The Chicago star., June 26, 1948, Star Edition, Page 2, Image 2

About The Chicago star. (Chicago, Ill.) 1946-1948

Image provided by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL

                
What do you think
about the fare
increases?
A Star reporter asked that question of
these five typical Chicagoons. Here are their
answers:
2
William R. Kurlz. 7516 ■ <
Emerald ave.. student. '
"The raise in fare comes HHSRPf
from a raise in pay—it's
little hard on everybody
else. I think under the
circumstances the service / V„*
is about as good as possi- ’xlb*
ble— according to the ads
they put in the paper the
service will be worth the ■SJflHflßf
money in two years." y .. If
THE CHICAGO STAR, JUNE 26. 1948
Sky is limit for fare boosts
By BILL CARR
ur\o you have in mind any
\-J limit to the street car
and ‘L’ fares in this city?”
That was the question asked of
the Chicago Transit Authority
last week by Jerome Tannen
baum, of 1329Vfc Touhy, who has
seen fares rise by 85% since he
came here to live four years ago.
But it was also a cry that
echoed in the minds of the mil
lions of straphangers who found
themselves paying 2 cents more
on street cars, subways, and ’L’s’
this week.
* * *
CTA's banker-dominated board
didn't answer that plea.* As it
stood silent, another organiza
tion which had led the fight
against the fare boost spoke up.
It was the Progressive Party, de
claring:
"The Progressive Party will
continue its campaign against
high transit fares. We shall press
for a full investigation of the
transit authority. And we shall
fight for cutting fares back to
1947 levels."
PPI meant what it said. Even
the reactionary daily newspapers
had been forced to tell of the
valiant battle led by the PPI to
block the 15- and 13-cent fares.
* * *
HAVING demanded that the
CTA’s Transit Board hear testi
mony from the public, PPI had
proceeded to inform the people
that they would have an oppor
tunity to express their views.
When the daily newspapers re
fused to tell the people that they
could appear at open hearings,
PPI mimeographed 10,000 leaf
lets telling the story and urging
The Chicago
IB CTfTitu an a puDiisned WEEKLY
by The Chicago Star Publishing
Co., Inc., 166 West Washington
Street, Chicagb 2, 111. Phone
RANdolph 0580.
Cable address: Chistar
Frank M. Davis Executive Editor
Carl Hirsck Managing Editor
William Sennelt General Manager
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
(Except Canada
and. foreign) 1 Year $2.00.
Entered as second class matter
June 25, 1946 at the post office at
Chicago, 111., under the Aet of
March 3, 1879.
Postal regulations require that
all new subscriptions for military
personnel stationed overseas must
be accompanied by a written
request from the person to whom
the subscription is directed.
**““ i
A. C. Fisher, 2836 Indiana,
porter.
“I think it’s too much.
I don’t know, unless they
give you a raise on your
job yffu hardly have
enough to pay your ex
penses, let alone higher
street car fares. The serv
ice isn’t worth the money,
either.”
'City doesn't own
transit system'
“CTA is not owned by the
city . . . it’s owned by the
people who bought that $lO5
million bond
t ' issue,” AJayor
' Kennelly ari
m* t ted this
* *** week.
V B In an inter
v. v1 e w with
George
Cermak, PPI
JBR candidate tor
Kennelly US ' Represen
tative from
the 9th congressional district,
Kennelly said:
“A couple of days ago I had
a call from a fellow named
Prince, who owns the < Stock
Yards spur of the ‘L’ outright.
He told me that he holds a
million dollars worth of CTA
bonds, so I told him: ‘You own
1/100 of the transit system.' ”
PPI commented: "This co
incides with the position we
have taken all along. CTA is
technically owned and oper
ated by the public. It is in
fact owned by. and operated
for the benefit of, the bond
holders."
Loop shoppers and workers to
attend the CTA meetings. The
United Office & Professional
Workers (CIO) distributed the
leaflets at noon.
The crowd which showed up
for the meetings filled two large
hearing rooms and overflowed
into the corridor outside CTA
offices at 166 W. Van Buren.
* * *
THERE were union leaders,
PPI officials, and straphangers
with no political affiliations, but
with vehement sentiments about
the fare increase.
Take the man with the arm
load of candy boxes, for example.
His name is Gqorge A. Betzelos.
He’s a salesman who lives at
5034 W. Division He had just
been heading home when some
one handed him a PPI leaflet at
State and Washington He’s not
a PPI follower, but he decided to
attend the hearings.
"CTA is robbing the people."
Betzelos said angrily. "Take me,
for instance. I’ve got four kids,
two of them in college. They
each have to pay at least Iwo
fares five days a week. So do I.
That’s 10 fares a day—2o cents
extra each day with this fare
increase. That adds up lo at least
$1 more every week. It’s going
to hit us hard."
* * *
THAT’S how others felt, too—
Thomas McCarthy. 7935
Bishop st.. office worker.
“If the “L’s” improve
their service like the
street cars and buses, we
may get something for the
money, but the way they
are now, it’s too much.
You don’t get your
money’s worth. Other
cities do it for less.”
J
Alfred Wagenknecht opposed the
and they told CTA about it.
There was Lillian Frost, 4848
Kimball; Frank Pellegrini, 1017
N. Laramie; Chester Wisniewski,
4749 S. Hoyne; David Malin, 216
E. Superior; Irene Turner, 2917
W. Jackson; William H. Rosen
berg, 7444 Euclid pkwy.; Leonard
Karlin,. 6552 Greenwood; Esther
Wildberg, 534 Surf; and many
another.
The Progressive Party spoke
again and again, citing CTA's
own figures to prove that no
fares need be raised. George R.
Cermak, county chairman, led
