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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1914)
8 -A THE OMAIIa Sl'XDAY BEE: MAHCH 8, 1914 " " 1 " """ BBjjBHBHBBIBWBB TO THE VOTERS OF THE CITY OF OMAHA The officers of the Street Rail- -way Co. will take no part in the pending election on the question of seven fares for a quarter other than to; make a plain and truthful state- N ment to the voters through the press of certain facts, which should be carefully considered by all who:v vote on this proposition. . We average feost of transporting passengers on the lines of the Street 1 Railway Co. in Nebraska during the past, seven years has been 4.43 cents -for each passenger. This cost in- t eludes operating expenses, taxes, de preciation and interest on bonds, but ; nodividends whatever to the stock- ' holders of the company. If the pro? posed rate of seven fares for 25c had beei force during this" period'-eff v 1 seve$$ears the!?Street Railway vGp would have lacked .86 of a cent -on eery fare collected of having earned enough to pay its fixed charges; , Applying this to the opera-;- tions of the company for the past year ending December 31, 1913, this company wbuld have lacked $408, 962.12 of having earned enough to pay its fixed charges, to saysnpthing "of any dividends whatever to jts stockholders. . . ' 'I ' The policy of the Street Railway Co, for ten ydars past has been one of constant and intelligent expansion. During this period the Street Railway Co. has expended on its lines for ex tensions and betterments the total ; . of $4,474,951.16, or an average of abouf $450;000 per annum. These' large expenditures have been made in response to the urgent petitions of improvement clubs and citizens gen erally. The extensions of our lines have greatly increased the value of property and brought convenience tp the homes. , of thousands of our citizens; ' ' . 1 During this period of ten years . nearly every line in the city of Omaha has been rebuilt, small cars have been replaced with large mod ern doiible-truck cars, 270 cars have been either built in our shops or pur- -chased during this period and placed in service on our lines. v All these improvements have been .made because the earnings of pur . company were such as to give it credit and standing in the financial markets of the country, necessary to secure the large sums of money re quired. ' y During this period the. waes of x our men have been increased no less than four times, making a total . average increase of about 30 per cent. The taxes levied against the property of, the Street Railway do. have been increased from y ear to year until at present, including the occupation tax paid to the City of Omaha, the Street Railway Co. is v paying taxes at the-rate of $243,-, 378.78 per annum. A few years ago an occupation , tax of 3 on the gross earnings of company was levied by the City of Omaha. This tax last year amounted to $60,682.46. The Street Railway Co. has been able to bear all these large and in creasing burdens during this period and maintained its credit only be cause it has been permitted to earn sufficient money to pay promptly all its obligations. If the proposed re duced fares had been in force during this period I do" not hesitate to say. that the company could not have made any of these improvements nor could it have made any increase in the wages of its employees. By ne cessity it would today be operating old, dilapidated out-of-date cars, over rough tracks instead of the fine f irst class service it is giving to this com munity. ' .'; V I am satisfied that the intelligent voters of this city want better ser vice and extension of our lines rather than reduced fares. It will be abso lutely impossible for this company to continue its policy of extensions and betterment if forced to reduce its fares as proposed at this time. We have onv file no less than f if teen petitions signed by thousands of citizens asking for extensions of lines to be made during the present year. Nineteen improvement clubs in all parts of the city have passed resolutions opposing reduction of. fares and favoring extension of lines ! i and betterment of service. The city of Omaha is scattered over a vast area which requires more service 'from aUits public service corpora tions than v;the " hiOdy populated cities in the states east of us, some of which have adopted lower street carfares. There are some citizens who are foolish enough to. believe that exten- sions will continue to be made and the wages of our men continue to increase even with a reduction of fares as is proposed. I warn all who entertain such ideas that this will not be possi ble, that if the proposed reduction of fares is forced on this company its only alternative will be to curtail ex penditures on every hand, to stop all extensions and increase of service, and to furnish to the people of Omaha the kind of service that is being fur nished in many other cities where lower fares prevail. I do not believe such a condition will be conducive to the growth and development of our city, nor do I believe that the people of Omaha want such a condition. I . sincerely hope for the good of our city . that t will not pass at the coming" election. -' . . Q. W. Wattles, President. The Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway Company m