Entered according to act of Congress in the year one thousand nine hundred

and twenty,

BY FRANCIS M. HUGO, SECRETARY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK,

In trust for the People of the said State in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C.

N. P'.

JULY 1932
327048

INDEX

State Officials, xlvii.

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGES

Accompanying the report of the Reconstruction Commission on the
housing situation, 429.

Proclamation by the Governor relative to the Near East Relief, 161.
Relating to the amendment of section 36 of the Election Law, 208.

Relating to the reorganization of the State government and trans-
mitting the report of the Reconstruction Commission on the
reorganization of the State government, 203.

Transmitting communication received from the Industrial Commis-
sion relating to the necessity of an emergency deficiency appro-
priation, 210.

Transmitting communications from the Public Service Commissions,
154.

Transmitting report from the Commissioner of Health and the
Chairman of the Commission for Mental Defectives relating to
necessary appropriations for State Hospitals, 179.

Transmitting report from the Commissioner of Health relating to
the necessity of providing nurses for influenza cases, 201.

Transmitting the report of Martin H. Glynn and John H. Finley,
appointed as an unofficial commission to inquire generally into
the high cost of living, and the report of the Fair Price Milk
Committee of the City of New York, 68.

Transmitting the report of the New York, New Jersey and Harbor
Development Commission, 436.

Transmitting the reports of a Commission relating to securities
offered to the public for investment, 440.

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

FIRST DISTRICT

Brooklyn Union Gas Company, In the matter of the hearing upon
the complaint of Antonio Bianco et al. against, as to extension of
mains on Varkens Hook road and other streets in the borough of
Brooklyn, 612.

Gas companies· · extension of mains - what is not a valid
excuse for delay. Varkens Hook road in the borough of

[Vol. 22] Public Service Commission, First District

Brooklyn is an old Dutch road used for more than two hundred
years and although it appears on a map made by commis-
sioners appointed under chapter 670 of the Laws of 1869 as
a street ultimately to be discontinued, this is no excuse for not
giving the people residing on this street gas service, as the street
has continued in actual use for more than forty-five years
since the filing of the map and there is no reason to expect
that it will not remain in actual use for many years to come.
Where there are certain rights and easements in some of the
streets which may have to be procured before the laying of
mains, the company is entitled to a short extension of time to
procure these necessary easements but construction must be
commenced by June 15. 1920, and completed by August 1, 1920.

South Brooklyn Railway Company, In the matter of the filing
by the, of an amendment to the tariff schedule increasing the local
freight tariff applying on chartered trolley freight cars for
handling newspapers, 530.

-

Street railways local freight service -no standards as to
how reasonable rates for special classes of service are to be
determined - Public Service Commissions Law, § 49, subd. 1
-application denied. In determining whether the proposed
increase .in rates is just and reasonable, the Commission must
take into consideration the provisions of section 49, subdivision
1, of the Public Service Commissions Law and observe the
usually accepted standard of reasonableness and to regard the
statutory rules indicating the factors which ought to be given
consideration. There are, however, no standards which throw
any very clear light on the question as to how reasonable rates
for special classes of service are to be determined. Indeed, it
might even be argued that there can be no inquiry into the
reasonableness of these special freight rates as long as the
general freight service of the company is, as it alleges, operated
at a loss. This indicates that the reasonableness of the rate
for a particular class of service is a proper and necessary
subject for inquiry, even though the company is making no
profit on the service as a whole. After weighing all the facts
and considerations bearing upon the question, the Commission
has reached the conclusion that while the company has shown
that it is entitled to a very large increase, it has not sustained
the burden of proof in showing that the full amount of the
proposed increase is reasonable. Application denied without
prejudice to filing other schedules.

Westchester Electric Railroad Company, In the matter of the hear-
ing on the motion of the Commission as to proposed amendments
to the local and joint passenger tariff of, identified as local and
joint passenger tariff No. 1, such proposed amendments having
been filed with the Commission on or about July 24, 1919, 523.
Street railways increase of fare allowed. The evidence
shows that up to June 30, 1918, the company has incurred
losses each year ranging from $32,000 to $178,000 after deduct-

-

Public Service Commission, Second District [Vol. 22]

ing interest and rents. In August, 1919, wages were increased
twenty five per cent. The company now proposes to divide its
territory into five-cent fare zones, charging a five-cent fare
within each zone and ten cents from any place within one zone
to any place within an adjoining zone, transfers to be accepted
to any point on the receiving line within the boundaries of the
zone within which the case fare is paid. The financial con-
dition of the company and the value of its properties examined
and held that the proposed increase in fare is justified and
should be permitted.

