TAMMANY INCOMPETENCE AND ACCEPTANCE OF CORPORATE GREED RESPONSIBLE FOR ABOMINABLE TRANSIT CONDITIONS
Tammany incompetence And Acceptance of Corporate Greed Responsible for Abominable Transit Conditions The Socialist Program For Rapid Construction of Rapid Transit I The establishment of a unified...
...tfe most practical way to Pj**e this end is to construct the Pj tunnel proposed by Mr...
...In 1919 the subways of New York City carried their first billionth passenger...
...On approximately j 57,600,000 of this amount the city 1 is entitled to no return...
...Politically this result was undesirable...
...313,000 paid for general legal expenses, including an amount 'for propaganda...
...With the so-called reorganization of 1923, the rate on the stock was lowered to 5 per cent...
...The Transit Commission has estimated that the original cost of building these elevated lines was $27,285,000...
...fgfl transit relief will come only j m a plan is devised which will j ¦He ue city to raise the huge pj...
...moe why the 5c fare should not , guintained...
...durance...
...Mayor Walker's latest program has been issued at a most propt* tious moment It has gained wtae publicity two months before a max nicipal election...
...In brief, why was not the whole process of new subway construction accelerated ? From 1921 to 1924 the Transit Commission submitted 31 new routes to the city authorities...
...He rwcommend/. jR...
...In effect, this would mean the diversion at last of some of I the funds now going to the owners of the I.R.T...
...Daly Norman Thomas and the Soadat Party is ready to do so...
...Even if one wishes to classify the new Fourteenth street crosstown as such it cannot be considered an achievement of the Tammany administrations...
...nattt for five cents...
...Why were not the contracts for these divisions let out at one time instead of piecemeal so that the construction could not proceed more rapidly ? Why was work not begun on some of the lines that citizens were demanding in 1925 and that Chairman Delaney mentioned in a report to the Board of Estimate and Apportionments quoted above...
...It is possible by re-capture for tka city to secure a continuous east side or west side line...
...Turmt proposals of 1920 and the aw municipal subways under coniwtioa, the plans for which ate not accepted until 1925, Stw certain similarities even axrh some modifications have an made in the routes...
...The failure to adopt Mr...
...1 and 2 the city received a return on its investment before payments were made to the companies...
...Since the expenses are charged to operating costs, they deprive the city of money that might be given it under the terms of Contract No...
...The companies have contended tha>*hey could receive additional funds to enable them to make payments to the city, if they were permitted to charge more than five cents fare...
...Delaney, Chairman of the Board of Transportation, adopted this Socialist position...
...As long as the Interborough continues to pay these enormous sums to the Manhattan elevated lines, the city can hope for no returns on its investment...
...4 $167,686,000 making a total of $278,292,000...
...The I. R. T. paid in cash dividends during the 16 years ending 1919 the sum of $65,000,000...
...The book value of the securities supposed to represent the physical property of the B. M. T. is placed at $208,504,259.58...
...g New lines shall be financed partly out of monies available and made available under this plan, partly out of fares and partly out of assessments against property directly benefited...
...Furthermore, the car lines and elevated lines have not earned dividends...
...However, the Public Service Law does not permit municipal operation unless by the fourth year of operation the subways are completely self-sustaining from its revenues...
...These dividends were paid on stocks which are heavily watered...
...A billion more passengers are now using the rapid transit lines than a decade ago...
...The Way Out: Recapture The only way out that the city can begin to receive any return on its investment is by getting out from under the onerous terms of the contracts...
...Since transit is a subject which everybody talks about but few understand, people will begin to discuss the transit relief which the Walker administration has promised them through the construction of new subwaya...
...The only alternative that remains is to turn the lines over to a j private company for operation...
...Tke city baa boost ia a noaltkm to re-capture for a period of two years but Walker has not exercised this power...
...Doyle, in addition to their regular swollen salaries, for patent fees...
...As yet no money has ever been left over to pay the city anything...
...Present financial policy does not provide sufficient funds for necessary subway construction...
...to the city as payment for its investment...
...The principles enunciated by Mr...
...Similary, in the Pj« the I. R. T. a new tunnel P* the East River would make jkuible to extend the Nostrand P*4* line to Coney Island...
