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Show 273 MILES OF TRACK TAKEN OVER BY TOWN Complete Municipal Ownership Owner-ship of Traction Lines Completed By Payment P. Y ROY GIBnoVS DETROIT. May 16 Crepe has been hung on the door of private I traction monopoly in Detroit. ! After a 10-yeajDB flgh' Mayor James Couzens' dream has come true and Detroit Is operating all lt street I car lines w ithout interference by private pri-vate intorcsts. The city became owner of 273 miles of track. IOL'9 cars, two power stations and $ S oOO.OOO worth of traction trac-tion real estate May' 15 when it made tho first pnmnTbn the $l9.S5n.n0 agreed upon as the purchase price i of the lines. Public support of tho millionaire mayor's revolutionary traction plans and a favorable court decision giving cities the right to removo public utilities util-ities at the termination of franchises. : , brought about the change. Backed Into a corner, the Detroit 1 United Railways harassed also bv I I tle growth of competitive municipal lines of 5D miles of t rack agreed to sell for 131,000,000. Mayor Couzens, said $1 9.S50.0H0 or nothing and won 1MPI.OYI.R OP 4.000 i lie uawn oi i uiujneie n i u ri in ).' I I ownership of street car lines finds Detroit owner of 332 miles of track and 1 527 cars as well as employer of 4.000 men "It means civic harmony and a better bet-ter community." says Couzenp "Ev-I "Ev-I ery conductor and every m-"torman ; will be a direct ambassador from city I hall to the public. "Four hundred million peoplo rldo i Detroit cars every y ear That means ' Just so many contacts with the peo-1 peo-1 pie by direct representatives of the administration'. So ,f will behoove the adminlslra tlon to make Its munle-ftially-owned system a perfect one. ( r the people will change the administration admin-istration " Couzens thinks every can can swing j the club of municipal ownership over Its traction lines. And he doesn t Intend to stop there. He is planning ! purchase of the ga supply next I year. HITS THEIR UNION A canvass of traction employes shows that they are not against municipal mu-nicipal ownership. though H hits their union by removing tho strike) right. Highest prevailing watres will be paid, promises Joseph S. Goodwin. ! formerly of Bridgeport, Conn . gener I al manager of the system, tesponsl-i ble only to the mayor. The city charter prohibits unions among public service employes So,' it has been announced that while the men may have whatever union or-j ganizatlon they wish, the city Willi l?n no working agreements nor tol-erate tol-erate strike clauses. "If there is a strike." says Ross Schramm, assistant Keneral manager.! we shall man the cars with firemen' and police " Cousena promise s five-cent fare, With a penny for a transfer with a reduction In fare if earnings warrant BO I issi E IPPKOl l l) A I4.0U0.000 bond issue, approved by 81 per cent of Detroit voters at an ( i iittnued on Page Two.) 3 T- 273 MILES OF TRACK TAKEN OVER BY TOWN (Contluod from Pajre One) election last month will take care of tho Initial payment of $2. 770. 000 The balance will be met In semi-annual payments of $r00.000 each "It's a pay-as-we-Ko proposition," says tho mayor, "with service at cost. ' Couzons, a dynamic business strategist, strat-egist, who made his fortune with Honry Ford, promises that traction j municipal ownership will not be Ifcd-I Ifcd-I died on taxpayers. Fixed charRos and operating cn-,ts wfll bo mot from earnings with sev-j sev-j oral '"safety valve" funds set aslda to pay bonded Indebtedness and other emergency items. Profits ufttr debts are paid. w:M go tn bettering the system. |