Woodhaven Gas Light Company, In the matter of the hearing on
the motion of the Commission on the question of the extension
of the gas mains of the, to such extent as may be necessary to
serve residents of Springfield, Laurelton and certain other
localities in the borough of Queens, city of New York, 617.

Gas companies — obligation to serve communities. When
there is a shortage of homes people should be encouraged to
build up the outlying territory, and as an incentive to build,
utility corporations should as far as possible do their part
to supply necessities controlled wholly by them. The cost of
the extension of gas mains is not the only matter for con-
sideration. The company being the only one with a franchise
to serve gas in the territory in question is under obligation to
supply gas to communities where the necessity is apparent, and
an order will be entered directing the company to supply gas
to the communities in question not later than November 1, 1920.

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

SECOND DISTRICT

Andover, Village of, Allegany county, In the matter of the com-
plaint of purchasers of natural gas in, against Empire Gas and
Fuel Company, Limited, as to price of natural gas in Andover, 10.

Natural gas companies are justified in making a uniform price
throughout the territory they serve regardless of the distance
between their consumers and the company's works. Where com-
plainants base their contention on the fact that the village
where they reside is in the heart of the gas belt and they should
therefore not pay as much for gas as other communities twenty
miles or more from the gas fields, that it does not cost the
company, for pipes and other apparatus, as much to reach
the said village as it does to connect with the cities and the
villages further away, and that this should make a valid reason
for a lower rate therein, held, that while the contention of the
complainants has some basis of merit, nevertheless their con-
tention cannot be carried out; that if distance of carriage
makes lessened expenses in certain villages than in others, a
difference should be made between customers in the same city
between those who live near the point where the gas enters the
city and those using the gas in the most distant parts of the
municipality. Such a basis for rate making applying through-

[Vol. 22] Public Service Commission, Second District

out the territory served by the company would be impracticable.
Proceeding dismissed.

Auburn and Syracuse Electric Railroad Company, In the matter of
the petition of, under subdivision 1, section 49, Public Service
Commissions Law, for permission to increase passenger fares, 441.
Street railroads seven cent urban fare allowed for limited
period. In the year 1918, a city waived the fare restrictions
under franchises granted to the street railroad company and the
fare was increased after investigation by the Commission to
six cents on the urban lines. In January, 1920, the city further
waived the fare restrictions under certain conditions so as to
permit a fare not exceeding seven cents on the urban lines after
investigation by the Commission. The conditions affecting the
company and the method of apportioning expenses of urban and
interurban business including freight service reviewed and held,
as the operation within the city with a six cent fare shows
a considerable deficit without deducting interest on bonds, a
seven cent fare is permitted for urban service for a period
of three years unless voluntarily reduced or changed by order
of the Commission.

Bath, Steuben county, In the matter of the complaint, under sec-
tions 71 and 72, Public Service Commissions Law, of the trustees
of the incorporated village of, against The Bath Electric and
Gás Light Company as to increase in rate for gas. Also com-
plaint of the company, in its answer, asking that the increased rate
be sustained, 217.

Gas companies· - rate of two dollars per 1,000 cubic feet
with service charge of fifty cents per month and discount of
fifteen cents per 1,000 cubic feet for prompt payment allowed.
The company started in business in 1854 and was consolidated
with an electric company in 1900. In 1904, an electric munici-
pal plant was authorized and the company gradually lost all
of its electric business. Prior to August 1, 1918, the rate for
gas was one dollar and fifty cents per 1,000 cubic feet with a
monthly service charge of fifty cents and a discount for prompt
payment of fifteen cents per 1,000 cubic feet. Under the com-
pany's new schedule the price is two dollars and fifty cents per
1,000 cubic feet with a minimum charge of fifty cents per
month and a discount of ten cents per 1,000 cubic feet for
prompt payment. Conditions affecting the company and the
consumers reviewed and schedules of rates modified so as to
provide that the price of gas shall not exceed two dollars per
1,000 cubic feet with a service charge of fifty cents per month
and a discount of fifteen cents per 1,000 cubic feet for prompt
payment.

Burleson, A. S., Postmaster-General, New York Telephone Com-
pany, and the company operating the Hotel Astor, In the matter
of the complaint of John A. Connolly, against, as to rates charged
at public telephones in the Hotel Astor, New York city.