...S3.500.000 are guaranteed annually to the company on the basis of its investment in the elevated lines which it owns outright and which are connected to the city-built subways...
...The Road Back to Pr>r>nle Operation...
...They have found it almost impossible to meet operating expenses and their funded indebtedness...
...has acted towards its partners, the city, in the past, it ia an amazing betrayal of the public confidence to turn the new subways over to such a corporation...
...Since a five cent fare will not pay the charges on some $500,000,000 worth of bonds, the city will have to meet these obligations out of taxation and thus tie up the city's credit to the extent of $500,000,009...
...225,000 paid for the services of Ivy Lies, publicity man, and the Subway Sun, for services in propagandizing for a higher fare...
...Provision had been made for the construction of the Fourteenth Street Crosstown in the Dual Contracts of 1913...
...K There are several other interesting conclusions to be drawn from the material presented...
...Should, however, the city receive from the operating companies revenue sufficient to meet the interest and amortisation on these bonds, then the city will have available for further subway construction an equivalent sum of money...
...S was estimated that these urn would cost $350 million...
...3. Mayor Walker's recent settlement with the I. R. T. is being exploited as a pre-election stunt...
...The total sum in dispute, 1 $14,107,373.42...
...Hence, a sound policy of subway finance has much broader significance than that of merely providing transit relief...
...The power to borrow $300,000,000 above the debt limit for transit relief has unquestionably helped the present city administration in its subway construction program...
...There are four contracts...
...There are i other ways of financing the build- ! ing of subways besides borrowing j by means of long term bonds...
...Mayor Hylan knew that unfinished subways would stand as a symbol of his Incompetence...
...The multiplicity of transit companies in New York has resulted in enormous wastes which would be readily eliminated by the merging and unifying of existing linea and the operation of these linej by a single corporation, whether it be a public corporation like the Port Authority of New York or a private corporation...
...We have seen how the failure to meet the interest and amortisation on the bonds Issued under the Dual Contracts out of subway earnings resulted in the "freezing" of almost $300,000,000 of the city's credit and how this has retarded much needed subway construction as well as other im# provements...
...For the year ending June 30, 1926, the Interborough subways earned $6,569,573 and for the year ending June 30, 1927 the sum of $6,380,017...
...Contracts Nos...
...Samuel Untermyer two years ago presented a comprehensive report to the Transit Commission in which he urged immediate re-capture of the lines built under the Dual Contracts, and municipal operation of a unified system by linking these subways to the new ones which are being built at the present time...
...The B. M. T. has outstanding 350.000 shares of preferred and 850.000 shares of common stock...
...In the past the earnings of the stockholders and bondholders have been plentiful...
...Yet, tka 5c fare is not the transit issue ia New York City...
...Now, only about $61,000,000 of these bonds have been selfsustaining, as a result of the guaranteed payments under Contracts Nos...
...The dividends which have been paid on the B. M T. stocks have come out of the earnings of the city-owned subways...
...A bit of geog•Jhy is in order...
...Delaney's proposals of 1925 means that the now system of subways will not be self-sustaining from earnings, if the 5c fare is to be maintained...
...the city could not borrow for subway or any other work...
...The In- I terborough up to June 30, 1926 1 expended $10,365,349 on construe- ] tion and provided the equipment' at an additional cost of $36,727,- ] 258...
...What One Factory Did Here Is a facsimile reproduction of a collection list sent Into the Socialist headquarters, accompanied by the amounts listed...
...This profit will steadily increase until by 1941 it will amount to $6,600,000...
...Must their investments be guarantees forever from the earnings of city-owned subways...
...If the city authorities, on the other hand, had even threatened recapture, it is quite conceivable that these private investors might have seen reason...
...At this rate the B. M. T. paid out in dividends in 1928 ever $5,500,000...
...Under Contracts Nos...
...New York City ered capitalization of over $62,000,000...
...represented with! drawals the Interborough had j made from revenue which, under contract 3, was the property of I both the city and the company...
...bonds, and the cash rental of $50,000...
...T. vnA B, M, J£ Have Been Trimming* City MercileBily'i Under Tammany r*r Rule t ed a plan whereby property the lines, which would be at kftat doubled in value, would pay 36% of the original cost...
...The Interborough will keep on paying these sums unless the present contracts are terminated...
...Contracts 3 and 4 are better known as the Dual Contracts...
