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the public streets of Washington, because they have no license to do business on the public streets. They have only a garage license. I will also state, as Mr. Sterne has said, that the law is enforced in regard to loitering on the individual hacker, but not on the public vehicle driver. That law was put into effect by Senator Smith of Arizona last year. Senator Smith of Arizona had an amendment adopted making it an offense for any public cab or hack or automobile for hire to loiter about the streets in front of theaters or hotels. That is just the point that these drivers of public vehicles for hire are making. They pay a license to do business on the public streets of Washington, and if they pull up on the public street in front of a hotel and stop there for five minutes, if there is a policeman there, they are arrested and a charge is put against them for loitering. But you will find right on the public street in front of that hotel at any time during the day, not for five minutes, but one hour or six hours or all day, anywhere from 8 to 10 or 12 or 15 cars on the public streets of Washington who do not pay a tax or license. to do business on the public streets, but only pay a garage license. I would surmise that a garage license means that they do business from their garage.

Mr. ZIHLMAN. The committee will stand adjourned until 10 o'clock to-morrow. There is a roll call on the floor and the Members have to go over. We will hear the representatives of the commissioners to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock.

(Thereupon, at 11.15 o'clock a. m., the subcommittee adjourned until to-morrow, Wednesday, March 10, 1920, at 10 o'clock a. m.)

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE
ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Wednesday, March 10, 1920.

The subcommittee met at 10 o'clock a. m., Hon. Frederick N. Zihlman presiding.

Mr. ZIHLMAN. The committee will be in order. I will state that I have asked Congressman Treadway to come before the committee this morning, and we would like to hear from him first, inasmuch as he is in attendance on the Ways and Means Committee, which is holding hearings on the bonus bill. Congressman Treadway, I understand, has made some study of some of the conditions that were brought before the committee yesterday, and we would be very glad, indeed, to hear from him on that matter.

STATEMENT OF HON. ALLEN T. TREADWAY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS.

Mr. TREADWAY. Gentlemen, I appreciate the courtesy of your invitation. I do not feel that I have any particular information to present, but I have had a little experience in relation to the conditions at the Union Station.

I have not studied the bill that is before you at all-12267-but the chairman yesterday called my attention to section 18. Probably section 18 will in a way care for what appears to be a very serious

abuse of conditions at Union Station. I shall address myself solely to that condition rather than to anything having to do with the other features described as public accommodations, such as hotels, apartment houses, etc. My suggestion, however, would be that it would require some amended form to care for the general public rather than lack of discrimination between vehicle traffic. I mean by that in lines 14 and 15 you refer to no discrimination between. carriers. It would seem to me that, if adopted in that form, would care for other than the Terminal Taxicab people, but would not give the general public the same chance that the carriers would have. Do you catch my suggestion?

Mr. ZIHLMAN. Yes.

Mr. LANHAM. You mean private operators of cars?

Mr. TREADWAY. Any private owner, yes; that is my thought, that you are providing there for any line of ownership-that is, public vehicles for hire-but you are not providing for the general public. I would offer that suggestion when you come to revise and change the bill.

Now, I will be as brief as I can in giving my own personal experiences. Formerly, as you will remember, taxicabs for general hire used to go along the front of the station there at a snail's pace, and regulations were made preventing that. I think that was the proper thing to do. I don't think that sort of traffic should have been allowed, but I think the cure was worse than the disease.

Early last summer, I think it was, I had occasion one Sunday morning to drive up to the depot, and I stopped on what would be the east side and went into the depot to get a Sunday New York paper. When I came out an officer was looking my car over, and I asked him what the idea was. I think those were the words I used. I said: "What is the idea?" "Well," he said, "don't you see that sign No parking here' ?" I said: "Yes; by whose authority is that sign put there? I haven't left my car here five minutes." He took my number and looked it over pretty carefully and looked me over. I did not tell him who I was and made no claim of any exemption rights. He said: "Don't you see that sign?" I said: “Yes; I had occasion to go in the station and left my car here." He said: "You have no right to." I said: "Who says I haven't?" He said: "The superintendent." "Well," I said, "you tell the superintendent that any time I see fit to drive up to this depot I shall put my car right here if I want to." I expected then to receive a request to come down to the station house, but I did not, and I sort of made the remark in that way, in anticipation of a request to take a ride with him, but he walked off.

