Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1858-10-21
The naflroads and t. Frsss.

The Railroads and - HEoao- /
Il l. kaown that some - IN ksfiroad coape'
niss in Virginia have recently withdrawn from
TIE prsss The usual and ordinary courtesy Of free
tiekst npea theis roads. Thsse tickets hays been
heretofore rendered 10 spiri, Of reciprocstion ut
voluntary services rendered BY the press' ana
have been aoespsed - simply an acknowledge-
ment u ths depreciation Of these services on the
psrs cf the nailsuads. The matter 10 one OF such
tr;ainr inpsrsasss psouniarily. thst very little
reference hss bseu made 10 IL. But inssnuch %
the cailv Of Railroad corporations upon the courte-
~ and The columns Of the press have been none
Ii. lsu, afrsonsnt since the Inauguration Of the
new ystsn, Il seems hardly consistent with The
,elErsspsct Of the press that silence on the subject
should any longer Be observed.
Tekins this view Of the case, the AmerieaH Rail-
cay 7imss, published at Boston, and Journal, ~
its name indicates. exclusively in the interest OF
Railroad Corporations. has felt called upon to ex-
prsss its sensimenta ct some length touching the
matter u question Inasmuch ~ its views coin
eide precisely with our own. we copy the follow
inT cxfTScI from the article, ombodying Whist zoe
regard d he ,rue doctrine upon the subject, aud
being from IN authoritative organ Of the Railroad
interests Of the country. Says that Journal:
Almost daily ii the management of a newspa-
per, the editr Is called upon to give prominent
notice Of change in timetable. Of some excur-
son of the repair u the road after some accident,
to contradict an erroneous statement anu IN vari.
Gus WAYS to advertise eiitorially the business Of
the different routes. For all services 81 this KIND
no nav IL received It is for the interests OF the
ro.ds that such notices should be made, while, at
-. - "a A n
The acceptance OF pass under such an under
standing uf the motives q the roads in conferring
it. nvoiyes no breach Of editorial trust or duty to
the public and in no manner obgates the editor
to conceal or excuse any faults in the management
or the pelicy Of the road.
The suhject is really one Of considerable mPor-
lance not only To the partes Immediately concern
ed, but 10 the public ut large. If the free pass
eyrtem induces the press to sacrifice its indepen-
dence Il had better be abolished entirely, for IT il
essential to the safety Of the travelling public that
a close censorship should be exercised upon rail-
way management. Accidents should bc freely
discussed; II blame fairly attaches 10 employees or
directors, there should be no conceaiment; ana
any influence which tends to interfere with fair
expression of public opinion on such occasions 10
serious cvn Our belief is that the great body
of the editorial fraternity are above being infnen-
ccd by sfrec pass, to the amount Of bestowing un-
warranted praise, or covering up fault in the
management Of our railways We do not believe
tha, the editorial profession ride free over the rnd
as much a. some very sensitive stockholders be-
lievs. So far Is our knowledge extends, they GER
tainly do not. We further believe that u trip
over any railway by The editor "fauy respectable
and we'll conducted paper, is Of direct advantage
to the Interests Of the company. But it by no
means follows that everybody connected with
Newspaper should ride free any more than every
attache or employee OF hotel. steamboat or rail.
h, hay lind