...The property owners wouM have ten years to pay the spatial assessments necessary to refund, the bonds...
...stock, $1,808,240 on the Manhattan Co...
...City's $300,000,000 'Frozen" Credit Under the four contracts the City has invested approximately $344,000,000 in the construction of New York's subways...
...At the present time it is costing the city more than $30,000 per day for every day that recapture is delayed, because the city has to meet the charges on its investment under the Dual Contracts out of taxation...
...These enormous increases in the value of property thus located bring incalculable fortunes to their owners...
...There is a good deal of popular misconception as to what payment the $5,886,342.30 check received by the city represents...
...Obviously merely to increase the fare is not to diminish the congestion...
...Nevertheless, the Walker administration has failed to learn from experience...
...These, however, involve, an increase in taxation upon real es- j tate and other business interests...
...The real issue is tka abolition of the abominable service which the riding public ha* been compelled to endure then many years in New York City...
...The Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation is a holding company which controls almost every operating transit company in Brooklyn...
...These principles themselves must be applied if subways are to bo built in accordance with the needs of the city...
...Must governments guarantee the profits of business enterprises which in the normal course of events lose their earning capacities because of technological progress...
...In 1919-20 it was rBaled that new transit lines on the Ikt Side and in Central Brooklyn nrt essential Allowing five years k bonding and equipping, which lasttmreasonable...
...The state legislature of 1926 and 1927 reversed the policy of their predecessors so that in 1927 the people were permitted to endorse a constitutional amendment which gave to the city of New York an additional credit of $300,sit...
...It is a matter of common knowledge that both the stocks and bonds of the Manhattan Railway Company are heavily watered...
...Particularly is this true when the authorities are succeeding admirably in limiting the future borrowing capacity at tka city by their policy on proavat construction...
...He has bocome in the eyes of the populace the hero of the 5c fare...
...This rate of profit is highly exorbitant...
...Almost all of this profit Is necessary bo meet the annual payments of $3,086,756 upon the Manhattan Co...
...Comparison between Mr...
...Very little money was left for j subway construction...
...The rapidly de•kping sections of Bensonhurst, trough Park, and Bay Ridge are t present served by the B. M. T. » Beach, West End...
...Furthermore, the tying-up of the city's credit, in what is at best an inadequate program of transit relief, has prevented the satisfying of the city's needs for housing, hospitals, schools, and other municipal requirements which are financed by the issue of long term bonds...
...Reports of the Interborough show that the number of passengers which the elevated lines carry each year steadily decreases, while the number carried by the subway steadily increases...
...Those who benefit most are real estate speculators, who having inside information of the new routes quietly buy up the land for a song and then sell it at a much higher figure when the new subway lines are built...
...If one assumes that the shares of stock issued represent actual cash value invested in equipping the subway, it would make an average annual profit of close to 12 per cent...
...The Mayor and the Board of Estimate obstinately j blocked everything that came out i of the Transit Commission...
...The Subway Contracts The existing subway lines were built by the city as an inducement to private companies to undertake their operation...
...But Socialists point out that the riding public will suffer many yean of agony before relief may coma In this way...
...3 guarantees to I. R. T. stockholders...
...Let us sum up the sorry record of Subway construction during the last decade...
...Tammany incompetence And Acceptance of Corporate Greed Responsible for Abominable Transit Conditions The Socialist Program For Rapid Construction of Rapid Transit I The establishment of a unified system of transportation to * be managed and operated without profit by a public transit corporation entirely controlled by the people and the transit employees an the lines, in the shops and in the offices...
...There is no reason in the world why the 5c faro cannot be maintained as we hav* explained...
...What Is Needed Other proposals of Mr...
...That is the way the Norman Thomas campaign road is being raised...
...Today the two billionth mark has probably been passed...
...prtt, New Tork must not only ^ up with present require•ests bet must keep up with the...
...these two subon should have been in ope rata by 1925...
...The payments for these have been from the very beginning have been most extravagant...
...Also, no private corporation will consent to operate this new system on a 5c fare, unless the city guarantees to meet the payments out of taxes on much the greater portion of the city's investment...
...The Manhattan Railway Company originally operated the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 9th Avenue elevated lines...