Well, that rather interested me, so I looked around there a little bit and saw that all the front there was blocked from the general public. The only open space is the street car line, and there are police signs there, or traffic-regulation signs there. Down at the other end, where formerly one could park a car-that is, I am talking about the front of the station now, on the right as you would come out, that space was entirely occupied by terminal taxicabs. You could not leave a car there and you could not drive up in front because chains are across. Then I looked toward the west end, I think, under the archway, and found that a new system had been

put in operation there. I am probably repeating what you already know, of course. There are two platforms there

Mr. LANHAM (interposing). Under the archway?

Mr. TREADWAY. Under the archway, yes; and as you enter the archway you are confronted with two signs, a sign on each side which reads as follows:

Vehicles for hire, excepting cabs of the Terminal Taxicab Co., are permitted upon these premises for the purposes of immediate discharge or loading on request of passengers. Solicitation of fares or loitering on these premises is prohibited.

Mr. LANHAM. Is that signed by anyone?

Mr. TREADWAY. No, sir; there is the sign. I just wrote that off because it is not real distinct. There is a picture of the exact situation, which I think is well worth examining [exhibiting photograph]. There are the two signs to which I refer [indicating]. Now, here is a passageway beside the station. This leads directly to the main lobby of the depot [indicating]. Here is a platform and here is another platform [indicating]. Each of these platforms-I am under the impression that this one-there is an arrow pointing here which says you can unload at that one-(if you are real polite to the Terminal Taxicab Co.)-but you are trespassing on private property all the while.

Now, my experience of this particular thing—and this photograph is a most excellent illustration of the exact thing that happened to me-it occurred about six weeks ago, along in January some time. It has nothing to do with this other visit I was speaking of. I had occasion to take two friends to the station one Sunday afternoon, and here were half a dozen cabs idle, the men standing there on the platform visiting with each other, as this group of men are doing here. Here is another cab over here [indicating]. The only real access to the station platform was occupied by idle taxicabs of the Terminal Taxicab Co. There were, I think, six; there might have been five. but at any rate that whole passageway was blocked with terminal taxicabs and men visiting, and no passengers arriving.

Mr. LANHAM. That is the only entrance?

Mr. TREADWAY. That is the only real entrance, because at either one of these alleyways you are obliged to climb over their taxicabs to get into the depot itself. I had my wife and another lady and her husband in the car, and we wanted to see these people off. We were obliged to unload-to wait to unload besides you wait there indefinitely. That is the situation as you can view it any time. It is there all the time. This [indicating] is not an unloading platform; it is a loading platform reserved exclusively for the Terminal Taxicab Co. There is no question about that; I don't think the Terminal Taxicab people would deny that. I don't see how they can, because it is self-evident all the time.

Now, another time when I was leaving a train, I went there to get a taxicab. My wife was with me. She had had a hard trip down from New York and was quite ill at the time, just recovering from a severe illness, and we waited there about 10 minutes. Some driver came in there-the agent or announcer or whatever he is, for the Terminal Taxicab people, and he said: "We will have a cab here in a few minutes." Pretty soon somebody drove in in a different cab,

and I at once hailed the fellow. That was before I knew anything about this situation. He unloaded some passengers, and I asked him to take us in, and he said: "I am not allowed to." I said: "I don't care anything about that." And then this driver or announcer, whatever he is, immediately stepped up and said: "That is not our cab." I said: "What the deuce do I care whether it is your cab or somebody else's? I want to get transportation." It was immaterial to me who I employed. Now, that is the situation.

Mr. LANHAM. Are you familiar with property rights down there? Mr. TREADWAY. I am going to bring that up, but as long as we are illustrating, you may have seen that indicating photograph]. Here is the blocking of the front of the depot. I don't believe there is another station in the United States or the world where the main entrance is blocked. Now that seems perfectly proper in a sense, but if you are arriving in the city, the first thing that greets you as you get into the depot there is a big illuminated sign "taxicabs." It is very much further to go down that long passageway to take the cab of the Washington Taxicab Co., or the Washington Terminal Co., than it is to come directly out. Well, of course, a stranger seeing that sign" taxicab " is going there. There is no other place, and naturally the red caps, if you are employing a red cap, will guide you there. It is all part of the same outfit, but it guides you directly into the pocket where alone the Terminal Taxicab Co. has got a right to put you in their cab. And the depot, the front of the depot, is bare as you see it there. Of course, there is some question whether if this is private property that police sign ought to be there, but they are there. The police may regulate the closing of that through the courtesy of the Terminal Co. They can't do it otherwise if the Terminal Co. justify their claim of ownership of that property. The only thing that you see there in front of the station is the sign that you can't approach there, and there are two car tracks for which I am informed the Terminal Co. receives good rent from the trolley people.