the fight the second day, while
History for sale
PIECES of history— like
apple pie are appar
ently for sale in this America.
When Illinois’ ambitious Gov.
Dwight H. ("Keynoter”) Green
wanted to assure himself a
place in posterity, he had a
tailor-made book prepared
which proves that Lincoln was
not the only illustrious son this
state has produced.
The charge was even made in
the press that public funds had
paid the two writers of the
Green glorification. This week
they denied it, and stated that
the book had been paid for by
“an ardent admirer” of the
Governor.
They signed the statement:
“Robert J. Casey and W.A.S.
Douglas, historians.”
Truce in Palestine: The Song
of Bernadotte.
Rights from Left
WE are told of the suppres
sion of civil liberties in
Eastern Europe, in those nations
where the Communists have a
voice in the government, and of
the sanctity of civil rights in the
“western democracies.”
But last week the United
Press reported President Klem
ent Gottwald of Czechoslovakia,
the former Communist premier,
celebrated his promotion by an
offer of amnesty to political
refugees who come back home
within three months. All fines
and jail sentences of less than
a year are to be cancelled.
Meanwhile, in our democracy,
where civil liberties are so re
spected, one of the world’s
!!§> JR -v* gif
Fred Engler, 7500 W. Cen
tral ave.. River Forest,
milkman.
“I think they are not
justified. They've been
raised about four weeks
ago without any increase
in the salary of the men.
If that's the cause they
should have gotten salary
increases last time. I be
lieve since the city took
it over, it has something
to do with the way the
city is run.”
Zal Garfield, county director,
William Miller, state director,
and Jim Wishart, research direc
tor, were the chief spokesmen
the first day.
Among the unions which tes
tified were the United Electrical,
Radio & Machine Workers (CIO);
the United Office & Professional
Workers (CIO); the Lmigshore
men’s & WarehouserrfOTs Union
(CIO); and the United Farm
Equipment & Metal Workers
(CIO).
* *. *
AMERICAN Youth for Dem
ocracy testified. On the first day
Alfred 1 Wagenknecht opposed the
greatest historical novelists,
Howard Fast, former Star col
umnist, and 10 others were pre
paring jail sentences for the
crime of being anti-fascist—un
less President Truman can be
compelled to intervene.
Candidates in California's re
cent primaries, who crossfiled
in the Democratic. Republican
and Independent Progressive
parlies, as the state law per
mits, found themselves identi
fied in the press as D-R-IPP.
And. in some cases, it was an
accurate description.
New Star
WE’D like to congratulate
the new owners of PM for
changing the name of thgir
newspaper to the New York
Star beginning Wednesday of
this week. Naturally, we think
the Star is a good name.
With the change, we hope
there will come into being a
new policy worthy of the name,
a policy that will make the New
York Star into the fighting lib
eral and progressive paper that
PM should have been.
GOP muddle
IT’S iscrewy even for the
Republican National
Convention, where anything
was likely to happen.
A Mississippi delegation ap
pealed Saturday to the U. S.
District court in Philadelphia
to have its members seated,
charging the opposing faction
with “discrimination against
whites.”
The winning group was head
ed by a Negro, Perry Howard,
Rose Brandzel, 5810 N.
Christiana, housewife.
“I see no justification
for the increase in fare at
all, no reason why Chica
go should pay the highest
rates for city-owned sys
—* terns, and I think that
something should be done
to cut the interest rates to
bankers so that, the peo
ple of Chicago rather than
the bankers get the bene
fits of a city-owned sys
tem.”
fare boost on behalf of the Com
munist Party.
The protests unexpected by
the Transit Board —forced them
to continue the hearings for one
day. But when the meeting re
sumed the following, day, Philip
Harrington, board chairman,
made it clear in a prepared state
ment that the board had already
made up its mind, that the pro
tests would be of no avail.
PPI demanded at least two
weeks in order to conduct a
careful check of CTA to see
whether the fare boost was in
fact necessary. This was refused.
But the angry catcalls with which
the refusal was greeted forced
the board to agree to let PPI
experts check CTA’s books after
the increase went through.
national committeeman from
Mississippi, and an ardent Taft
supporter. The unsuccessful all
white contestants said that
seating of the Howard faction
violated their rights “under the
14th and 15th amendments.
Still, this makes as much
sense as anything else coming
out of Philadelphia this week.
After Tony Zale knocked out
Rocky Graziano the other night,
he remarked that prize fighting
was easier than working in that
Gary, Ind.„ steel mill. On the
other hand, Benjamin Fairless
would much rather be in the
steel business than in the prize
ring. There’s no accounting for
tastes.
Favorite Son
INDIANAPOLIS has a
“favorite son” candidate
for the Democratic nomination
for President. His name is
Frank E. Bet# and he is presi
dent of the Best Universal Lock
Co.
On expensive, two-color sta
tionary he has been bidding for
support from Democratic lead
ers with the following program:
1. Denial of the right of wom
en to hold public office;
2. Abolition by constitutional
amendment of all AFL, CIO
and independent unions, recog
nizing only company unions;
3. .Absolute segregation of
whites and Negroes by sending
all Negroes lo a separate slate
in Africa.
Those who want their fascism
straight from the shoulder will
find the Indianapolis business
man their Best candidate to
date.