...p« rfce wry beginning there has j gs congestion- The building of ! f, feokuo has never kept pacej if 0*nt needs...
...4 between the city and the New York Rapid Transit Company, the B. M. T. subsidiary, is similar to Contract No...
...Rather it indicts them, because this subway should have been built years earlier...
...So long as these bonds- are not self-sustaining the city's credit is "frozen" to the extent of $288,000.000...
...Direct representation shall also be given to the employees on the directorate...
...Primarily sueh management is interested in lining its own pockets...
...They would, however, have been paid, had it not been for the disastrous contract which the Interborough has with the stockholders and bondholders of the Manhattan Railway Company...
...A guaranteed profit of $3,500,000 annually on this sum would mean a guaranteed rate of profit of lZr-c...
...The city expended' $66,645,566 in the construction of j these subways...
...Furthermore, they urge that increased-, funds would make possible better service...
...The directorate of this" pubIk: transit corporation shall be chosen by the representatives of each political party In the Board of Aldermen in proportion to the total vote of each party In the Mayoralty election, choice to be made by the) executive committee of the party In any case where a patty is unrepresented on the Board of Aldermen...
...j fdker nor Mr...
...Send contrtbutfcUM to the Sodaliss Campaign Committee, 7 East lftth street...
...Obviously accommodations have become more intolerable than ever...
...a* Far Behind On Smbtcar Program...
...1 The Interborough had no right to ! appropriate these funds...
...There is no...
...Preferential payments were guaranteed to the companies...
...employees: $143,664.59 paid to Pres...
...Why the Delay...
...Untermyer's estimates show that by 1931 the earnings will be sufficient to meet the fixed charges on at least $2«2,000,000 of the city's bonds, which thus far have not been self-sustaining...
...The Interborough agreed to operate Jthese lines and guaranteed to pay 7 per cent on the stock and 5 per cent on the bonds...
...Moreover, these prior payments turned out to be so exorbitant that the city has never received any income...
...In a communication to the Board of Estimate, he suggested that the cost of the new municipal subway system in excess of $243,000,000 be paid from some other source than loan tana bonds...
...Apparently not content with this record of incompetence, the present administration is delaying the opening of the Brooklyn crosstown and Queens boulevard lines even more...
...these profits can be used to improve the position of the transit workers...
...They are not recapturable by the city until the expiration of the lease...
...The result we j 0H: crowding beyond human...
...270 000 spent on establishing j and keeping up a fEke company union, known as the I. R. T. borough Brotherhood, which is despised and laughed at by the I.R.T...
...In view of the fact that working conditions for employees on present day rapid transit lines are bad...
...Excellent service can be provided on a nickel fare if the senetbts conditions laid dojj'to the Socialist Party MuntCpaT Platform at 182» are observ...
...Tot, that will be the fate of these latest plans unless there is a raeMeal change in financial policy...
...One does not have to labor the point that management of this type is not interested in seeing that the city receive a return on its investment...
...Financial Chicanery To make matters worse both the I. R. T. and the B. M. T. have practiced financial chicanery at the j expense of its business partner, the 1 city...
...had misappropriated...
...The uses ; to which they were put were never i approved by the city, one of the ! partners in the contract...
...4 with the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, now the B. M. T., under which the latter operated the lines...
...It was his opinion, based on the exhaustive investigations of the Transit Commission's experts, that within a few years these recaptured subway...
...The Manhattan Lease Incubus Since 1919 the Interborough has not paid any dividends...
...First of all...
...Considering Ore greedy manner in which the B.M.T...
...Under the Walker settlement, the city contributed towards paying the items indicated to the extent of $5,000,000...
...The a^q*** crowding gets worse and worse...
...Frank Hedley and Supt...
...It would have been quite a remarkable thing if it had considering the enormous dividends which Contract No...
...Since 1919 the situation has become much worse...
...Other new lines were built under Contract No...
...If recapture were to be effected, the charges on the city's bonds would be met out of earnings of the subways...
...Two years have passed since Mr...
...1 and 2. Therefore, the obligations of $283,000,000 of the bonds issued to finance the construction of subways have had to be met out of taxes...
...There Is no reason why they should not be compelled to pay at least a major cost of building the new subways in view of their enormous unearned profits...