Mr. LANHAM. Are these signs here put up by the authorities?

Mr. TREADWAY. They are the regulation police traffic signs. It hardly seems to me they ought to be there if it is a public highway or if it is private property. Now, here is another illustration of this same place that I speak of. The only parking allowed is by sightseeing automobiles, which I suppose are part of the same monopoly, and undoubtedly they are paying the terminal people well for that privilege.

Mr. ZIHLMAN. In other words, there is no way by which you in a private car can approach the station at all except in that second driveway?

Mr. TREADWAY. I don't see as there is; no, sir.

Now let us get at the real situation. As I understand it, the terminal station is built under public 122, approved February 28, 1903. That is the construction act. There is a revision, I believe, of that construction act.

By the way, before I start about the general public, let me finish up my personal experiences, if I may, in order to have it consecutive. I was so provoked at the situation that Sunday, to which I referred, the next day I wrote a letter to Maj. Pullman, and with your permis

sion I will read it. I think it is pertinent at this time—that is, if you are interested in that particular section. I may be going into too much detail, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. ZIHLMAN. No; I personally am very much interested in that section.

Mr. TREADWAY. This letter was published at the time, but perhaps as a matter of your record it would be worth reading. This is dated January 27, 1920, addressed to Maj. Pullman, and is as follows:

Maj. RAYMOND W. PULLMAN,

WASHINGTON, D. C., January 27, 1920.

Metropolitan Police, District Building, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MAJ. PULLMAN: This letter is addressed to you on the assumption that all traffic regulations throughout the city are under your supervision. If I am in error, I would request that this communication be referred to the proper official.

Some weeks ago I made remarks on the floor of the House relative to the traffic conditions at the Union Station. Later, a newspaper editorial stated that a correction of these evils would be found very difficult in view of the intimate relationship between the Terminal Co. and the Terminal Taxicab Co. I dislike to place too much credence on such a statement, but unless the interests of the public can be better served than they have been for some months past at the station such belief may be forced upon us.

I have no personal interest in either the Terminal Co. or the Terminal Taxicab Co., but am just a selfish individual who likes to have his share of what the public is entitled to.

Briefly, the situation is this: The main entrance or front entrance to the station is entirely roped off from vehicular traffic. I doubt if there is another such case as this in the country. The section to the left is posted against parking vehicles, parking being only permitted to the extreme left end, away from all the business part of the station. At the right, from the station, parking is allowed only for the cabs of the Terminal Taxicab Co. As you approach the entrance at the west end two signs greet you by which you are practically informed that unless you are a patron of the Terminal Taxicab Co. you are almost encroaching on the right of getting to the train.

Within these sacred precincts there are two platforms establishing three aisles. Let me describe the exact condition there when endeavoring to deliver two friends at the 3.14 p. m. southbound train on Sunday, January 25. One platform is designated for loading of passengers, one for unloading. It was several minutes before this platform could be reached. The aisle adjoining the station was occupied by six cabs of the Terminal Taxicab Co. Their drivers were having a pleasant visit and no passengers were in sight. In other words, the ailse adjoining the station, supposed to be public, is absolutely monopolized by this company under the regulations to which I refer.

The station should not be run for the benefit of the business of a private monopoly. If such is the intention of those in charge of traffic in the city, they are surely very successful. If, however, the traveling public has more rights to-day than they did in the days of the late Commodore Vanderbilt. these regulations should be immediately revised or some new officials, not tied up with the Terminal Taxicab Co. or the Terminal Co., should be put in charge. Can this matter receive the attention to which it is entitled in the interest of the traveling public?

Sincerely, yours,

ALLEN T. TREADWAY.

I received a very courteous reply to that from the late major, which I shall also be glad to incorporate in the record. This letter is about the time Maj. Pullman was taken ill, and of course I dropped the matter, and I don't think either of these letters that I received from him have been made public. They show the reason, perhaps, back of this whole situation. [Reading:]

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