PAGE SIXTEEN

HE DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE

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OAIII/1

Both in population and

area the City of Detroit is
i vastly
greater than it was 25 years ago.

In that period of 25 years we have built or are
building in the City of Detroit every foot of railway

track the Detroit authorities would allow us to build. When re-
strained from building in the City we went outside and by outside
authority built many miles of railways. The limits of the City have
since been extended to include this outside mileage. More than
half of the present population of Detroit and possibly more than
half of the industries of Detroit are located upon or contiguous to
and are served by these lines built by outside authority. Through-
out that entire period of 25 years the rates of fare exacted by the
Railway Company in Detroit have been greatly less than the Com-
pany was authorized to receive, and at least twenty per cent below
the rates prevailing for like service in other American cities. It is
plain from this bare statement of fact that the company has not at
at any time exploited the Public by overcharges.

The stockholders of the Company have made of
their railways a savings bank. All of the money the
Company has received from securities sold, as well
as their surplus earnings from operation, less divi-
dends aggregating less than the banks would have
paid for the use of their money, have been used for
the development of the property, grown within that
25 years from barely 100 miles to nearly 1,000 miles.
Investigations by public authorities—Municipal, State
and National—have shown that the bare physical
values of the Company are largely in excess of all
outstanding obligations. These facts show that the
Company has not been at any time financially exploit-
ed. If then we have not exploited the riding public
and have not exploited the investing public, and have
builded in Detroit to the full extent we have been al-
lowed to build, who is there in Detroit or outside
of Detroit that can complain?
During the period of the World War, including the
year 1919, we were greatly handicapped in the de-
velopment of the Company's plant—not alone by the
exigencies of war, including the commandeering of
materials required for development—but otherwise,
as the Public can- well understand. In the years 1914
and 1915 we were instructed by the City authorities
to avoid construction in Detroit, pending a vote of the
people on municipal ownership toward the end of the
latter year. Similar conditions prevailed as to the
year 1919, when another vote on municipal owner-
ship was taken. Within the period of the war, as
mentioned above, we expended on Capital account
for equipment and extensions upwards of Twelve
Millions of.Dollars. Six and three-quarter Millions of

this amount was expended in as rapid work as we
could do immediately following the vote of the peo-
ple—the first vote of the people for municipal own-
ership—which vote we construed to mean that the
people desired us to go c.head and serve them. But
for interferences above mentioned and with any kind
of support by the City authorities, our expenditures
for development would have been more than twice as
great.

It is hardly fair that those inAuthority or having the
public ear, who have done everything in their power
td prevent us from extending the service, should now
make inadequate service the sole basis for attacking

US.

On April 7th, 1919, the people again voted down a
proposition to take over our lines in Detroit. We im-
mediately placed orders for materials in large quanti-
ties for car and track building, and proceeded when
these materials were obtained to the construction of
cars on a large scale in our Highland Park Shops.
New cars are now being turned out of these shops
day by day. And in addition orders are placed and
are being filled for cars outside of our own shops to
cost more than a million dollars.

These things we have done of our own volition, in
pursuance of a settled policy to do everything in our
power to serve the people, whatever the attitude of
the Public Authorities may be, just as in the past. We
have been able, handicapped by lack of support as
we have been, to contribute much toward the growth
and deve!opment of Detroit, and we would gladly do
infinitely more should we he allowed to do it.

NOTE—Watch for the Map to be Published in this Newspaper next week.

This Advertisement in Paid for by the Detroit United Railway,