...Under the State Constitution, if these payments are met out of the revenues of the enterprise which the bonds financed, then such selfsustaining bonds are excluded from the constitutional limitations upon the capacity of a city to borrow...
...In short, the profits derived from these municipal subways have gone to pay the dividends on the heavily watered stocks of modes of transportation which are being superseded by the subway...
...Even before this billion passenger increase faculties were notoriously inadequate...
...Brighton kch and Fourth Avenue lines U could be served by the I. R¦ Nostrand Avenue line if the ttn were extended to Coney Is¦4 The four B. M. T. lines ewramg these districts termln• at Coney Island and have bek* noted for their intolerable •'tiling conditions...
...Property has risen in value as high as 500<rr through such improvements...
...ratrttt of the city...
...His recommendaions thus far have fallen on barren sou...
...Delaney are those of the Socialists...
...Walker's Nate Subtcays On Paper Only This takes on unusual significance, when it is realised that needed subway construction has just begun...
...Researches by the Transit Commission indicate that the roads are carrying during the rush hour the maximum load consistent with safety...
...Additional subways were constructed by the city and leased to the Interborough under Contract No...
...It is a pre-election stunt for which the city has been forced to pay $8.237.530.29...
...Benefited Property Must Be Taxed The Walker Administration like every other that has governed New York City has failed to take proper steps to finance new subways...
...Also, in 1928 the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation paid $4.00 per share on common stock and $6.00 per share on preferred stock...
...The I. R. T., for example, has '¦ been conducting for many years a fight for a higher fare...
...In 1925 Mr...
...La Guardia is pre-' pred to take the steps necessary „ injurs good service for a nickel...
...O Recapture of the city-built subways and the releasing of * over $800,000,000 now invested in the old.subways tor the immediate construction of new subways and other public Improvements...
...All of this "water" is to be found in the street car and elevated lines which the B. M. T. operates...
...However, as has been shown, the transit needs of the city demand much more rapid progress...
...Interest, and payment towards the principal on these bonds must be met regularly...
...The first major trunk line, the Eighth avenue subway, to be opened to the riding public in 1831 has been delayed at least five years...
...In other...
...That is the pledge Norman Thomas and the Socialist Party make, to the people of the city...
...Ten years ago rapid transit faculties were already overtaxed...
...The real issue is leeent, comfortable, healthful...
...These are typical items which went to make up the total of over fourteen million dollars, which the I.R.T...
...Recapture As A Club It is well to remember that when the Transit Commission was formed it was empowered to reorganize the whole transit system in New York City...
...The citi— of New York have never ,0,0 satisfactory transit service...
...Meanwhile, the City receives no return on its investment...
...This P"» divert traffic from the near¦ Parallel Brighton Beach line a B. M. T. and accommodate P additional trains which would C?*0 be put in operation...
...Walker and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment are much more interested in guaranteeing the profits of private ! capital than in providing good transit service for the people of New York City...
...jflaraJr of nmtti Bluffing Those who are applauding the bard of Transportation for its ark k building the Eighth Ave¦e, tat Brooklyn Crosstown, the igtoa Street, Brooklyn, and arena Boulevard lines apparently i not know or do not want to tew that the first two should an bean in operation at least a trade ago, and the other two are Bowing the same course of detj In 1920, Mr...
...This was paid on a stock capitalization of $35,000,000...
...Does not such faith bespeak something of great appeal in the Socialist message...
...The Gouging By Tke B. M. T. Contract No...
...After 1934 not onlv will all the bonds be self-sustaining but there will be a profit as well...
...Such lines shall to* built as rapidly as possible for the relief of the people...
...Here we have another cheap political trick which Tammany Hal has become so adept at through long years of practice...
...Beyond this margin...
...Improved service can only come through construction of new subways...
...Bay Ridge P Coney Island areas it is nec¦tay to accelerate the passage of fba from DeKalb Avenue to P» York...
...Meanwhile, the Walker administration has not begun work on the construction of subways which were being demanded back in 1925...
...By efficient management and the elimination of private profits and the present unnecessary rentals, the five-cent "fare can aad shall be maintained...
...directcr...
...The lease under which the ! properties of the original subways , are being operated by the Inter- | boroueh expires December 31...
...Thus Walker had no excuse 000,000 to be used solely for tranon that score for not preceding with subway construction...
...The 5c m \t not the issue...
