Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1858-12-10
Railway Free Passss to the Prose.

Halfway Free Passss to the Press
We endorse every word of the following,
from the Railway Times, and commend it TO
the good sense Of Railway Managers every
where. There has been d great deal
foo much fuss made about Free passes'' BY
Railroad operators. If those corporations
were to pay newspaper editors and proprie.
tors 1.-THE of the compensation due them
for services rehdered in hundred ways, they
could pay their fare and do ten times the
amount of riding on these roads, they now
do This magnifying a mole hill into a
mountain will never be paying business
to Railroad Companys. The Times says:
'There has been at all times great deal
of small talk aboUt the independence of the
! press, and the OF free passes as bribes
for editorial favor. 1t is evident that some
men entertain the idea that the acceptance
of pass involves the duty Of covering the
sins Of The management abstaining from all
unfavorable comment, and conferring puffs
whenever called for. Some editors may ac-
cept pass with all these obligations at
tached, while others, having the same view
ofthe matter decline it. Still another class
esteem the pass as quid pro quo. paid to
reward them for sundry services willingly
rendered, but for which public spirit leads
them to refuse TO receive any direct remu-
neration.
Almost daily in the management Of a
| newspaper, the editor is called upon to give
prominent notice of a change in the time
table, of some excusrsion, of the repair of
The road utter some accident, to contradict
an erroneous staten ent, and in various ways
to advertise editorially the business of the
different routes.
For all services of this kind no pay is re-
ceived. 1t is for the interest of the roads
that such notices should be made, while at
the same time it is a convenience to the
public The acceptance of a pass under
such an understanding of the motive of the
roads in comforting ii involves no breach of
editorial trust or duty to the public, and in
no manner obligates the editor to conceal or
excuse any faults in the management or the
policy Of the road.
The subject is really one of considerable
Importance, not only TO the parties inmedi-
ately concerned, but 10 the public at large.
If the free pass system induces the press to
sacrifice its independence, it had better be
abolished entirely, for it is essential TO the
travelling public that close censorship
should be exercised upon the railway man
agement. Accidents should be freely dis
cussed; if blame fairly attaches to employ
ees or directors, there should be no conceal
ment, and any influence which tends TO in
tertere with fair expression of public opih-
ion on such occasions is u serious evil.
Our belief is that the great body of the
editorial fraternity are above being induen-
ced by free Pass, to the amount OF bestow-
ing unwarranted pruise, or covering up
fault in the management of our railways
We do no: believe that the editorial profess
sion ride free the roads as lnuch as sume
very sensitive stockholders believe. So far
Us our knowledge extends, they certainly do
not We further believe that trip over
any railwHy by the editor of any res
Pecta5le and well Conducted paper, is Of di-
rect Advantage to the interests of the COM
pany.
But it by no means follows that every body
connected with a newspaper should ride free
any more than every Gttdche or employee OF
hotel steamboat or railway company should.
Those men who have had long experience
in railway management know that the very
smallest proportion of free passes are grant
ed to newspaper editors, they know loo TINT
it is of advantage to have this class of men
to pass over their line.
We know that il is Of no more advantage
to the companies in the long run than it is
to the editors. The courtesy of free pass
TO a journal like ours is repaid four fold; per,
haps not in the form of puff of the line,
but in more substantial form of expert
ence gained in some new Improvement in
mechanical matters or in details OF manage
ment, which our readers, most of them en-
gagged ia railway operation throughout the
country, get the benefit of.
The class of stockholders who max e such
an outcry about free passes to editors are usu-
ally the most ignorant of the whole subject
of railway management, and as they aust
open their mouths at the meetings they
choose this topic because it is the only
one they can talk upon. When stock
holders have not confidence enough to en-
trust The matter to the discretion OF their Off
GERS, they should select new ones.'