing grey mountain erected by a life Insurance company as an Immodest monument to itself, a repository of precious Socialist history passed away with It...
...That was the word on all sides...
...On a Sunday afternoon, Frank A. Sleverman hurled Into one of these crowds the simple demand, "We want peace," and a horde of 20,000 humans echoed his plea for 15 ear-splitting minutes...
...The Garden was the place where Stanford White had been shot by Harry K. Thaw In a battle over the ill-starred Evelyn Nesblt, they said...
...Waterman were elected Mayor of the City, saying that if he were elected, they would get complete transit relief as, under his administration, new subways would be bufit and operated, running express and local trains...
...Tea might have an extension to same at year present aerated lines," said candidate Walker, "which will pat aere people tats the already overcrowded ears and aaake the condition With regard to people who Hve in the sgossBa of these line*, worse even than H to now...
...In Seattle, despite the fact that the city paid for the property far more' than It should, and despite the fact that the city owns but a portion of the trolley system, the city transit is paying its way and, out of revenues, amortising Its bonds...
...Overhead Would Be Cut - It would reduce a oonaidaTStii * amount of the overhead found ta private corporations...
...To hosts of others It Is where the fattest, thinnest, biggest and smallest men come every Spring to put on a circus...
...De* laney*a subsequent suggestion that the building of the new subways be financed by carrying approximately sixtytwo per cent, of the cost, of construction by budgetary appropriation derived from taxes and about thirty-eight per cent, from car riders...
...compeUe** to pay continuous divsStSsK on watered stock For the year mmW: June $0, 1938, the Interborough •*SMp realised from the subway operation a Sgf> surplus of over $«JOO.D00...
...ershlp there Is no such incentive as there is under private operation to tastt the strap-hanger as so many sheep, et the workers as serfs...
...I Four year ago—In the fsllof 1925—in 1 ills primary campaign, Mr .^Talker insisted that Mr...
...Are the new subways being built and * laid out with a view of being operated as an Independent system or as one related to either the B.M.T...
...The chief examples of municipal ownership in the United States are found in Detroit, San Francisco and Seattle...
...Nobody knows what he is thinking...
...The primary aks under community control is not man mum profits, but community service sat the people have a continuous cheek ea their own servants...
...He told them that plans ware made and money was ready...
...Hylan be denieu renomlnatlon because he bahttually talked transit but did not act Claiming to be a man of action rather than of words, Mr...
Vol. 8 • May 1929 • No. 17