...Borough Park...
...Tjy situation demanded immediate subway construction...
...fat is the transit problem in i Tork City today...
...Hylan Dodges Duty In view of these facts, Hylan knew that, if he were to launch a comprehensive program of subway construction, the work would have to proceed very slowly...
...Walker's Netc lines Only On Paper 10EQUATE transit facilities /Vire vital to the happiness and jfcjQg of our city...
...The $14,107,373.42 which the Inj terborough high-handedly approj priated from the joint income funds included such items as S740,912 for legal and "incidental" ex! penses in the company's fight for . a higher fare: S967.S76.37 spent in ; fighting and breaking the 1926 strike: $220,000 charged for "welfare" expenses, cf which $115 000 was paid to H. H. Vreelind...
...Of these 31, 12 failed of adoption, 11 were rejected, 2 were withdrawn and 6 were approved...
...These 6 also failed because they were part of larger schemes which were not approved...
...This money, of course, was raised by issuing long term bonds...
...Such abrogation would mean the end of the disastrous Manhattan elevated arrangement and the enormous preferential which are guaranteed to both the I. R. T. and the B. M. T. stockholders...
...WTiy this delay in building new subways...
...The Transit Commission has made efforts to bring such a readjustment about but its attempts have been thwarted by the exorbitant demands of the owners of the private companies...
...The Manhattan elevated roads, although they still play an important part in our transit system, are speedily growing obsolete...
...Neither Mr...
...The B. M. T. in such matters is not a novice either...
...TurP * decade ago...
...Under Contract No...
...They should be knitted together with the existing lines, transfers bains...
...The B. M. T. will probably be that company, since the new subways have been so constructed that thev can be directly linked with tha B. M. T. system...
...Nobody knows when the Brookin line will be completed...
...operated municipally as part of a unified system in conjunction with the new subways would earn sufficient money to meet the interest and amortization not only on the bonds issued to buy out the companies' investments but also on the city's bonds, the interest and amortization of which thus far has been met by taxation...
...R is clear that the Brooklyn hestown will not be completed * seTeral years after the Eighth towue subway will have been tt lain ontratinn las tame can be said of the teens' Boulevard transit line...
...The Transit Commission estimates the actual cash investment in physical property at $146,053,000, making a watPlain People's Mites Make Up Socialist Campaign Fund...
...Guaranteed Profiteering Under Contracts No...
...Yet a decade later not one major trunk line has been opened...
...Once again, the question is in order: Is government to guarantee the profits of business concerns which are out of step with technological progress, particularly whet they have made money in th« past...
...Yet, this is precisely what is happening today, in New York City...
...Elevated lines are going the way of horse cars...
...Tie conclusions to be drawn are htous...
...Unsolicited, some worker in the factory drew up a donation list and each worker put himself down for his bit...
...Probably the real reason why the Hylan administration did not undertake construction of sub- ; ways is that the unencumbered j debt margin of the city was much ' too small...
...Of course, a higher fare would mean an increase in the profits of the companies and possibly a return to the city on its Investment, thus releasing close to $300,000,000 of its "frozen" credit, which would be used in financing new Unas...
...Why did not Mayor Hylan construct the subwayaj which Turner recommended it 1919-20 and which the Board of Transportation is building at present...
...Eventually these lines will be torn down to be replaced by subway lines...
...3. The profits which were guaranteed to the New York Rapid Transit Company in this fashion are enormous...
...What value baa a subway system which exists on paper for a decade or two...
...3 in 1913...
...This old payty politicians will not do...
...They confl* at the DeKalb Avenue stap preparatory to crossing to p Tork by way of the Montague F*t Tunnel and Manhattan PJf*- In order to permit more P*s to be operated on the four fJt T. lines serving the BensonP...
...1 1967...
...3 and 4 this policy was reversed...
...Conacts have not even been let for I good portion of this subway...
...Why not emulate this example in your office, factory, shop or store...
...The report said nothing about the method to be employed in financing by long term bonds, since they have given no Indication that they propose to take any of the desirable steps indicated in this bulletin...
...However, the Transit Commission has estimated that at least $15,000,000 is 'water.' Hence, it follows that the average rate of profit must be calculated on a $30,000,000 investment, which means that the Interborough has paid to its stockholders an average annual return of about 19 per cent...
