New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-05-26
NETWORK DAILY TRIBUNE. TUESDAY. MAY Is, 1874.

part of those who knew that their employees
were eking out their wages by crime And 1t
comes nearer home. The public has
known of this habit of stage drlv-
ers and car conductors of knocking
"downn fares for years. The mind has be-
come entirely familiar with the crime, so that
no citizen dreams of being shocked at IT..
Any passenger can jest with the conductor
about it without danger of offending, and the
drivers talk about it almost rs freely rs they
do of their hours of labor or number OF trips.
II is an understood thing" But 1t Is none
the less theft. The facts were notorious
enough before the introduction OF the fare
boxes has prccipitated through the strike what
cannot be considered other than public dis
closure and free confession
What is true of the stage drivers Is true ID
large measure of the conductors OF street
cars. and the experience Of railroad managers
has shown that train conductors are guilty TO
a greater or less extent of the same dishonest
practices. These are men in whom confidence
must necessarily be repOscd. The nature Oh
thcir occupaton REQUIRES the handling Of con-
siderable sums of money; sums varying anu
uncertain, the precise amounts OF when CAN
not be known to the employer Human
ingenuity has been taxed to invent checks
and safeguards to prevent dishonesty
ON the part of these persons, but
no absolute prevention has yet been fouhd'
The habit of small peculatOn engenders expe-
dients for evasion and cOnccalment. and new
tricks are devised IA fast as the old ones are
discovered and broken up. Every little while
we have reports of the discovery of dishon-
est conductor, or Of Il raid by railroad COM
many upon whole force Of conductors en-
gagged in "knocking DOWN fares. A little
while ago a conductor on the Boston and
Albany road was found to be i'll the habit
of passing over unpunched tickets when ne
had taken up to confederate, who reSOld
them and divided with him the proceeds.
Hardly "A railroad in the country has escaped
being robbed by dishonest conductors. we
think the facts will warrant us III the state
ment that the practice is almost uni
yersal That it Is so is IA much attrlDuta-
ble to the eniency of public judgment
concerning it as to willful dishonesty on the
mart of the offenders. The excuse that con-
ductors, stage-drvers and others holding
similar positions are driven TO pcculauon by
low wages and small salaries has been ac-
centcd bv the public as a mitigation II not
Justification of the crime. As if there could
he any excuse for theft, least of all for per-
sistent, habitual, almost professional robbery.
SO long as this sort of thing Is wlnked al
by the public made Il subject for testing M
stead of the stern reprObation it deserves, and
50 long as it is called in the vocabulary OF
slang knocking down" instead of stealing,
the practice will continue. We do not recall
an instance among all the discoveries OF such
robberies that have been made where the
| felony has not been compounded. The victims
of the system have themselves to blame In
very great measure for the continuance OF
the crimes. They have been content always
TO recover so much as they could oil the
plumber, and let the thief go unpunished. NO
disgrace attached to it; it was unfortunate To
| be discovered, still more unfortunate to be
Obliged to disgorge the booty; but beyond
this there was no penalty. And i'll this view
what is there to hinder the con-
ductor or car-driver from trying the ex-
pertinent? He risks nothing of the penalty
of theft-nothing but discharge and being
| cOmpclled to make restitution. Let men III
these positions of trust understand that they
incur penalties the same as any other thieves
and the accompanying disgrace, and there
will be fewer dishonest persons in such po-
sItons. If the corporations that have sui
fered from this business would make one OF
two examples Of those who have robbed them
they would in the end save more money than
by compromises.
n,Lor w, If of degroliup hiph office than