Los Angeles daily herald., 1876-03-24

contrary. above all else, arblfrat0rs, ana as
| such bound, first and foremost, and always,
| to he on arnicable terms with the one party
| as we'll as the other. The result has been TO
| me as satisfactory as II was unexpected; our
| action is almost always accepted by the par
| ties before us as final, and do not now recall
any case once brought before us IN which
subsequent legislative Intervention has been
sought for Scarcely a week passes in which
causes ofcomplaint are not brought TO our
notice-for postal card il sufficient for that
purpoSe-aud invariably the same course is
pursued with them. In the first place, the
head official of the corporation is called upon,
and his attention attracted to the subjectand
usually the matter ends here, with satisfac-
tory explanations, or "A sufficient measure OF
relief The officials know that we wish TO De
fair and reasonable, and we find them dis
posed to be the same; at least they are al
ways anxious enough to avoid public issue:
Some times, however, 1t comes TO that, ana
formal hearings have TO be given, as result
ofwhich we decide sometimes in favor OF the
corporation and sometimes of the petitioners,
but always in writing, and stating our reasons
in full. When we are forced to this extreme,
however, we no longer address ourselves 10
subordinates, whether they call themselves
Superin tendents, General Managers, Presi-
DENTS or what not, but now we go clean over
their heads, and bring the subject directly 10
the notice OF the Board of Directors,
insisting on a yes or mo- action on their part
This course OF treatm ent generally produc'
es results, for 1t means publicity, For IN
stance, a year or two we became satisfied that
the bridges on one ofthe main lines of the
We addressed the President of the company
on the subject, and our communication was,
| presume, duly pigeon-holed by him; at any
rate we heard nothing o'it After waiting a
reasonable time we addressed a second and
more formal communication to the Board or
Directors, with distinct though polite lntl-
| nation that, if necessary, we would next call
on the public. The effect was instantaneous.
We at once received a formal reply, request
ingu us to cause any examination we deemed
proper to be made, and assuring us tnat ev-
= 1, to-, 10
the next year every bridge on the road was
| thoroughly overhauled or renewed.
"When it comes to direct issue the cor
| porations do not like TO put themselves In
| public antagonism to the we'll considered ac-
| tion of Commissioners. They will, perhaps,
resist up to the last point, but when II comes
to clean issue, with the equities againssI s
| born only when they feel that they nave a
strong case, and not always then. The SIM SIM,
| The sense of responsibility; and-you may
believe it or not, as you like, but so it is-our
| railroad corporations all over the the country
| are peculiarly sensitive to public opinion"
This is the result of practical expe-
rience and after reading the remarks
of Mr.. ADAMS it is hardly probable
any unprejudiced man possessed of
practical ideas, will deny that the end
has been all that could be desired by
the people and productive of nothing
to which railroad company could
reasonably object. The heads OF
railroad company and the people are
too often strangers. They need to be
brought into closer communion; to
have a more perfect understanding,
one with the other, and the commits
sioners are the mutualfriends through
whom the strangers will form an ac-
quaintance that shall ripen into last
ing friendship and regard. 1t too
often happens that the complaints OF
the people of high rates and discrim-
ination on railroads never reach those
who could and would remove the caus-
es and it quite as often happens that
the causes which lead to these COM
plants originate not with the heads
and owners of the roads but with SUBJ
ordinates and employees who are de-
parting from rather than obeying the
instructions of their employers. The
commissioners will remedy this. They
will hear all complaints and if found
ed on substantial grounds will confer
with the railroad officers who will
from motives of self interest and de-
sire to deal fairly with their patrons
at once remove the causes of dissatis-
faction. We believe that II Board OF
intelligent commissioners will be of
great advantage to both railroad man
ayers and the people-to the former
by enabling them to understand more
fully how we'll or how i'll their en-
ployees perform their duty, and to
the latter by placing them in direct
communication with those possessing
the power and the inclination to reg
ulate any Irregularities, ac Is OF in
justice or discrimination, W hich may
be brought to their notice. IN pass
ing the bill creating Board of Com
missioners the Senate has acted WISE
ly and if the bill becomes law the
railroad comp anies cannot with rea-
son, and we do not believe they will,
offer the slightest objection to its en-
forcement. They ask only justice and
fair dealing and this bill requires
nothing more.