390





RECORD   AND   GUIDE





September 23, 1922





lation o-f-price can be ordered^nd enforced. A reasonable
advance over last year's prices may be tolerated, but if the
shortage is to be the occasion of wild bidding for supplies
and profiteering on the part of holders the public may be
expected to and will put the coal business on a basis which
will prevent periodical recurrences of similar crises.

The greatest preventive of future disorders in the mine
fields would be the insistence on the part of the public,
expressed through governmental authorities, that the cost
of the strike shall not be paid by the public in an increased

Maity Organizations Endorse

THE first public hearing on Mayor Hylan's program for
extensions of the subway system was held by the Board
of Estimate and Apportionment on Friday, Sept. 15.  The
room was  crowded when the  Maj'or opened the proceedings
and asked for  criticisms  of his plan  and  suggestions  for im¬
proving  on  it.

Mayer C. Goldman, counsel for the Washington Heights
Taxpayers' .'\ssociation, suggested that the plan provide six
tracks instead of four on the proposed .\msterdam .'\yenue
subway between Seventy-second and 162d Streets, and four
tracks instead of three from  162d Street to the city line.

Reginald Pelham Bolton, of the Washington Heights Tax¬
payers' .Association, suggested that the plan offered favorable
opportunity for ultimate tunnel connection with Xew Jersey.

Isaac Menlein, of the Washington Heights Chamber of Com¬
merce, favored the six-track subway suggestion and the plan
in general. Charles H. Fuller, of the Harlem Board of Com¬
merce, asked for priority in construction of the proposed Tri-
borough bridge.

Dr. Michael C. O'Brien, chairman of the Transportation
Committee of the Harlem Board of Commerce, and J. Conrad
Schneider, of the Washington Heights Chamber of Commerce,
Benjamin Franklin, of the Harlem Board of Trade, and William
J. Donovan, of the Hamilton Grange Community Council, spoke
in favor of the plan.

Thomas F. P>urke of the Minqua Club, the Democratic or¬
ganization of the Twenty-third Assembly District, said that
wealthy residents whom he characterized as the "big four,"
including a "Mr. Delafield," had blocked the transit develop¬
ment of the Riverdale section.

"Is that the man who was appointed to the Governor's Char¬
ter Revision Commission?" asked the Mayor.

Mr. Hulbert said that it was, and the Mayor said he wi.-hed
this noted on the record.

Former Congressman James \'. Ganly and Charles \'. Ha!ley,
Jr., former Deputy Public Service Cominissioner, objected to
the continuation of the high rates charged by the Xew York
Central and Xew Haven Railroads from Bronx stations to
Grand Central, which were put into eflfect during the war.
Mr. Halley said there was no reason why the Transit Com¬
mission should not hold a hearing and put the fares down.

.Andrew Cokelej', from the Bronx, invited the Mayor to visit
the East Bronx with a view to establishing bus lines.

"What I wish the people of the city would do is this: Re¬
gardless of party affiliations, I wish they would write to their
candidates for Senator and .\ssemblyman and ask them how
they stand on legislation favoring the right of the people to
own and operate buses." said  Mayor Hylan.

Edward Polak, Register of Bronx County, advocated the
Mayor's plan as a business proposition which would put into
the city treasury the profits that would otherwise go to pri¬
vate interests. "The old subway has paid for itself thousands
of times over," he said. "Why will the people of the city insist
that we turn over the greatest social wealth of the country to
private interests when they ought to take it and put it in the
treasury to pay the expense of Government and not tax capital
and labor."

"1   don't   think  the   people   insist   on   it   being  turned   over.'





price at the mine of $1.00 per ton, as is now proposed. The
miners, in striking, suffered losses in wages which they can
only make up by increased hours of labor. The operators
should make up their losses by increasing their output, not
by increasing the price on a reduced output. The public
must stand its loss in susjjension of business, in impairment
of efficienc}' and health through poorly-heated lodgings and
business quarters, and in other ways. Even if the miners
and operators eventually make up their losses the public
never can.





Maj'or Hylan's Subway Plans

cain     thp     Af3\-(",r      '*Tf    IC     ll,n    cliclAl^nA





said the Mayor. "It is the subsidized press that is on the
payroll of the interests and speaking as the mouthpiece of
those interests that are exploiting the people. When the people
thoroughly get onto the newspapers that mouth the ideas of
these interests then we will begin to get a government, as Abra¬
ham Lincoln said, I think it is, of, by and for the people."

Mrs. Harry C. .Arthur, chairman of the Bronx Transit Com¬
mittee, said that organization was behind the Mayor's plan.

"I only wish McAneny was here to hear that," said the
Mayor.

"Do you think the people ought to take over these old sur¬
face junk lines and pay $350,000,000?" the  Mayor continued.
"Absolutely and inequivocally no," replied Mrs. Arthur.

The only objections to the Mayor's proposals were voiced
b}' Irwin Kurtz, of the Central Republican Club, Wth .Assembly
District. Mr. Kurtz asked the Board to "cut out the conversa¬
tion and give us subways."

Mr. Kurtz asserted that the Transit Commission was the
sole body authorized by law to initiate rapid transit routes
and that the Mayor and the other members of the Board of
Estimate in discussing a transit plan had no more legal au¬
thority than any other group of citizens at a mass meeting

President Hulbert read part of the resolutions adopted by
the Central Republican Club, declaring against the municipal
operation of transit facilities. Mr. Kurtz asked that he read
the rest of the resolutions, which called upon the Mayor and
the  Board  to  stop  playing  politics with  the  transit  situation.

"We want subways and I agree with everything that the
Washingon Heights and Harlem gentlemen have said." I\Ir.
Kurtz continued: "but you can not get subways with injunc¬
tions and you can not get them by holding political mass roeet-
ings.    Comply with the law and you will get subways."

The healing on lines south of 125th Street in Manhattan was
held last Wednesday and the Board of Estimate room was
again  filled  with those friendly  to the  Mayor's  plan.

The only suggestion ofifered by speakers was that the con¬
struction of the First Avenue line should be placed in Group'1,
advocates pointing out that the transit facilities of residents
along the line were  extremely bad.

Dr. Henry W. Berg of the Greater Xew York Taxpayers'
Association described the inadequacy of existing facilities on
the east side below Fourteenth Street, where, he said, 600,000
people were left without means of getting conveniently from
one point to another.

.Alexander I. Rorke, former Assistant District .Attorney,
representing the Amsterdam Democratic Club, suggested that
the southern extension "of the .Amsterdam .Avenue-Tenth .Ave¬
nue line should be put in Group 1 instead of Group 2. He
praised the Mayor's plan and attitude for a five-cent fare.

-Among the organizations represented by spokesmen at the
meeting were the Afurray Hill Taxpayers' .Association, Miami
Club, Horatio Seymour Club, Downtown League, Forty-second
Street Property Owners and Merchants' Association and the
Real Estate Owners' .Association of the Nineteenth Ward.

The next hearing will be on Tuesday afternoon, when the
Brooklyn phase of the plan will be discussed. Other hearings
will be held later, each section of the city being taken up in
turn.