The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-03-27
Sleeping-car Charges.

LII MISSOURI ana In ILLINOIS the SUBJ
ject of sleeping and drawing-room
charges is receiving serious attention.
The fact is, there has been pretty gen.
eral feeling of late among travellers by
rail that they were to a certain extent
swindled in this respect, and the public
sentiment toward the Pullman monopo-
ly has been correspondingly bitter. A
berth in a sleeping-car is one of the in
dispensable accompaniment to long
railroad journey, and there is no ap-
parent reason why it should not be fur
Hished for reasonable price. There is
no reason, for instance, why one of
these travelling lodging houses should be
privileged to demand three or four times
more for bad bed than is demanded
in excellent hotels for good one. The
extra expense of rowing over station
ary inn does not warrant it, and it GER
tainly is not warranted by superiority
in accommodations. For $3.50 may be
had the use for a night of an elegantly
furnished room in first-class hotel with
all the accessories of service, fire and
lights. If hotel can make money out
OF such contract as that a company
which demands so for few hours oc-
cupancy of shelf and some bed
clothes must be absolutely coming
money. And the Pullman Company
has coined money. 1t is one of the rich
est corporations in the world. It pays
enormous dividends every year, and it
has more money in its reserve fund than
its managers know what to do with.
With all this nobody has any fault to
find. The cars of the company have
been one of the greatest luxuries of the
age, and for long time the people were
willing to pay literally for their use,
and pay without grumbling. Of course,
as long as there was no complaint at
their charges the sleeping car managers
did quite right in keeping them up to
the point that would return the most
money for the shareholders. Now,
however, there is an altered state of af-
fairs. The Pullman Car Company has
grown enormously rich, and the people
have found out that they have been
enormously overcharged. They are be-
ginning to grumble, and the grumbling
is growing louder and deeper every day.
1t is the unanimous opinion of people
who do not own Pullman shares, that
now is the accepted time for the Car
Company to hold up for a while and
give the public chance. And if the
Car Company does not hold up, but per-
sists in keeping its fingers SO far down
in the travelling public's pocket, there is
a rather clear conviction gaining ground
that the fingers must be gently but
firmly removed by force.
The Attorney General of Illinois has
given it as his opinion that it is quite
within the power of a State Legislature
to regulate sleeping-car companies by
statute, just as railway companies are
regulated, and a bill is now actually
pending before the Illinois Legislature
to reduce the sleeping-car rates to rea-
sonable figures. There is also a bill
before the Missouri Legislature which
puts the price of sleeping-car berth
for single night at the sensible sum of
81 for such a berth. Unquestionably
the movement will rapidly extend to
other States, and it would be the part of
wisdom in the Pullman Company to
calmly accept the inevitable and come
down to fair prices all along its line.
There is no doubt about it, the present
scale of charges must go.-Cleveland
Herald.