Elizabeth daily monitor. [volume] (Elizabeth, N.J.) 1868-1880, 1873-08-16
' THROUGH TICKETS.

Z WIS "a IhhUuuht IlUhElS., dtljlit
Administering on the question Of
railroad tickets, and the rights of a
passenger to travel on "a ticket until it'll
has been used, with privilege to lstopI
over at any desired point, the New
Brunswick Times says it has become
a common practice of conductors on
railroad trains in this state to eject
from the cars parties who, having
tickets, stop at intermediate points for
short time. and offer the through
ticket upon the train they select to
complete their journey H. A notable
instance Of this nature .trahspired last
Monday. A Paterson man, whose
property is worth one hundred thou
sand dollars, was elected from an Eriel
train on theINewark meadows, because
he refused topay his fare from Newark
to New York, having in his possession
through ticket on which he had that
morning rode from Paterson to Newark.
He proposes to pursue the sensible
course Of carrying the, matter into The
courtseots There is acdecided want Of
uniformity in the holding ofeecourts
upon this matter. In Illinois, Michi-
gan, and GENERALLY throughout the west,
as well as iii New York, Massachusetts,
Connecticut ana several other eastern
states, railroad companies are held to O.
strict degree Of responsibility, while
in Maryland and numerous other states,
including perhaps New Jersey, they
have everything almost their own way.
The general current of yAmericansle
islation is, however, decidedly against
their rightItoI act arbitrarily Hin their
dealings with citizens Even in Eng
land there have beeni many important
adjudications decidedly adverse to tho
exercise of despotic power III This mat
ter by railroad corporations In some
cases the courts hayegene soIfaro as to
hold that the purchaser Of ticket could
recover damages if not carried to the
destination indicated by his ticket, even
though he stopped at an intermediate
point for weeks. IT has also been held
3 that party may, in ease he purchases
q ticket from A. to B, recover damages
for expulsion from the, train in which
he takes passage from B to A, using the
original ticket; or, in other words, a
ticket duly paid for is good till used,
and constitutes q contract with the COM
pany by which if up undertakes yta TO carry
the holder SO many continuous miles,
he using his discretion as to the start
ing terminus AZ
Now, while we would not hold this
extreme as polite, we would yet demand
as right due tothe public that q party,
with a through ticket, shall be- permit
ted to stop at any point III a continuous
journey to transact such business as he
may have occasion to discharge, andyet
be permitted to proceed to His destina-
ton upon presentation of the original
ticket. This is essential foppublic con-
}oveniencea; ana railroad compapies
overlook this, they violate the purposes
of their construction. DIN law they are
esteemed semispublie corporations, and
the influence and power that have been
conceded to them proceed from an over
assured consciousness 81 their inidis-
pensability to the convenience OF The
public. We trust our courts VIII speak
as'defnitelY on this subject as tiseourts
of Illinois have always done. Too long
has the imputatioHG obtained that rail
road corporations assert undue power-as
well in as out of courts in this state.