...3 the city invested $110,506,000 and under Contract No...
...Particularly ¦fortunate is the failure to acsjt his recommendations (1) to Bend the Interborough Nostrand Baue line, now dead-ended at latbush Avenue, to Coney Iskd, and (2) to build two tunato usder the East River for the hnage of I. R. T. and B. M. T•ins respectively...
...What do we find inkad...
...Chairman Delaney knows, that the accepted policy will not suffice, if the latest subway system is to be built with reasonable degree of speed...
...Some way must be found to make these bonds self-sustaining and thus release the "frosen" credit of close to $300 000.000...
...Therefore, the city must raise the fare to 8c if it proposal to operate the subways itself...
...The logical route would bo an East Side line, since the city will soon have a new West Side subway on Eighth avenue and it would be desirable to connect the two in a unified municipally operated system, so that passengers might be transferred from one side to the other...
...Much better, he reasoned, to place his failure to provide new transit facilities at the door of the Transit Commission Evade the issue by shouting Home Rule...
...What is imperative is the curtailing Of the profits of real estate speculators, many of whom are connected with Tammany Hall...
...Yet, Walker has not taken one step towards giving notice of recanture despite all the advantages to be gained Apparently Mr...
...The Eighth Avenue line will n be opened until the Spring of Rl...
...It is vitally connected with all the social services for which the modern city ought to be responsible...
...Even Mr...
...It is common knowledge that property owners along the route where new subways are being built are enormously benefitted...
...given at appropriate points...
...It fell by January j 1, 1924 to $67,116,000 and by De- j cember 31, 1924 to $24,500,000...
...Several weeks ago, the Board of Transportation released a report in which it outlined another new program of subwray construction to cost $500,000,000...
...Delaney, then tauatt Construction Coramiaeionl bow Chief Engineer, received a ¦sort from his Chief Engineer, k. Daniel U Turner, recommendif the immediate building of cersta lines...
...This it can do by taking advantage of the provisions of these Contracts, which make it possible for the city to terminate the leases by recapturing certain of the lines...
...Why is the work of the Brooklyn and Queens divisions of the new system progressing so slowly...
...If it were not for this contract, the city would have received money on its investment prior to 1919...
...Untermyer, who is very far from being a Socialist is able to see the advantages to be gained by municipal operation of existing subway lines, a plan first proposed by the Socialist Party...
...Further, to free the transportation system from bureaucracy and partisan politics, we advocate the rigid application of the merit system for all grades of transit employees...
...However, an increase of fare for this purpose is indefensible, because there is a way to gain this end without an Increase in fare...
...Such a unified system would make possible a trip from one part of the city to any other part on only a 5c fare...
...On January 1, 1922 this margin was $153,643,000...
...This could bo done by the issuance of assessment bonds...
...It is Pkuy clear that the most eleP**y form of transit relief for P. nut-growing sections of P*«m referred to is the buiWB°f two new tunnels and the IP** of the Nostrand avenue ff* This two Tammany adininP**a have failed to do...
...Prior to 1919 the Interborough was earning sufficiently to meet all the charges mentioned above with the exception of the city's investment and the charges for the Manhattan elevated stocks and bonds...
...and the BJf.T...
...More trains cannot be run on existing lines at the present time...
...Approximately, $13,000,000 of the city budget annually has gone for this purpose...
...It looks as though history will repeat itself...
...It differs in no whit from the pose which "Jimmy" Walker has adopted ia regard to the 5c fare...
...The new subway program will cost In the neighborhood of $700,000,000...
...In other words, the city paid over one-third of the expense of maintaining the company union, of the huge legal force and expenses of the I. R. T. in fighting the city, and shared the expenses of the company's anti-labor policies and its fake company union...
...required to provide not only | t present needs but also for j of the future...
...Untermyer's proposals...
...Turner krt never realized...
...As we have seen under the terms of Contracts 3 and 4. the city is not to receive any return on its investment from the revenues until certain prior payments have been made...
...1 and 2 drawn up in 1900 and 1902 respectively between the city anrf the Interborough provided for the first subways...
...The men who make these enormous profits perform no service whatsoever...
...The elevated roads do not earn a penny of the sums which the Interborough has guaranteed them...
Vol. 9 • October 1929 • No. 12
