Telegram-herald., 1888-02-12
LICENSE ADVOCATED
sss ssr Iisusr Settlers ses fer Railway
tssaaactars-

&<s0a octeks.
Is ths Eaisof q Tie fE1xseAN hERAle
VII yoa andy give me iitsle 81 year
spscs ca this matter Of license. sone
TREAD sends me = copy of tie fEAEaKAs-
HEEALB q Feb. ? elsh column article en-
titled "I8censs tor Cons And s05-head.
Of "A Stfos.g Protest fram the stsnS
point Of ths editor il may se " Strong
Protest bal have toda, msiied yon
copy Of the proposed .sw Aad | viii WAGER
that after reading. the editor will call this
strong protest q simple exhibition Of lgDof-
spoe. The writer of ths pfotest who. es
the Way, is ashamed ~ his nsAs and sp-
pears snouy mous'y, SAYS that be has
considerable rail sav experiences not as .
Conoucsor ! presume this i e0rfect. and
will venture the opiDl9n that whatever
railway exp@rsenee the writer ~ the protest
has had. has been 10 posliUD = here bt
either enyied the conductor or eiss where
he was interested Ia kecping ths conociors
wages al TIE lowest possinls poiut. lie -
possibly ore OF hose many rA.ls ssf officers
who wish 90 be al liberty 90 place thelf
"kld-siovea' relatives 10 positions ~ con
ouciors OF passenger trains without com
peliing them % learn train sersloe bs con-
commence TO learn bis trade. al the ireighg
brake and If this sssC mptiou be true. he Is
of course opposed TO snythiDg that would
protect the com mpetenf conductor from the
composition of this class OF iDcspables
When this bill was drawn 4 Was expected
II would encounter the opposition OF rail-
WAYS, and thai expectation has been fully
reanzed. and The rail ssy ofhoers with one
accord are doing all ia their power 70 de
fest II. and ia some instances are uslag
their official positions 10 innatncs concuc-
tors TO oppose the measure.
Your correspondent states that TINS meas
ure was authorized by the Grand Divsion
at New Orleans simply because no time
was gwen FOR q thorough discussion, and
that IL was "rsilroaded through the con
yenncn." This As simply . falsehood. as
every member Of the Order OF Railway Con-
ductoF. knows, or AT least should know
The matter has been discussed more or less
at every annual meeting since 1879 where
IL was first introduced. and Il has steadily
grown In favor since that time. By ref
erence 10 2. 4. 8 aud OF The proposed lsw
you will readily see bow much any "bisth-
erskite politician" will have 10 do with this
matter. should this still become a law. The
laws providing for examination and
license OF conductors, which are IN the
hands Of politicians. are those which
are now in force ~ number OF our
States. notably in Alabama where the
Supreme Court has iuss pronounced the law
constitutional. which oompeis conductors
and engineers who run through any por-
ton of the Stale, to De examined by 'scien-
tihc experts" and politicians" The re-
ference TO black listing is simply fnTih-
er exhibition Of the p!tisble Ignorance Of
"snti-liconse' OF the subject on which he
assumes 10 enlighten members Of the order
OF Railway Conductors. In regard 30 this
accusation OF "blsck-listing. I simply fsy,
read the blH. and 40 EOt bc mssied by such
railway olather.kites" as "snti-license."
As 10 the pitiful effort of this writer, 10
injure the characters of myself and associ-
sies, il is unworthy OF notice / am too
well known by the members OF the order 70
make Il worth while 90 paw any attention
to the attacks OF an snOnymH0us sneak.
"Anti-iicense" viii make lnqu airy among
the steamboat captains aud steamboat en-
gneers TO whom he refers. be will learn
from them what they think OF a license isv.
They will tell nim that II shuts out scsbs
and keeps their wages up 10 a reasonable
figure. Ii is quite likely, however. that
Anti know. this and that ne fully realized
that IL will ne powerful factor in making
conductors wsees commensurate With the
responsibility of their positions. and Il is
further probable that bs is one OF those who
are personally Interested Ia keeping the
wsges Of the conductor down 10 The lowest
possible notch. aud hence, Of course. would
be very glad 10 make the conductor believe
that thus license bill is very PAndors's
box. and for one. certainly believe that IL
his article will induce conductors 70 kick
he will be amply rewarded. To conductors,
both mem 0ers OF the Order and those who
are not, / would simply say, read and think
for yourself and do lot be led by those
whose interests are not your interests.
This measure was adopted by the Grand
Division OF ibe order after nine ves's dis
cus.ion. and there j. today a very large ms
jOrity OF conductors ali over the United
States both in and out OF ibe order. who
are strongly IN favor OF IL, and i i oni. in
q very few localities where thers is sBF
opposition. Two hundred delegates voted
for il st New Orleans. and today, notwitb-
standing the ire1zied efOris Of ia few
opponents, ell but fifteen of the two hun-
dred and thirty-One divisions Of the order
are in favor Of H. and n II = defeated, u
will simply be because the few opponents
have been very active while the gresi arm s.
who favor II, have moi been spergetic- bui
have trusted 20 their nn1itiee 20 Do all
Now. a. to the benefit to the public II
this legislation would save. once in ten
years such q collision a. the one al Bepub
lie on the Baltimore & Ohio. would il Do'
be worth its c0sl7 The conductor sbo
caused the collision was well known 10 os
incom petsni bv his associate conductors
bat the offers said he was oom petspt II
il also asserted that officers Of railways srs
entirely capable Of examining their rser
ard deciding ss TO their cOmpetercy. Per
haps this }, true Bet the fact rcns ms ths'
they do not exclude the iBcompeients and
Vi venture to say that there r. not
onpeient conductor in the United Stsiel
who does not know II some instance whe--
| favorable circumstances alone preveute9 AT
accident bsinr caused by the incompeisncy
! Of some ooDducfor Train men alone know
! The frequency Of fbese narrow escapes. TIE
/ public 0niv iesrns OF this iDcom petesc1
when II results In sn accident As at illus
/ traitor Of The cspsbiity ~ hallway officers
] to exsmlne conductors vs need only g.
back fss weeks 20 tbs terrible collision 81
/ Peru. on the Chicago. Minneapolis s.
l psui Rsiivsv. which vss csase3 By q con
/ ductor folowing the Instructions gives hin
/ by the examining oflcer.
Much more might be said ss - the bsne
! fts of such legislation both 70 the conduc
! tor and the public. b8i ] Do not vish =
/ ercroscb upon your sps- and vii cioss
w. 4. DsriELs.